Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080310419 | Network interface selection using historical connection information - A computer may be capable of communicating with devices via network through multiple interfaces. When a new connection is to be established, the computer may select an interface to use for the connection. In some embodiments, the interface may be selected based on historical connection information representing the performance of previous network connections that the computer has established through the interfaces. | 12-18-2008 |
20090157866 | TRANSPARENT AUTO-DISCOVERY OF NETWORK DEVICES LOGICALLY LOCATED BETWEEN A CLIENT AND SERVER - Discovery of intermediate network devices is performed using a technique that piggybacks upon the existing standard TCP (Transport Control Protocol) “SACK” (Selective Acknowledgment) option in a SYN/ACK packet so that discovery information may be shared between pair-wise-deployed peer intermediate devices when a TCP/IP connection (Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is first established between network endpoints using a conventional three-way handshake. Use of the SACK option is combined with another technique which comprises modifying the original 16-bit value of the TCP receive window size to a special arbitrary value to mark a SYN packet as being generated by a first peer device. The marked SYN when received by the second peer device triggers that device's discovery information to be piggybacked in the SACK option of the SYN/ACK packet. The first device then piggybacks its discovery information in the SACK option of the ACK packet which completes the three-way handshake. | 06-18-2009 |
20090222559 | Address Management in a Connectivity Platform - Disclosed are an approach form managing and assigning addresses in a connectivity platform that allows for proprietary connectivity modules (Providers) to plug into the operating system. In this disclosure, when a user/application/computing device, connects to another user on another computing device an address is generated for that user. However, because of a limited number of addresses that are available in an address space, it is necessary to ensure that a conflicting address is not present. To ensure this the connectivity platform determines if the address assigned is in conflict with another address associated with users that are located on the other computing devices. If an address is found to be in conflict the connectivity platform reassigns the address until a non-conflicting address is found. If a non-conflicting address cannot be found the connectivity platform blocks the connection between the user and the other user. | 09-03-2009 |
20090222568 | Connectivity Platform - Disclosed are a connectivity platform that allows for proprietary connectivity modules to plug into the operating system and also allows the operating system users and various existing networking applications in the operating system that are authorized by those providers to use that connectivity via existing APIs without the need for the applications to change or for extra configuration of the application to be performed. In an example disclosed herein, the providers provide NAT or firewall traversal and implement the appropriate transport mechanism. This allows for applications and computing devices to communicate in environments where connectivity is prevented by intermediate systems. | 09-03-2009 |
20090319667 | Optimal Source Interface Selection - Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to selecting a source interface with which to establish a connection. In aspects, a profile for each network location a host has seen is maintained in a data store. The profile includes information about the network interfaces available to a source host at the network location. This information indicates, among other things, the reliability of each interface of the source host. Based on the profile, an interface is selected with which to establish a connection. If the interface is unsuccessful in establishing the connection, the interface is de-prioritized and another interface may be selected. | 12-24-2009 |
20100070642 | OFFLOADING NETWORK PROTOCOL OPERATIONS TO NETWORK INTERFACE IN SLEEP STATE - A computing device participates in network protocol operations when the computing device is in an inactive state. A main processor of the computing device transfers protocol mode instructions and data corresponding to a selected network protocol to a network interface of the computing device, and the network interface executes the protocol mode instructions on behalf of the main processor when the main processor is in the inactive state. The main processor may select a network protocol from two or more network protocols and may download protocol mode instructions and data corresponding the selected network protocol to the network interface. The network interface may compare a received packet to at least one received packet pattern and may respond to the received packet in accordance with a result of the comparison. | 03-18-2010 |
20110110377 | Employing Overlays for Securing Connections Across Networks - Computerized methods, systems, and computer-storage media for establishing and managing a virtual network overlay (“overlay”) are provided. The overlay spans between a data center and a private enterprise network and includes endpoints, of a service application, that reside in each location. The service-application endpoints residing in the data center and in the enterprise private network are reachable by data packets at physical IP addresses. Virtual presences of the service-application endpoints are instantiated within the overlay by assigning the service-application endpoints respective virtual IP addresses and maintaining an association between the virtual IP addresses and the physical IP addresses. This association facilitates routing the data packets between the service-application endpoints, based on communications exchanged between their virtual presences within the overlay. Also, the association secures a connection between the service-application endpoints within the overlay that blocks communications from other endpoints without a virtual presence in the overlay. | 05-12-2011 |
20110216651 | Selectively Disabling Reliability Mechanisms on a Network Connection - Computerized methods, systems, and computer-storage media for establishing and managing a transmission control protocol (TCP)-based tunnel (“tunnel”) are provided. The tunnel spans between a data center and a private enterprise network and connects endpoints, of a service application, that reside in each location. During communication, the endpoints transmit data packets over one or more channels (e.g., higher-level channel and lower-level channel) that comprise the tunnel. Each of the channels supports reliability mechanisms (e.g., congestion-control mechanism and loss-recovery mechanism) integrally running thereon, for ensuring complete data-packet delivery. To prevent unwarranted performance degradation caused by duplicative efforts of reliability mechanisms, a fabric controller is employed to selectively disable one or more of the reliability mechanisms individually. The selective disablement of the reliability mechanisms is invoked by predefined criteria, such as instructions from a service model or detected identity of a source/destination endpoint, and is invoked on a per network connection basis. | 09-08-2011 |
20110225231 | DIRECT ADDRESSABILITY AND DIRECT SERVER RETURN - Cloud computing platforms having computer-readable media that perform methods for direct addressability and direct server return are provided. The cloud computing platform includes a load balancer and several servers. The servers are configured with public addresses, private addresses, and an address of the load balancer. The loopback interface of the servers is configured with the address of the load balancer. This allows a server to bypass the load balancer when replying to communication messages. Additionally, the public and private addresses of the servers enable direct addressability in the cloud computing platform. Accordingly, an application executing in the cloud computing platform may connect two or more clients on the same server. | 09-15-2011 |
20110231568 | SHAPING VIRTUAL MACHINE COMMUNICATION TRAFFIC - Cloud computing platforms having computer-readable media that perform methods to shape virtual machine communication traffic. The cloud computing platform includes virtual machines and a controller. The controller limits the traffic associated with the virtual machines to enable the virtual machines to achieve desired communication rates, especially when a network servicing the virtual machines is congested. The controller may drop communication messages associated with the virtual machines based on a drop probability evaluated for the virtual machines. | 09-22-2011 |
20110252281 | TRANSPARENT AUTO-DISCOVERY OF NETWORK DEVICES LOGICALLY LOCATED BETWEEN A CLIENT AND SERVER - Discovery of intermediate network devices is performed using a technique that piggybacks upon the existing standard TCP (Transport Control Protocol) “SACK” (Selective Acknowledgment) option in a SYN/ACK packet so that discovery information may be shared between pair-wise-deployed peer intermediate devices when a TCP/IP connection (Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is first established between network endpoints using a conventional three-way handshake. Use of the SACK option is combined with another technique which comprises modifying the original 16-bit value of the TCP receive window size to a special arbitrary value to mark a SYN packet as being generated by a first peer device. The marked SYN when received by the second peer device triggers that device's discovery information to be piggybacked in the SACK option of the SYN/ACK packet. The first device then piggybacks its discovery information in the SACK option of the ACK packet which completes the three-way handshake. | 10-13-2011 |
20110283017 | Interconnecting Members of a Virtual Network - Computerized methods, systems, and computer-readable media are provided for establishing and managing a virtual network (V-net) and virtual machine (VM) switches that enable protected and isolated interconnections between members of the V-net. The V-net members include an originating network adapter that generates data packets addressed to a destination network adapter. Upon detecting data-packet generation, a source-side VM switch accesses a forwarding table associated with the V-net, ascertains a destination-side, VM-switch locator that corresponds to an identifier of the destination network adapter, and modifies the data packets to include the identifier. The forwarding table represents a mapping between the members of the V-net and VM switches located on respective nodes within the data center. In operation, the mapping enforces communication policies that govern data-packet traffic. Upon receiving the data packets, the destination-side VM switch restores the data packets and forwards them to the destination network adapter. | 11-17-2011 |
20110320821 | FEDERATION AMONG SERVICES FOR SUPPORTING VIRTUAL-NETWORK OVERLAYS - Computerized methods, systems, and computer-readable media for promoting cooperation between a first and second virtual network overlay (“overlay”) are provided. The first overlay is governed by a first authority domain and includes members assigned virtual IP addresses from a first address range. The second overlay is governed by a second authority domain, which is associated with a second federation mechanism, for negotiating on behalf of the second overlay. The second federation mechanism is capable of negotiating with, or soliciting delegation of authority from, a first federation mechanism that is associated with the first authority domain. When negotiations are successful or authority is delegated, the second federation mechanism establishes a communication link between the second overlay and the first overlay or joins a member of the second overlay to the first overlay. Joining involves allocating a guest IP address from the first address range to the member. | 12-29-2011 |
20120151088 | RECEIVE WINDOW AUTO-TUNING - Methods of tuning a receive window. A receiving device and a sending device may be in communication over a network. The receiving device may advertise a receive window to the sending device. The size of the receive window may be adjusted over time based on one or more connection parameters, application parameters and/or operating system parameters. | 06-14-2012 |
20120278501 | SHAPING VIRTUAL MACHINE COMMUNICATION TRAFFIC - Cloud computing platforms having computer-readable media that perform methods to shape virtual machine communication traffic. The cloud computing platform includes virtual machines and a controller. The controller limits the traffic associated with the virtual machines to enable the virtual machines to achieve desired communication rates, especially when a network servicing the virtual machines is congested. The controller may drop communication messages associated with the virtual machines based on a drop probability evaluated for the virtual machines. | 11-01-2012 |
20120284403 | Selectively Disabling Reliability Mechanisms on a Network Connection - Computerized methods, systems, and computer-storage media for establishing and managing a transmission control protocol (TCP)-based tunnel (“tunnel”) are provided. The tunnel spans between a data center and a private enterprise network and connects endpoints, of a service application, that reside in each location. During communication, the endpoints transmit data packets over one or more channels (e.g., higher-level channel and lower-level channel) that comprise the tunnel. Each of the channels supports reliability mechanisms (e.g., congestion-control mechanism and loss-recovery mechanism) integrally running thereon, for ensuring complete data-packet delivery. To prevent unwarranted performance degradation caused by duplicative efforts of reliability mechanisms, a fabric controller is employed to selectively disable one or more of the reliability mechanisms individually. The selective disablement of the reliability mechanisms is invoked by predefined criteria, such as instructions from a service model or detected identity of a source/destination endpoint, and is invoked on a per network connection basis. | 11-08-2012 |
20120303809 | OFFLOADING LOAD BALANCING PACKET MODIFICATION - The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for off loading load balancing packet modification. Embodiments of the invention can be used to offload the load of forwarding packets back to packet senders. Load balancers and/or the NAT devices can handle the first few packets of a connection to formulate connection mappings and then are removed from further communication for the connections. For example, a load balancer or NAT device makes the corresponding load balancing or the NAT decision based on a first packet and then informs the sender of the data of the decision. From then on, the sender can directly send the data to the receiver without having to go through the load balancer or NAT. | 11-29-2012 |
20120311159 | DIRECT ADDRESSABILITY AND DIRECT SERVER RETURN - Cloud computing platforms having computer-readable media that perform methods for direct addressability and direct server return are provided. The cloud computing platform includes a load balancer and several servers. The servers are configured with public addresses, private addresses, and an address of the load balancer. The loopback interface of the servers is configured with the address of the load balancer. This allows a server to bypass the load balancer when replying to communication messages. Additionally, the public and private addresses of the servers enable direct addressability in the cloud computing platform. Accordingly, an application executing in the cloud computing platform may connect two or more clients on the same server. | 12-06-2012 |
20130013805 | TRANSPARENT AUTO-DISCOVERY OF NETWORK DEVICES LOGICALLY LOCATED BETWEEN A CLIENT AND SERVER - Discovery of intermediate network devices is performed using a technique that piggybacks upon the existing standard TCP (Transport Control Protocol) “SACK” (Selective Acknowledgment) option in a SYN/ACK packet so that discovery information may be shared between pair-wise-deployed peer intermediate devices when a TCP/IP connection (Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is first established between network endpoints using a conventional three-way handshake. Use of the SACK option is combined with another technique which comprises modifying the original 16-bit value of the TCP receive window size to a special arbitrary value to mark a SYN packet as being generated by a first peer device. The marked SYN when received by the second peer device triggers that device's discovery information to be piggybacked in the SACK option of the SYN/ACK packet. The first device then piggybacks its discovery information in the SACK option of the ACK packet which completes the three-way handshake. | 01-10-2013 |
20130117446 | ADDRESS MANAGEMENT IN A CONNECTIVITY PLATFORM - Disclosed are an approach form managing and assigning addresses in a connectivity platform that allows for proprietary connectivity modules (Providers) to plug into the operating system. In this disclosure, when a user/application/computing device, connects to another user on another computing device an address is generated for that user. However, because of a limited number of addresses that are available in an address space, it is necessary to ensure that a conflicting address is not present. To ensure this the connectivity platform determines if the address assigned is in conflict with another address associated with users that are located on the other computing devices. If an address is found to be in conflict the connectivity platform reassigns the address until a non-conflicting address is found. If a non-conflicting address cannot be found the connectivity platform blocks the connection between the user and the other user. | 05-09-2013 |
20130232272 | Optimal Source Interface Selection - Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to selecting a source interface with which to establish a connection. In aspects, a profile for each network location a host has seen is maintained in a data store. The profile includes information about the network interfaces available to a source host at the network location. This information indicates, among other things, the reliability of each interface of the source host. Based on the profile, an interface is selected with which to establish a connection. If the interface is unsuccessful in establishing the connection, the interface is de-prioritized and another interface may be selected. | 09-05-2013 |
20130318226 | SHAPING VIRTUAL MACHINE COMMUNICATION TRAFFIC - Cloud computing platforms having computer-readable media that perform methods to shape virtual machine communication traffic. The cloud computing platform includes virtual machines and a controller. The controller limits the traffic associated with the virtual machines to enable the virtual machines to achieve desired communication rates, especially when a network servicing the virtual machines is congested. The controller may drop communication messages associated with the virtual machines based on a drop probability evaluated for the virtual machines. | 11-28-2013 |
20130339505 | MULTI-TENANT MIDDLEWARE CLOUD SERVICE TECHNOLOGY - A system that includes multiple hosts, each running a plurality of virtual machines. The system may be, for example, a cloud computing environment in which there are services and a service coordination system that communicates with the hosts and with the services. The services include a middleware management service that is configured to maintain per-tenant middleware policy for each of multiple tenants. The middleware management service causes the middleware policy to be applied to network traffic by directing network traffic to a middleware enforcement mechanism. This middleware policy is per-tenant in that it depends on an identity of a tenant. | 12-19-2013 |
20130343191 | ENSURING PREDICTABLE AND QUANTIFIABLE NETWORKING PERFORMANCE - The ensuring of predictable and quantifiable networking performance. Embodiments of the invention combine a congestion free network core with a hypervisor based (i.e., edge-based) throttling design to help insure quantitative and invariable subscription bandwidth rates. A lightweight shim layer in a hypervisor can adaptively throttle the rate of VM-to-VM traffic flow. A receiving hypervisor can detect congestion and communicate back to sending hypervisors that rates are to be regulated. In response, sending hypervisors can reduce transmission rate to mitigate congestion at the receiving hypervisor. In some embodiments, the principles are extended to any message processors communicating over a congestion free network. | 12-26-2013 |
20130346558 | DELIVERY CONTROLLER BETWEEN CLOUD AND ENTERPRISE - A delivery controller for use in an enterprise environment that communicates with a cloud computing environment that is providing a service for the enterprise. As the cloud service processing progresses, some cloud service data is transferred from the cloud computing environment to the enterprise environment, and vice versa. The cloud service data may be exchanged over any one of a number of different types of communication channels. The delivery controller selects which communication channel to use to transfer specific data, depending on enterprise policy. Such policy might consider any business goals of the enterprise, and may be applied at the application level. | 12-26-2013 |
20140098814 | VIRTUAL MACHINE MULTICAST/BROADCAST IN VIRTUAL NETWORK - The performance of multicast and/or broadcasting between virtual machines over a virtual network. A source hypervisor accesses a network message originated from a source virtual machine, and uses the network message to determine a virtual network address associated with destination virtual machines (after potentially resolving group virtual network addresses). Using each virtual network address, the hypervisor determines a physical network address of the corresponding hypervisor that supports the destination virtual machine, and also determines a unique identifier for the destination virtual machine. The source hypervisor may then dispatch the network message along with the unique identifier to the destination hypervisor over the physical network using the physical network address of the hypervisor. The destination hypervisor passes the network message to the destination virtual machine identified by the unique identifier. | 04-10-2014 |
20140115186 | RECEIVE WINDOW AUTO-TUNING - Methods of tuning a receive window. A receiving device and a sending device may be in communication over a network. The receiving device may advertise a receive window to the sending device. The size of the receive window may be adjusted over time based on one or more connection parameters, application parameters and/or operating system parameters. | 04-24-2014 |
20140196121 | FEDERATION AMONG SERVICES FOR SUPPORTING VIRTUAL-NETWORK OVERLAYS - Computerized methods, systems, and computer-readable media for promoting cooperation between a first and second virtual network overlay (“overlay”) are provided. The first overlay is governed by a first authority domain and includes members assigned virtual IP addresses from a first address range. The second overlay is governed by a second authority domain, which is associated with a second federation mechanism, for negotiating on behalf of the second overlay. The second federation mechanism is capable of negotiating with, or soliciting delegation of authority from, a first federation mechanism that is associated with the first authority domain. When negotiations are successful or authority is delegated, the second federation mechanism establishes a communication link between the second overlay and the first overlay or joins a member of the second overlay to the first overlay. Joining involves allocating a guest IP address from the first address range to the member. | 07-10-2014 |
20140304387 | MULTI-TENANT MIDDLEWARE CLOUD SERVICE TECHNOLOGY - A system that includes multiple hosts, each running a plurality of virtual machines. The system may be, for example, a cloud computing environment in which there are services and a service coordination system that communicates with the hosts and with the services. The services include a middleware management service that is configured to maintain per-tenant middleware policy for each of multiple tenants. The middleware management service causes the middleware policy to be applied to network traffic by directing network traffic to a middleware enforcement mechanism. This middleware policy is per-tenant in that it depends on an identity of a tenant. | 10-09-2014 |
20140347998 | ENSURING PREDICTABLE AND QUANTIFIABLE NETWORKING PERFORMANCE - The ensuring of predictable and quantifiable networking performance. Embodiments of the invention combine a congestion free network core with a hypervisor based (i.e., edge-based) throttling design to help insure quantitative and invariable subscription bandwidth rates. A lightweight shim layer in a hypervisor can adaptively throttle the rate of VM-to-VM traffic flow. A receiving hypervisor can detect congestion and communicate back to sending hypervisors that rates are to be regulated. In response, sending hypervisors can reduce transmission rate to mitigate congestion at the receiving hypervisor. In some embodiments, the principles are extended to any message processors communicating over a congestion free network. | 11-27-2014 |
20140369358 | CONNECTIVITY PLATFORM - Disclosed are a connectivity platform that allows for proprietary connectivity modules to plug into the operating system and also allows the operating system users and various existing networking applications in the operating system that are authorized by those providers to use that connectivity via existing APIs without the need for the applications to change or for extra configuration of the application to be performed. In an example disclosed herein, the providers provide NAT or firewall traversal and implement the appropriate transport mechanism. This allows for applications and computing devices to communicate in environments where connectivity is prevented by intermediate systems. | 12-18-2014 |