IP Library › Granted Patent US 12695669

Granted Patent B2

US 12695669 · App. 18/119,172 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Computer network controller with switch auto-claim

Inventors: Deepak Kumar (San Ramon, CA); Shyam Nayan Kapadia (San Jose, CA); Neelesh Kumar (Pleasanton, CA); Sri Goli (Dublin, CA); Eshwar Rao Yedavalli (Fremont, CA)

Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.

H04L41/12

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12695669
App. No.: 18/119,172
Granted: Jul 28, 2026
Kind: B2

External Links

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Abstract

Techniques for automatically claiming switches of a tenant computer network by a remote, cloud-based network controller. A first seed switch is manually claimed by a user by implementing the remote, cloud-based network controller. After claiming the seed switch a set of switches immediately connected with the seed switch are identified by Device Connector logic in the seed switch and immediately connected switches. Switches directly connected to those switches are then identified using Device Connector logic of the switches. This process is performed iteratively by identifying immediately connected switches until all of the switches are identified. All or a subset of the identified switches can then be claimed by the remote, cloud-based controller based on a response from the tenant network user.

Claims (54)

1 . A method for automatically claiming switches of a tenant computer network, the method comprising:

receiving, at a controller and from a user, information regarding a seed switch of the tenant computer network, wherein the controller manages a plurality of tenant computer networks;

claiming the seed switch by registering the switch with an account associated with the user based on the information regarding the seed switch received from the user;

receiving, at the controller and from a device connector of the seed switch, first identification information regarding a first set of switches, the first set of switches being-directly connected with the seed switch;

receiving, at the controller and from a device connector of each of the first set of switches, second identification information regarding a second set of switches each of which is directly connected with at least one switch of the first set of switches,

wherein the first set of switches and the second set of switches are unregistered to any accounts managed by the controller such that the controller is unaware to which of the plurality of tenant computer networks the first set of switches and the second set of switches belong;

using the first identification information and the second identification information, constructing a logical tree of switches of the tenant computer network;

receiving input from the user indicating a particular set of switches in the logical tree that are to be claimed; and

using the first identification information and the second identification information, claiming the particular set of switches of the logical tree of switches such that the particular set of switches are registered with the account independent of the user providing the first identification information and the second identification information.

2 . The method as in claim 1 , further comprising sending a notification regarding switches to be claimed from the logical tree of switches.

3 . The method as in claim 1 , further comprising repeatedly receiving identification information regarding directly connected switches until all switches of the tenant computer network have been identified.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the switches of the logical tree of switches comprises link layer discovery protocol logic.

5 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein each of the switches comprises Cisco Discovery Protocol logic.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

maintaining, at the controller, an unclaimed device repository comprising identification information for switches from a plurality of different tenant computer networks, wherein the unclaimed device repository stores the first identification information and the second identification information prior to the claiming of the particular set of switches, and wherein the identification information for switches of different tenant computer networks is stored together in the unclaimed device repository without the controller being able to associate any particular switch with any particular tenant computer network until that switch is claimed by a user associated with that tenant computer network.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

after claiming the particular set of switches, periodically updating the logical tree of switches of the tenant computer network by checking for changes in connectivity from the seed switch; and

upon identifying one or more newly discovered switches in the updated logical tree that are not registered with the account, transmitting a notification to the user identifying the one or more newly discovered switches as candidates for claiming, wherein the one or more newly discovered switches are claimed into the account upon receiving input from the user selecting the one or more newly discovered switches for claiming, independent of the user providing identification information for the one or more newly discovered switches.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein claiming the particular set of switches comprises:

transmitting, from the controller to the seed switch, a username and password provided by the user together with a list of the particular set of switches to be claimed;

receiving, at the controller from the seed switch, a device identifier and claim code for each switch in the particular set of switches, wherein the device identifier and claim code for each switch are obtained by the seed switch by contacting each switch in the particular set of switches using the username and password; and

registering each switch of the particular set of switches with the account using the device identifier and claim code received from the seed switch, wherein the username and password are not stored by the controller after registration of the particular set of switches is complete.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that one or more switches of the tenant computer network do not support execution of a device connector, deploying a proxy virtual machine on premises within the tenant computer network, wherein the proxy virtual machine executes a device connector on behalf of the one or more switches that do not support execution of a device connector; and

receiving, at the controller and from the proxy virtual machine, identification information regarding the one or more switches that do not support execution of a device connector, wherein the proxy virtual machine discovers the one or more switches using a link layer discovery protocol and serves as a proxy for the one or more switches in communicating with the controller.

10 . A remote computer network controller comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a controller and from a user, information regarding a seed switch of a tenant computer network, wherein the controller manages a plurality of tenant computer networks;

claiming the seed switch by registering the switch with an account associated with the user based on the information regarding the seed switch received from the user;

receiving, at the controller and from a device connector of the seed switch, first identification information regarding a first set of switches, the first set of switches being directly connected with the seed switch;

using the first identification information and the second identification information, constructing a logical tree of switches of the tenant computer network;

receiving input from the user indicating a particular set of switches in the logical tree that are to be claimed; and

11 . The remote computer network controller as in claim 10 , the operations further comprising sending a notification regarding switches to be claimed from the logical tree of switches.

12 . The remote computer network controller as in claim 10 the operations further comprising repeatedly receiving identification information regarding directly connected switches until all switches of the tenant computer network have been identified.

13 . The remote computer network controller as in claim 10 , wherein each of the switches comprises link layer discovery protocol logic.

14 . The remote computer network controller as in claim 10 wherein each of the switches comprises Cisco Discover Protocol logic.

15 . The remote computer network controller as in claim 10 wherein each of the switches is connected with a wide area network.

16 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a controller and from a user, information regarding a seed switch of a tenant computer network, wherein the controller manages a plurality of tenant computer networks;

claiming the seed switch by registering the switch with an account associated with the user based on the information regarding the seed switch received from the user;

using the first identification information and the second identification information, constructing a logical tree of switches of the tenant computer network;

receiving input from the user indicating a particular set of switches in the logical tree that are to be claimed; and

17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , the operations further comprising, sending a notification regarding switches to be claimed from the logical tree of switches.

18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , the operations further comprising, repeatedly receiving identification information regarding directly connected switches until all switches of the tenant computer network have been identified.

19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein each of the switches comprises link layer discovery protocol logic.

20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein each of the switches comprises Cisco Discovery Protocol logic.