Systems and methods to control operation of virtualized networks

1. A system to monitor operation of at least one virtualized network (VN) comprising:

a processor, an input/output device coupled to the processor, and a memory coupled with the processor, the memory comprising executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising:

using context information associated with the VN to analyze a state of the VN;

causing at least one configuration change to the VN in response to analysis of the state of the VN;

identifying a change to the state of the VN caused by the configuration change;

evaluating an impact of the change to the state of the VN; and

instantiating at least one virtual network function or virtual machine that is directed at creating a response to the evaluated impact.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the context information comprises (a) context information received by the system in real time during operation of the VN during a first time period; (b) historical context information describing operation of the VN during a second time period prior to the first time period; and (c) meta context information that describes factors external to operation of the VN that may affect operation of the VN during a third time period subsequent to the first time period.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the operation of using context information comprises using historical context information to anticipate changes to the state of the VN during the first time period.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the VN comprises a plurality of virtual machines (VMs) and the historical context information comprises demand on the plurality of virtual machines.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein causing a configuration change comprises adding at least one VM to the VN during the first time period in response to demand on the plurality of VMs exceeding a predetermined threshold during the second time period.

6. The system of claim 2 , wherein the operation of using context information comprises using real time context information to anticipate changes to operation of the VN.

7. The system of claim 2 , wherein the operation of using context information comprises:

identifying a source of meta context information;

receiving the meta context information from the source; and

determining that the meta context information is relevant to operation of the VN during the third time period.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operation of making the determination comprises:

selecting at least one performance indicator associated with the VN;

monitoring the at least one performance indicator.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein selecting the at least one performance indicator comprises selecting at least one of virtual CPU utilization, virtual memory utilization, net throughput, and queries per second to the VN as the at least one performance indicator.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operation of making comprises:

correlating a change in state of the performance indicator to a change in state of the VN.

11. A method to monitor operation of at least one software defined network (VN) comprising:

using context information associated with the VN to analyze a state of the VN;

causing at least one configuration change to the VN in response to analysis of the state of the VN;

identifying a change to the state of the VN caused by the configuration change;

evaluating an impact of the change to the state of the VN; and

instantiating at least one virtual network function or virtual machine that is directed at creating a response to the evaluated impact.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the context information comprises (a) context information received by the system in real time during operation of the VN during a first time period; (b) historical context information describing operation of the VN during a second time period prior to the first time period; and (c) meta context information that describes factors external to operation of the VN that may affect operation of the VN during a third time period subsequent to the first time period.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the operation of using context information comprises using historical context information to anticipate changes to the state of the VN during the first time period.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the VN comprises a plurality of virtual machines (VMs) and the historical context information comprises demand on the plurality of virtual machines.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein causing a configuration change comprises adding at least one VM to the VN during the first time period in response to demand on the plurality of VMs exceeding a predetermined threshold during the second time period.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the operation of using context information comprises using real time context information to anticipate changes to operation of the VN.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the operation of using context information comprises:

identifying a source of meta context information;

receiving the meta context information from the source; and

determining that the meta context information is relevant to operation of the VN during the third time period.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the operation of making the determination comprises:

selecting at least one performance indicator associated with the VN;

monitoring the at least one performance indicator.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein selecting the at least one performance indicator comprises selecting at least one of virtual CPU utilization, virtual memory utilization, net throughput, and queries per second to the VN as the at least one performance indicator.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the operation of making comprises:

correlating a change in state of the performance indicator to a change in state of the VN.