Systems and methods for utilizing network hints to configure the operation of modern workspaces
Systems and methods for utilizing network hints to configure the operation of modern workspaces are described. In an embodiment, an Information Handling System (IHS) may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution, cause the IHS to: receive, by a network performance service, a network configuration policy; determine, by the network performance service, one or more characteristics of network traffic generated by a selected one of a plurality of workspaces instantiated via a local management agent; receive, by the network performance service, one or more traffic hints; and execute a responsive action prescribed in the network configuration policy based, at least in part, upon: (i) the one or more characteristics of network traffic, and (ii) the one or more traffic hints.
1. An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution, cause the IHS to:
receive, by a network performance service, a network configuration policy;
determine, by the network performance service, one or more characteristics of network traffic generated by a selected workspace of a plurality of workspaces instantiated via a local management agent, wherein the one or more characteristics of the network traffic comprise: a priority, a number of applications executed in the selected workspace, and a duration that each of the applications runs at a given priority;
receive from a kernel mode driver, by the network performance service, one or more traffic hints; and
execute a responsive action prescribed in the network configuration policy based, at least in part, upon: (i) the one or more characteristics of network traffic, and (ii) the one or more traffic hints.
2. The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the one or more characteristics of network traffic and the one or more traffic hints collectively indicate that the selected workspace generates latency-tolerant, bulk traffic, and wherein the responsive action comprises migrating the selected workspace from the IHS to a remote server.
3. The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the one or more characteristics of network traffic and the one or more traffic hints collectively indicate that the selected workspace generates low priority, bulk traffic, and wherein the responsive action comprises executing the selected workspace during a period of low network usage.
4. The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the one or more characteristics of network traffic and the one or more traffic hints collectively indicate that the selected workspace generates high priority traffic, and wherein the responsive action comprises stopping at least another one of the plurality of workspaces from executing.
5. The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the one or more characteristics of network traffic comprise a weighted average priority of the applications executed in the selected workspace.
6. The IHS of claim 5 , wherein the one or more characteristics of network traffic comprise the weighted average priority over a plurality of samples (pave(n)).
7. The IHS of claim 6 , wherein the one or more traffic hints comprise an amount of network traffic selected from the group consisting of: high, medium, and low.
8. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein p ave(n) has a value of approximately 1.2 and the amount of network traffic is high, and wherein the responsive action comprises maintaining a lower priority of first network traffic generated by a web browsing application in favor of second network traffic generated by a video conferencing application within the selected workspace.
9. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein p ave(n) has a value of approximately 1.4 and the amount of network traffic is high, and wherein the responsive action comprises reducing a priority of first network traffic generated by a downloading operation in favor of second network traffic generated by a video conferencing operation within the selected workspace.
10. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein p ave(n) has a value of approximately 1.4 and the amount of network traffic is low, and wherein the responsive action comprises maintaining a priority of first network traffic generated by a downloading operation in spite of second network traffic generated by a video conferencing operation within the selected workspace.
11. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein p ave(n) has a value of approximately 2 and the amount of network traffic is high, and wherein the responsive action comprises migrating the selected workspace to a remote server.
12. The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the local management agent is configured to receive, from a remotely executed workspace orchestration service, data configured to enable the local management agent to instantiate each of the plurality of workspaces based upon a corresponding one of a plurality of workspace definitions, and wherein each workspace definition identifies whether its respectively instantiated workspace is subject to the network configuration policy.
13. The IHS of claim 12 , wherein the workspace orchestration service is configured to, for each of the plurality of workspaces: (i) calculate a security target and a productivity target based in part upon context information received at a backend server from the local management agent, and (ii) create a workspace definition based upon the security target and the productivity target.
14. The IHS of claim 13 , wherein the context information comprises at least one of: an identification of a locale of the IHS, an identification of a user of the IHS, an identification of a network of the IHS, an identification of hardware of the IHS, an identification of a requested datafile, or an identification of a storage system of the requested datafile.
15. The IHS of claim 13 , wherein the security target is calculated by the workspace orchestration service based upon at least one of: a risk metric associated with a locale of the IHS, a risk metric associated with a user of the IHS, a risk metric associated with a network of the IHS, a risk metric associated with hardware of the IHS, a risk metric associated with a requested datafile, or a regulatory risk metric associated with the user, the locale, and the requested datafile.
16. The IHS of claim 13 , wherein the productivity target is calculated by the workspace orchestration service based upon at least one of: a resource metric associated with a locale of the IHS, a resource metric associated with a user of the IHS, a resource metric associated with a network of the IHS, a resource metric associated with hardware of the IHS, or a resource metric associated with a storage system of a requested datafile.
17. The IHS of claim 13 , wherein the workspace definition comprises at least one of: a threat monitoring level, a threat detection level, a threat analytics level, a threat response level, a storage confidentiality level, a network confidentiality level, a memory confidentiality level, a display confidentiality level, a user authentication level, an Information Technology (IT) administration level, a regulatory compliance level, a local storage control level, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) access level, a graphics access level, an application usage level, or an application installation level.
18. A memory storage device having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by an Information Handling System (IHS), cause the IHS to:
receive, by a network performance service, a network configuration policy;
determine, by the network performance service, one or more characteristics of network traffic generated by a selected workspace of a plurality of workspaces instantiated via a local management agent, wherein the one or more characteristics of the network traffic comprise: a priority, a number of applications executed in the selected workspace, and a duration that each of the applications runs at a given priority;
receive from a kernel mode driver, by the network performance service, one or more traffic hints; and
execute a responsive action prescribed in the network configuration policy based, at least in part, upon: (i) the one or more characteristics of network traffic, and (ii) the one or more traffic hints.
19. In an Information Handling System (IHS), a method comprising:
receiving, by a network performance service, a network configuration policy;
determining, by the network performance service, one or more characteristics of network traffic generated by a selected workspace of a plurality of workspaces instantiated via a local management agent, wherein the one or more characteristics of the network traffic comprise: a priority, a number of applications executed in the selected workspace, and a duration that each of the applications runs at a given priority;
receiving from a kernel mode driver, by the network performance service, one or more traffic hints; and
executing a responsive action prescribed in the network configuration policy based, at least in part, upon: (i) the one or more characteristics of network traffic, and (ii) the one or more traffic hints.