Managing traffic control in a network mitigating DDOS
Embodiments are provided for managing routes of data traffic within a network. The management may be performed via a graphical user interface that interacts with a Web server to update a configuration file. The configuration file can be converted to router management commands by a network management device (e.g., a BGP speaker). The commands can then be sent to border routers for controlling network traffic. Embodiments are also provided for capturing and logging routing updates made in a network.
1. A method of managing routes of data traffic within a network, the method comprising performing, by a computer system:
providing a user interface for a user to input an address and a first routing action;
receiving the address and the first routing action via the user interface;
updating a configuration file to specify the first routing action to be performed by a border router associated with the address;
converting the configuration file into router management commands to be performed by the border router associated with the address based on the first routing action; and
sending the router management commands to the border router of a plurality of border routers of the network.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the address is a source address.
3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the address is a destination address.
4. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein updating the configuration file includes adding the address to the configuration file.
5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the computer system is a server.
6. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the router management commands are Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) commands, and wherein the server acts as BGP speaker.
7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the computer system includes a server in a transmitting device, wherein the transmitting device converts the configuration file and sends the router management command.
8. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the user interface provides a plurality of routing actions from which to select.
9. The method as recited in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of routing actions includes a null routing action.
10. The method as recited in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of routing actions includes a diversion routing action that specifies a computing device within the network that is not a destination address.
11. The method as recited in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of routing actions includes a discard routing action, where the discard routing action occurs at the plurality of border routers.
12. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein a computing device filters network traffic based on rules.
13. The method as recited in claim 12 , wherein the filtering mitigates denial of service attacks on the destination address.
14. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
forwarding one or more router management commands from the plurality of border routers to one or more other routers based on the first routing action.
15. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the address specifies a range of addresses.
16. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the user interface displays a list of destination addresses and an associated routing action.
17. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the user interface provides selection objects for editing or deleting the destination address from the list.
18. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the user interface provides selection object to add a border router to which the router management commands are sent.
19. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the user interface displays a time associated with each destination address on the list.
20. The method as recited in claim 19 , with the time corresponds to how long the associated routing action has been performed for each destination address on the list.
21. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
sending a message to each of the plurality of border routers; and
updating a status on the user interface based on responses from the border routers.
22. The method as recited in claim 21 , further comprising:
sending an alert message to a system operator if no response is received from the border router.
23. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
querying a routing log file for routing changes; and
adding any new route changes to a database of routing changes.
24. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the address is a destination address, the method further comprising:
accessing a plurality of routing tables from a plurality of routers of the network to determine possible routes to the address, the plurality of routers including the plurality of border routers; and
displaying information about the possible routes to the address.
25. The method as recited in claim 24 , wherein the information about the possible routes includes where the possible routes will exit the network.
26. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving credentials from the user; and
determining a type of account of the user from a plurality of account types based on the credentials, wherein one account type is a limited account that has allowed routing actions that are a subset of all routing actions allowed.
27. The method as recited in claim 26 , further comprising:
displaying only allowed routing actions to a particular user that has the limited account.
28. A method of configuring routers, the method comprising performing, by a computer system:
providing a user interface for a user to specify a customer network and to input a routing action to route traffic to the customer network via a mitigation network, the customer network including a plurality of customer router addresses;
receiving, via the user interface, specification of the customer network and the routing action to route the traffic to the customer network via the mitigation network;
initiating one or more connections between the mitigation network and the customer network using a plurality of routing variables; and
sending, to the border router of a plurality of routing devices, router management commands to route the traffic destined for the customer network to the mitigation network, the plurality of routing devices being external to the mitigation network.
29. The method as recited in claim 28 , wherein the customer network is specified as a plurality of network addresses.
30. The method as recited in claim 28 , wherein the routing variables include a plurality of internal addresses.
31. The method as recited in claim 28 , wherein the routing variables include a plurality of external addresses.
32. The method as recited in claim 28 , wherein the connections are IP tunnels.
33. The method as recited in claim 32 , wherein the user interface further includes a mechanism for inputting a plurality of routing variables and wherein the routing variables are used to initiate the IP tunnels.
34. The method as recited in claim 32 , wherein the user interface further includes a mechanism for inputting the number of IP tunnels to be initiated.
35. The method as recited in claim 32 , wherein the IP tunnels are GRE tunnels.