Method and apparatus for automated network connectivity for managed application components within a cloud

1. A method performed by an application manager for automatically establishing a network connection between components of an application within a distributed cloud, the method comprising:

establishing application components in the distributed cloud;

selecting a first application component;

identifying network characteristics from a network policy file associated with the first application component;

determining a network connection between the first application component and a second application component according to the network characteristics associated with the first application component;

associating the network connection with the first application component; and

establishing the network connection between the first and second application components.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the network policy file from an application provider.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving a recipe file from the application provider, wherein the recipe file defines the application components.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that a third application component needs a network connection;

identifying network characteristics from the network policy file associated with the third application component;

determining a network connection between the third application component and a fourth application component according to the network characteristics associated with the third application component;

associating the network connection with the third application component; and

establishing the network connection between the third and fourth application components.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the connection between the first application component and the second application component is a private network.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network policy file includes network information of one of network connection bandwidth, network connection latency, IP allocation type, default network ID, private network identifier, and IP address range.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first application component includes a private database and the connection between the first application component and the second application component is a private network.

8. An application manager for automatically establishing a network connection between components of an application within a distributed cloud, the application manager comprising:

a data storage;

a processor in communication with the data storage, the processor being configured to: establish application components in the distributed cloud; select a first application component; identify network characteristics from a network policy file associated with the first application component; determine a network connection between the first application component and a second application component according to the network characteristics associated with the first application component; associate the network connection with the first application component; and establish the network connection between the first and second application components.

9. The application manager of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive the network policy file from an application provider.

10. The application manager of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a recipe file from the application provider, wherein the recipe file defines the application components.

11. The application manager of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to: determine that a third application component needs a network connection; identify network characteristics from the network policy file associated with the third application component; determine a network connection between the third application component and a fourth application component according to the network characteristics associated with the third application component; associate the network connection with the third application component; and establish the network connection between the third and fourth application components.

12. The application manager of claim 8 , wherein the connection between the first application component and the second application component is a private network.

13. The application manager of claim 8 , wherein the network policy file includes network information of one of network connection bandwidth, network connection latency, IP allocation type, default network ID, private network identifier, and IP address range.

14. The application manager of claim 8 , wherein the first application component includes a private database and the connection between the first application component and the second application component is a private network.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for execution by an application manager for automatically establishing a network connection between components of an application within a distributed cloud, the medium comprising:

instructions for establishing application components in the distributed cloud;

instructions for selecting a first application component;

instructions for identifying network characteristics from a network policy file associated with the first application component;

instructions for determining a network connection between the first application component and a second application component according to the network characteristics associated with the first application component;

instructions for associating the network connection with the first application component; and

instructions for establishing the network connection between the first and second application components.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising:

instructions for receiving the network policy file from an application provider.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , further comprising:

instructions for receiving a recipe file from the application provider, wherein the recipe file defines the application components.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising:

instructions for determining that a third application component needs a network connection;

instructions for identifying network characteristics from the network policy file associated with the third application component;

instructions for determining a network connection between the third application component and a fourth application component according to the network characteristics associated with the third application component;

instructions for associating the network connection with the third application component; and

instructions for establishing the network connection between the third and fourth application components.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the network policy file includes network information of one of network connection bandwidth, network connection latency, IP allocation type, default network ID, private network identifier, and IP address range.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the first application component includes a private database and the connection between the first application component and the second application component is a private network.