Fine-grained SD-WAN optimization services for cloud-native applications
In one embodiment, a device of a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) receives, from a cloud-native application, contextual data for the cloud-native application that identifies microservices of the cloud-native application. The device translates the contextual data for the cloud-native application into a network policy for traffic in the SD-WAN associated with the cloud-native application. The device applies the network policy to a traffic flow in the SD-WAN between an endpoint and a particular microservice of the cloud-native application.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a device of a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) and from a cloud-native application, contextual data for the cloud-native application that identifies microservices of the cloud-native application using a data plane or a control plane of a SD-WAN fabric of the SD-WAN;
translating, by the device, the contextual data for the cloud-native application into a network policy for traffic in the SD-WAN associated with the cloud-native application; and
applying, by the device, the network policy to a traffic flow in the SD-WAN between an endpoint and a particular microservice of the cloud-native application,
wherein applying the network policy to the traffic flow in the SD-WAN between the endpoint and the particular microservice of the cloud-native application comprises:
selecting a path for the traffic flow in the SD-WAN based on one or more performance characteristics of the path.
2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the access policy for the particular microservice specifies a user group to which the endpoint belongs.
3. The method as in claim 1 , wherein translating the contextual data for the cloud-native application into the network policy for traffic in the SD-WAN associated with the cloud-native application comprises:
selecting one or more SD-WAN services to be applied to traffic in the SD-WAN associated with the particular microservice.
4. The method as in claim 3 , wherein the one or more SD-WAN services comprise at least one of: a path visibility service, a Transport Control Protocol (TCP) optimization service, a Forward Error Control (FEC) service, a packet duplication service, or a firewall service.
5. The method as in claim 3 , wherein the contextual data specifies network requirements for the particular microservice.
6. The method as in claim 1 , wherein receiving the contextual data for the cloud-native application that identifies microservices of the cloud-native application comprises:
extracting the contextual data from a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) header of traffic sent by the cloud-native application.
7. The method as in claim 1 , wherein receiving the contextual data for the cloud-native application that identifies microservices of the cloud-native application comprises:
receiving the contextual data via an application programming interface (API).
8. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the device of the SD-WAN comprises a router.
9. An apparatus, comprising:
one or more network interfaces to communicate with a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN);
a processor coupled to the one or more network interfaces and configured to execute one or more processes; and
a memory configured to store a process that is executable by the processor, the process when executed configured to:
receive, from a cloud-native application, contextual data for the cloud-native application that identifies microservices of the cloud-native application using a data plane or a control plane of a SD-WAN fabric of the SD-WAN;
translate the contextual data for the cloud-native application into a network policy for traffic in the SD-WAN associated with the cloud-native application; and
apply the network policy to a traffic flow in the SD-WAN between an endpoint and a particular of the cloud-native application,
wherein the apparatus applies the network policy to the traffic flow in the SD-WAN between the endpoint and the particular microservice of the cloud-native application by:
selecting a path for the traffic flow in the SD-WAN based on one or more performance characteristics of the path.
10. The apparatus as in claim 9 , wherein the access policy for the particular microservice specifies a user group to which the endpoint belongs.
11. The apparatus as in claim 9 , wherein the apparatus translates the contextual data for the cloud-native application into the network policy for traffic in the SD-WAN associated with the cloud-native application by:
selecting one or more SD-WAN services to be applied to traffic in the SD-WAN associated with the particular microservice.
12. The apparatus as in claim 11 , wherein the one or more SD-WAN services comprise at least one of: a path visibility service, a Transport Control Protocol (TCP) optimization service, a Forward Error Control (FEC) service, a packet duplication service, or a firewall service.
13. The apparatus as in claim 11 , wherein the contextual data specifies network requirements for the particular microservice.
14. The apparatus as in claim 9 , wherein the apparatus receives the contextual data for the cloud-native application that identifies microservices of the cloud-native application by:
extracting the contextual data from a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) header of traffic sent by the cloud-native application.
15. The apparatus as in claim 9 , wherein the apparatus receives the contextual data for the cloud-native application that identifies microservices of the cloud-native application by:
receiving the contextual data via an application programming interface (API).
16. The apparatus as in claim 9 , wherein the apparatus is a router.
17. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program instructions that cause a device of a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) to execute a process comprising:
receiving, at the device and from a cloud-native application, contextual data for the cloud-native application that identifies microservices of the cloud-native application using a data plane or a control plane of a SD-WAN fabric of the SD-WAN;
translating, by the device, the contextual data for the cloud-native application into a network policy for traffic in the SD-WAN associated with the cloud-native application; and
applying, by the device, the network policy to a traffic flow in the SD-WAN between an endpoint and a particular of the cloud-native application,
wherein applying the network policy to the traffic flow in the SD-WAN between the endpoint and the particular microservice of the cloud-native application comprises:
selecting a path for the traffic flow in the SD-WAN based on one or more performance characteristics of the path.