Simulating, visualizing, and searching traffic in a software defined network
View Patent ↗The present disclosure pertains to systems and methods for simulating data packet routing within a software defined network (“SDN”), visualizing the results of the simulation, and permitting a user to search the resulting simulation. In one specified embodiment, a system may receive from a user a simulation parameter associated with a packet to be simulated in the SDN. A packet based on the at least one simulation parameter may be generated. A response of the SDN to the packet may be simulated by identifying applicable traffic routing rules and identifying a subsequent destination based on the applicable traffic routing rules. A record of the subsequent destination may be added to the simulation result, and the process may continue until a terminating condition is satisfied.
1. A system configured to assess a traffic flow in a software defined network (SDN), the system comprising:
a user-interface subsystem configured to receive from a user at least one simulation parameter associated with at least one packet to be simulated in the SDN;
a simulation subsystem configured to:
generate at least one packet based on the at least one simulation parameter;
simulate a response to the at least one simulation parameter based on an iterative process, the iterative process configured to:
identify at least one applicable traffic routing rule based on at least one attribute of the at least one packet;
identify a subsequent destination based on the applicable traffic routing rule;
add a record to a simulation result based on the subsequent destination;
continue the iterative process until a terminating condition is satisfied;
a representation subsystem configured to generate a representation of the simulation result; and,
a controller configured to communicate traffic routing rules to a plurality of communication devices of the SDN.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user-interface subsystem is further configured to display a flow table associated with a device in the SDN based on a user action and to receive a change to the flow table.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the representation comprises a graphical representation of each subsequent destination of the at least one packet.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the graphical representation comprises the simulation result overlaid on a network diagram.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the simulation subsystem is further configured to generate a failover path associated with the at least one packet and the representation subsystem is further configured to represent the failover path in the representation.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the simulation parameter comprises a partial packet that satisfies a plurality of applicable traffic routing rules, and the representation reflects a plurality of potential routes of the partial packet.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the attribute comprises one of a destination, a priority, a data type, a data protocol, a MAC address, a source, and a VLAN identifier.
8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a query subsystem, and wherein the simulation subsystem is further configured to identify a subset of the simulation results that satisfy the query.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the terminating condition comprises one of the at least one data packet reaching a final destination and the at least one data packet being dropped.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user-interface subsystem is further configured to receive a limitation to restrict the response to a single communication flow in the SDN.
11. A method for assessing a traffic flow in a software defined network (SDN), the method comprising:
receiving from a user at least one simulation parameter associated with at least one packet to be simulated in the SDN;
generating at least one packet based on the at least one simulation parameter;
simulating a response to the at least one simulation parameter using an iterative process, comprising:
identifying at least one applicable traffic routing rule based on at least one attribute of the at least one packet;
identifying a subsequent destination based on the applicable traffic routing rule;
adding a record to a simulation result based on the subsequent destination; and
continuing the iterative process until a terminating condition is satisfied;
generating a representation of the simulation result;
receiving a change to at least one traffic routing rule;
updating the at least one traffic routing rule; and
specifying traffic routing rules to a plurality of communication devices of the SDN.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the representation comprises a graphical representation of each subsequent destination of the at least one packet.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: generating a failover path associated with the at least one packet; and wherein the representation further comprises the failover path.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the simulation parameter comprises a partial packet that satisfies a plurality of applicable traffic routing rules, and the representation reflects a plurality of potential routes of the partial packet.
15. The method of claim 11 , comprising:
receiving a query from a user;
identifying a subset of the simulation results satisfying the query.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the query comprises an attribute associated with a communication flow in the SDN.
17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the terminating condition comprises one of the at least one data packet reaching a final destination and the at least one data packet being dropped.
18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising restricting the response to a single communication flow in the SDN.
19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising displaying a flow table associated with and based on a user action.