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US-12627576-B1 - System, method, and computer program for managing fault recovery in network function virtualization (NFV) based networks

US12627576B1US 12627576 B1US12627576 B1US 12627576B1US-12627576-B1

Abstract

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a system, method, and computer program product for recovering from a network failure in a communication network using network function virtualization (NFV-based network), the method including: selecting a first network component of the NFV-based network, detecting at least one probable failure of the first network component, selecting a second network component to be used for replacing the instance of the VNF in the first network component prior to a failure of the first network component, and securing at least one resource of the selected second network component for the other instance of the VNF and maintaining, in the selected second network component, an updated copy of data associated with the instance of the VNF in the first network component.

Inventors

  • Nimrod Sandlerman
  • Ofer Hermoni
  • Eyal Felstaine

Assignees

  • AMDOCS DEVELOPMENT LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20220909

Claims (19)

  1. 1 . A method, comprising: identifying a first network component of a network function virtualization (NFV) based network, the first network component being a first hardware unit having one or more computer processors for executing a plurality of virtual network functions (VNFs); selecting a plurality of second network components to be used for replacing the first network component in the NFV based network, based on a respective load of the plurality of second network components, the plurality of second network components each being a second hardware unit having one or more computer processors for executing one or more VNFs installed thereon; installing duplicate instances of the plurality of VNFs across the plurality of second network components, including at least installing a duplicate instance of a first VNF of the plurality of VNFs on one second network component of the plurality of second network components, installing a duplicate instance of a second VNF of the plurality of VNFs on another second network component of the plurality of second network components, and creating at least two duplicate instances from a third VNF of the plurality of VNFs by splitting the third VNF into the at least two duplicate instances and distributing the least two duplicate instances across two or more second network components of the plurality of second network components.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of second network components are selected in advance of a failure of the first network component.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of second network components are selected responsive to a predicted failure of the first network component.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of second network components are selected as part of a fault recover plan for the first network component.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: securing at least one resource of each second network component of the plurality of second network components for use when replacing the first network component with the plurality of second network components.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least one resource includes processing power, memory, or storage.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein securing the at least one resource of each second network component of the plurality of second network components prevents the at least one resource from being allocated to any other consumer.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein securing the at least one resource of each second network component of the plurality of second network components ensures availability of the at least one resource for use when the first network component fails and is replaced with the plurality of second network components.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the duplicate instances of the plurality of VNFs are installed across the plurality of second network components responsive to a failure of the first network component.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the duplicate instances of the plurality of VNFs are installed across the plurality of second network components in advance of a failure of the first network component.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: configuring the plurality of second network components to mirror one or more aspects of the first network component.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more aspects include data associated with the first network component.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: initiating the duplicate instances of the plurality of VNFs.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the duplicate instances are initiated responsive to a failure of the first network component.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: detecting a change in a load of at least one second network components of the plurality of second network components.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising: selecting at least one third network component to be used for replacing the first network component in the NFV based network, based on a respective load of the at least one third network component, the at least one third network component each being a third hardware unit having one or more computer processors for executing one or more VNFs installed thereon.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising: installing duplicate instances of the plurality of VNFs across the at least one third network component.
  18. 18 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer code executable by a computer processor to perform a method, the method comprising: identifying a first network component of a network function virtualization (NFV) based network, the first network component being a first hardware unit having one or more computer processors for executing a plurality of virtual network functions (VNFs); selecting a plurality of second network components to be used for replacing the first network component in the NFV based network, based on a respective load of the plurality of second network components, the plurality of second network components each being a second hardware unit having one or more computer processors for executing one or more VNFs installed thereon; installing duplicate instances of the plurality of VNFs across the plurality of second network components, including at least installing a duplicate instance of a first VNF of the plurality of VNFs on one second network component of the plurality of second network components, installing a duplicate instance of a second VNF of the plurality of VNFs on another second network component of the plurality of second network components, and creating at least two duplicate instances from a third VNF of the plurality of VNFs by splitting the third VNF into the at least two duplicate instances and distributing the least two duplicate instances across two or more second network components of the plurality of second network components.
  19. 19 . A system comprising: a memory system; and one or more processing cores coupled to the memory system and that are each configured for: identifying a first network component of a network function virtualization (NFV) based network, the first network component being a first hardware unit having one or more computer processors for executing a plurality of virtual network functions (VNFs); selecting a plurality of second network components to be used for replacing the first network component in the NFV based network, based on a respective load of the plurality of second network components, the plurality of second network components each being a second hardware unit having one or more computer processors for executing one or more VNFs installed thereon; installing duplicate instances of the plurality of VNFs across the plurality of second network components, including at least installing a duplicate instance of a first VNF of the plurality of VNFs on one second network component of the plurality of second network components, installing a duplicate instance of a second VNF of the plurality of VNFs on another second network component of the plurality of second network components, and creating at least two duplicate instances from a third VNF of the plurality of VNFs by splitting the third VNF into the at least two duplicate instances and distributing the least two duplicate instances across two or more second network components of the plurality of second network components.

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY AND RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/790,981 (AMDCP540A*KA/1043A+), entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR MANAGING FAULT RECOVERY IN NETWORK FUNCTION VIRTUALIZATION (NFV) BASED NETWORKS,” filed Feb. 14, 2020, which in turn is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/586,087 (AMDCP540*KA/1043A), entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR MANAGING FAULT RECOVERY IN NETWORK FUNCTION VIRTUALIZATION (NFV) BASED NETWORKS,” filed May 3, 2017, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/586,087 (AMDCP540*KA/1043A) is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/572,726 (AMDCP369), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Managing Fault Recovery In Network Function Virtualization (Nfv) Based Networks,” filed Dec. 16, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,645,899 issued May 9, 2017, which in turn claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/918,597 (AMDCP323+), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Preserving Service Continuity In Network Function Virtualization (Nfv)-Based Networks,” filed Dec. 19, 2013; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/941,380 (AMDCP338+), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Managing Hierarchy And Optimization In Network Function Virtualization (Nfv)-Based Networks,” filed Feb. 18, 2014; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/981,116 (AMDCP355+), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Managing Security In A Network Based On Network Function Virtualization (Nfv),” filed Apr. 17, 2014; U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/026,508 (AMDCP369+), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Managing Fault Recovery In Network Function Virtualization (Nfv) Based Networks,” filed Jul. 18, 2014; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/026,512 (AMDCP370+), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Optimizing A Chain Of Virtual Network Functions In A Network Based On Network Function Virtualization (Nfv),” filed Jul. 18, 2014. The foregoing applications and/or patents are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Additionally, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/586,087 (AMDCP540*KA) is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/166,186 (AMDCP323A), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Preserving Service Continuity In A Network Function Virtualization (Nfv) Based Communication Network,” filed May 26, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,355,988 issued Jul. 16, 2019, which in turns claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/572,716, (AMDCP323), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Preserving Service Continuity In A Network Function Virtualization (Nfv) Based Communication Network,” filed Dec. 16, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,384,028 issued Jul. 5, 2016, which in turn claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/918,597 (AMDCP323+), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Preserving Service Continuity In Network Function Virtualization (Nfv)-Based Networks,” filed Dec. 19, 2013. The foregoing applications and/or patents are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Additionally, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/586,087 (AMDCP540*KA) is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/225,737 (AMDCP338A), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Managing Hierarchy And Optimization In A Network Function Virtualization (Nfv) Based Communication Network,” filed Aug. 1, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,063,633 issued Aug. 28, 2018, which in turns claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/572,719 (AMDCP338), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Managing Hierarchy And Optimization In A Network Function Virtualization (Nfv) Based Communication Network,” filed Dec. 16, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,430,262 issued Aug. 30, 2016, which in turn claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/941,380 (AMDCP338+), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Managing Hierarchy And Optimization In Network Function Virtualization (Nfv)-Based Networks,” filed Feb. 18, 2014; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/918,597 (AMDCP323+), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Preserving Service Continuity In Network Function Virtualization (Nfv)-Based Networks,” filed Dec. 19, 2013. The foregoing applications and/or patents are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Additionally, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/586,087 (AMDCP540*KA) is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/268,427 (AMDCP355A), entitled “System, Method, And Computer Program For Managin