Automatic discovery of multiple controllers in Software Defined Networks (SDNs)

摘要

Controllers in a Software Defined Network (SDN) automatically discover and authenticate each other as part of the control plane operations, without any need for manual configuration of other controllers. The new capability of such controllers is based on Controller-Advertisement messages transferred between controllers in the same or different SDNs. In doing so, multiple controllers can be used for load sharing, improved reliability under failure of a controller by enabling seamless take over and recovery. Moreover, controllers can cooperate to enable end-to-end services to work across multiple SDNs. Controller-Advertisement messages are also used to check the health statuses of discovered controllers in the same or different SDNs.