A network device, method, and non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable program code, for the post-deployment updating of network device management switch configurations. Particularly, in overcoming limitations imposed by the current state of technology, embodiments disclosed herein enable and implement multiple-master, single-slave interactions amongst network device hardware and using communication protocols otherwise designed to support single-master, single- or multiple-slave(s) configurations. Further, through said multiple-master, single-slave interactions, embodiments disclosed herein facilitate the in-the-field modification of management switch configurations across scenarios following and/or during deployment of network devices in networks.

A method for configuring a communication path comprises: receiving a first frame requesting to configure a communication path through which a stream is transmitted; configuring a table of the first communication node based on information included in the first frame, when a second frame having a same stream identifier as a stream identifier of the first frame is not received; increasing a hop count of the first frame; and transmitting the first frame including the increased hop count.

An ingress node inserts into a header of a packet service level agreement information and forwards the packet. At an egress node of the network, the packet is received and the service level agreement information is obtained from the header of the packet. The egress node verifies whether there is conformance to a service level agreement based on at least one parameter associated with reception of one or more packets at the egress node and the service level agreement information.

Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture to improve packet flow among virtualized servers are disclosed. An example apparatus includes memory, and hardware to execute instructions to generate a load balance list identifying first ones of virtualized network resources having respective values of a utilization status parameter that satisfy a first threshold, in response to at least a number of the first virtualized network resources not satisfying a load balance list threshold, update the load balance list to additionally identify second ones of the virtualized network resources, the second ones of the virtualized network resources having respective values of the utilization status parameter that satisfy a second threshold, the first threshold different from the second threshold, and adjust a policy of a physical hardware resource corresponding to one or more of the virtualized network resources based on the load balance list.

In the maintenance of rack system, a computing device may implement a plurality of smart plugs and a communication bus in a system. A smart plug may be plugged into a server node for communication between a management node and a designated server node. The communication bus may be coupled to the smart plugs for transmitting I2C packets. A server node may be associated with a corresponding smart plug that includes a unique address on the communication bus. The smart plug may be configured to receive a message via the communication bus. The smart plug is configured to determine whether the request is addressed to a unique address associated with the smart plug. Upon determining that the message is addressed to the unique address, the smart plug may reformat the request compatible with server node port using the local address. Reformatting request may depend on types of server node ports.

According to the computer device and the configuration and management method of a computer device that are provided in the embodiments of the present invention, an SMM and a CPU are controlled to connect to a PCIE Switch at different stages of system startup, so that management of a PCIE device does not rely on involvement of the CPU of the computer device. In this way, the PCIE device can be configured and managed without involvement of an operating system of the computer device, and CPU resources are saved. Manageability of the computer device is improved, meeting a requirement of a large data center for simplifying computing device management. In addition, the PCIE device is connected to the PCIE Switch by using a downstream port, with no need to configure a special interface to connect to the SMM, thereby simplifying system configuration.

In some examples, a network switch can connect to another network device in a Storage Area Network (SAN) to allow the network switch and the other network device to transfer data therebetween. The network switch can further receive a multicast advertisement message from the other network device. The network switch can parse the advertisement message to identify LUN metadata attributes for the other networking device.

A packet intercept system includes probes along the field area network. A portion of the probes are mobile probes configured to receive and process a global positioning system signal. Intercepting by the mobile probes includes implementing a global positioning tag in each packet in the traffic data stream intercepted by the mobile probes, the global positioning tag includes a timestamp and global positioning system coordinates, derived from the global position system signal. The packet intercept system backhauls the traffic data stream to an additional network that is distinct from the field area network. Processors on the additional network obtain the traffic data stream and process the stream into a live traffic data stream by ordering each packet intercepted by the mobile probes in the processed live traffic data stream, based on the timestamp. The processors analyze the processed live traffic data stream.

In one embodiment, a method for enabling network appliance monitoring is disclosed. The method includes establishing a remote execution channel for executing commands on a network element such as e.g. a switch. The method also includes using the remote execution channel to initiate execution of one or more commands on the network element. The method further includes receiving at least part of an output resulting from the execution of the one or more commands, wherein the received at least part of the output enables performing the network appliance monitoring.

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for managing nodes through virtual rack management modules. A system can have a first rack that includes a first top-of-rack (ToR) switch and a first group of nodes. The first ToR switch can be connected to the first group of nodes. The system can also have a second rack that includes a second ToR switch and a second group of nodes. The second ToR switch can be connected to the second group of nodes, and the second ToR switch can be connected to the first ToR switch. Furthermore, the system can include a rack management node that executes a hypervisor. The hypervisor can run a first virtual rack management module (vRMM) and a second vRMM. The first vRMM and the second vRMM can manage the first group of nodes and the second group of nodes, respectively.