Systems and methods are disclosed for dynamically selecting a connection path between a client device and a server. One method includes receiving, over a network at a server, a connection request from a client device; authenticating, by the server, the connection request from the client device; determining, by the server, a connection path for the authenticated client device based on the connection request; determining, by the server, whether the connection path for the authenticated client device is a new connection path based on the connection request; and storing, by the server, the connection path to a connection database in association with the authenticated client device when the connection path is determined to be new, the connection database including a plurality of connection paths between the client device and the server.

A method for determining a path in an optical network, implemented by one or more controllers associated with a control layer, includes receiving a path request specifying start and end points, an associated bandwidth, and a longevity parameter providing an anticipated length during which the path is required; determining a route in the optical network through a routing algorithm executed by the controller, wherein the routing algorithm utilizes the start and end points, the associated bandwidth, and the longevity parameter to determine the path; and provisioning the path through a plurality of switches along the route.

Method and system are provided for assessing response routes in a network of connected nodes wherein a querying node propagates a query through multiple routes of intermediate nodes to a data source node and the data source node returns data to the querying node. The method at a data source node may include: receiving a query instance including metadata with route information of the route of intermediate nodes in the network that the query instance has travelled through from a querying node to the data source node; comparing the route information to a route policy; and responding to a query instance which meets the route policy by returning the query response via the route of intermediate nodes of the query instance.

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to allow a plurality of access networks to be utilized in a coordinated manner in accordance with the routing policies defined by the network operator as well as other routing information including, for example, IETF routing and router information. In the context of a method, information, such as ANDSF information, defining the routing policies of the network operator may be received from a mobile terminal. The method also includes at least a portion of the information defining one or more routing policies of the network operator within an IP connectivity stack along with other routing information that is not based on the routing policies of the network operator. And, the method considers both the one or more routing policies defined by the network operator and the other routing information in determining utilization of a plurality of access networks.

Some embodiments provide novel methods for performing services for machines operating in one or more datacenters. For instance, for a group of related guest machines (e.g., a group of tenant machines), some embodiments define two different forwarding planes: (1) a guest forwarding plane and (2) a service forwarding plane. The guest forwarding plane connects to the machines in the group and performs L2 and/or L3 forwarding for these machines. The service forwarding plane (1) connects to the service nodes that perform services on data messages sent to and from these machines, and (2) forwards these data messages to the service nodes. In some embodiments, the guest machines do not connect directly with the service forwarding plane. For instance, in some embodiments, each forwarding plane connects to a machine or service node through a port that receives data messages from, or supplies data messages to, the machine or service node. In such embodiments, the service forwarding plane does not have a port that directly receives data messages from, or supplies data messages to, any guest machine. Instead, in some such embodiments, data associated with a guest machine is routed to a port proxy module executing on the same host computer, and this other module has a service plane port. This port proxy module in some embodiments indirectly can connect more than one guest machine on the same host to the service plane (i.e., can serve as the port proxy module for more than one guest machine on the same host).

Methods and apparatus to provide a consumer services cloud in a communications network are disclosed. An example method includes obtaining, at a first device in a communications network, network communications transmitted from a client device of a communications network customer that are diverted via a software-defined networking switch. The example method also includes analyzing the network communications to identify which of multiple possible users associated with the communications network customer is a current user of the client device; in response to identifying the current user, accessing a first profile corresponding to the identified current user to determine a rule to be used to handle the network communications within the communications network. The example method also includes configuring the software-defined networking switch to: identify subsequent network communications that correspond to the identified current user of the client device; and handle the subsequent network communications in accordance with the rule.

Techniques for enhanced Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) path quality measurement and selection are disclosed. In some embodiments, a system/method/computer program product for enhanced SD-WAN path quality measurement and selection includes periodically performing a network path measurement for each of a plurality of network paths at a Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) interface; updating a version if the network path measurement exceeds a threshold for one or more of the plurality of network paths; and selecting one of the plurality of network paths for a session based on the version according to an application policy.

A system and method are disclosed for using segment routing (SR) in native IP networks. The method involves receiving a packet. The packet is an IP packet and includes an IP header. The method also involves updating the packet. Updating the packet involves writing information, including a segment routing segment identifier, to the destination address of the packet.

The present general inventive concept relates to systems and method for routing electronic messages depending on message content.

One embodiment provides a system that facilitates an efficient transport protocol. During operation, the system receives a first interest which indicates a query for optimal transport parameters, wherein a name for an interest is a hierarchically structured variable length identifier that includes contiguous name components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level, wherein the query is based on a name prefix that includes one or more contiguous name components. The system computes the optimal parameters based on historical information associated with the name prefix. The system transmits a first response which includes the computed optimal parameters to a requesting entity, thereby facilitating a transport protocol which increases network efficiency.