System and method for providing virtual private networks

Abstract

A computerized system and method for automatically determining customized configurations for each of a plurality of endpoints of a virtual private network (VPN) and deploying the configurations to the endpoints, comprising: accepting, using an interface, parameters required for building the configurations from a user, the configurations enabling the endpoints to process a mixture of time sensitive and non-time sensitive data, and the parameters comprising: endpoint IP addressing scheme information and network design information; automatically generating, using at least one configuration engine, complete customized endpoint configurations for the parameters, and instantiating the configurations based on endpoint hardware-specific information, with no further input required from the user; and deploying, using a scheduler, the configurations to the endpoints of the at least one VPN.

1 . A computerized method for automatically determining customized configurations for each of a plurality of endpoints of at least one virtual private network (VPN) and deploying the configurations to the endpoints, comprising:
 accepting, using at least one user interface, parameters required for building the configurations from at least one user, the configurations enabling the endpoints to process a mixture of time sensitive and non-time sensitive data, and the parameters comprising: endpoint IP addressing scheme information and network design information;   automatically generating, using at least one configuration engine, complete customized endpoint configurations for the parameters, and instantiating the configurations based on endpoint hardware-specific information, with no further input required from the user; and   deploying, using at least one scheduler, the configurations to the endpoints of the VPN.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 validating the parameters utilizing the at least one configuration engine.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deploying is distributed into reasonable time slots so that resource starvation and connection bottlenecks are avoided. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the computerized method prevents misconfigurations. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the computerized method prevents overlapping IP address spaces. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the computerized method automatically queries each endpoint to verify that the hardware-specific information is consistent with the customized endpoint specific configuration for the endpoint. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a consistent network addressing plan is utilized. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the computerized method automatically assigns the endpoint IP addressing. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the computerized method automatically selects an unused IP Subnet from the Master IP Subnet. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the computerized method automatically determines the unused IP Subnet from the Master IP Subnet using IP Subnetting. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein all hardware platforms with all possible combinations of field upgradable parts are managed. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a contemporaneous inventory is maintained of all VPN hardware to which configurations are automatically deployed. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the parameters further comprise network resiliency information. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the parameters further comprise endpoint authentication information. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the parameters further comprise: security rules, routing policies, or licensing information, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the parameters can be used to create endpoint specific settings and hardware-specific configuration settings. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one orchestrator generates a proper endpoint configuration code. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the endpoint addressing scheme information comprises at least one mGRE IP subnet prefix. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network design information comprises at least one network ID. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the VPN is an mGRE VPN using NHRP protocol.