CPC H04L 41/06 (2013.01) [H04L 41/082 (2013.01); H04L 41/0809 (2013.01); H04L 41/0853 (2013.01); H04L 41/0859 (2013.01); H04L 41/12 (2013.01); H04L 43/0817 (2013.01); H04L 41/0213 (2013.01); H04L 41/0893 (2013.01)] | 19 Claims |
1. A method for managing a network comprising network elements that forward data flows in the network, the method comprising:
at a network controller that communicates with the network elements to control the data flows;
detecting conditions in the network;
generating flow entries that define forwarding behaviors for a set of one or more of the network elements; and
in response to the detected conditions and the generated flow entries, sending the flow entries to the set of one or more network elements in order for the set of network elements to forward data flows arriving at the network elements according to the forwarding behaviors defined by the sent flow entries, wherein each flow entry is sent with a priority level for the flow entry and an instruction to add the flow entry, and at least one flow entry is sent with instructions to delete another flow entry.
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