CPC H04L 41/0886 (2013.01) [H04L 41/0893 (2013.01); H04L 41/12 (2013.01); H04L 63/0227 (2013.01); H04L 63/20 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |
1. A network system comprising:
a set of network elements to interconnect a set of host devices, the set of network elements having a physical topology defined by physical links between network elements in the set of network elements and a logical topology defined by a flow of network data between a network service device and a client of the network service device, wherein the physical topology differs from the logical topology; and
a network management device configured to automatically integrate the network service device into the network system in response to coupling the network service device into the network system, wherein automatic integration comprises:
logically coupling one or more host devices in the set of host devices to the network service device independently of a location of the one or more host devices and the network service device within the physical topology;
discovering a service policy of the network service device using a native API of the network service device; and
automatically configuring the logical topology of one or more network elements of the set of network elements to implement the service policy of the network service device by:
generating a set of network configuration changes to insert the network service device into the network system; and
distributing the set of network configuration changes to the one or more network elements in response to coupling the network service device into the network system.
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