US 11,700,182 B2
Automatic classification of network devices in a network
Guy Sirton, Delta (CA)
Assigned to ARISTA NETWORKS, INC., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by Arista Networks, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed on May 9, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/739,879.
Application 17/739,879 is a continuation of application No. 16/584,618, filed on Sep. 26, 2019, granted, now 11,329,886.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/738,601, filed on Sep. 28, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2022/0337485 A1, Oct. 20, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04L 41/12 (2022.01); H04L 41/22 (2022.01); G06N 5/04 (2023.01); G06N 5/01 (2023.01)
CPC H04L 41/12 (2013.01) [G06N 5/01 (2023.01); G06N 5/04 (2013.01); H04L 41/22 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for network classification, comprising:
obtaining network topology information for a network, the network topology information comprising a plurality of nodes representing network devices, wherein the nodes are interconnected by a plurality of edges representing connections between pairs of the network devices; and
assigning network device roles to at least a portion of the plurality of nodes based on at least a portion of the plurality of edges and a set of network device classification heuristics, wherein assigning the network device roles comprises:
identifying a first set of the nodes as top-of-rack switch (TOR) candidates based on the edges connected to each of the nodes in the first set;
identifying a second set of the nodes as server candidates based on the edges connected to each of the nodes in the second set;
tagging a first portion of the TOR candidates as TORs based on the edges connected to each of the TOR candidates;
tagging a portion of the server candidates as servers based on the edges connected to each of the server candidates.