Dynamic customer vlan identifiers in a telecommunications network

Abstract

A method for transmitting data over networks includes associating Customer Edge Virtual Local Area Network (CE-VLAN) identifiers with an Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC). Each of the CE-VLAN identifiers is assigned to a respective Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) of a cloud computing environment and the EVC extends between a first network and the cloud computing environment through a second network. The EVC is also configured to transmit packets including any of the CE-VLAN identifiers to the cloud computing environment. The method further includes transmitting a packet received from the first network and including one of the CE-VLAN identifiers to the cloud computing environment using the EVC.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A system for configuring network devices comprising:
 a network controller in communication with a first network, the network controller adapted to:
 establish a connection through the first network between a second network and a cloud computing environment, wherein the cloud computing environment includes a plurality of resources, each of the plurality of resources associated with a respective resource identifier, and the connection is adapted to carry traffic between the second network and the cloud computing environment for each of the plurality of resources; and 
 configure a plurality of network devices of the first network to receive packets from the second network including any of the resource identifiers and to route packets including any of the resource identifiers through the connection to the cloud computing environment. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of network devices includes an ingress device and the network controller is adapted to configure the ingress device to receive packets including any of the resource identifiers and to insert a connection identifier associated with the connection into received packets that include any of the resource identifiers. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of network devices includes an egress device and the network controller is adapted to configure the egress device to remove a connection identifier associated with the connection from packets received over the connection and including any of the resource identifiers. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the connection is an Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC) and the resources of the cloud computing environment are Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs). 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein each resource identifier is a Customer Edge Virtual Local Area Network (CE-VLAN) identifier assigned to a respective one of the VPCs. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further adapted to receive a request to associate a new resource identifier with the connection and, in response to receiving the request, to configure the plurality of network devices to receive packets from the second network including the new resource identifier and to route packets including the new resource identifier through the connection 
     
     
         7 . A method for communicating data through networks, the method comprising:
 receiving a packet for a resource of a plurality of resources of a computing system, each of the plurality of resources being associated with a respective first identifier, and the computing system being in communication with a network;   in response to identifying the packet includes one of the first identifiers, inserting a second identifier into the packet, the second identifier associated with a connection established through the network for handling packets for each of the plurality of resources;   routing the packet through the network and along the connection according to the second identifier; and   transmitting the packet from the network to the computing system according to the first identifier associated with the resource.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the packet is received at an ingress network device of the network and the second identifier is inserted into the packet by the ingress network device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising, before transmitting the packet from the network to the computing system, removing the second identifier from the packet. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the packet is transmitted from the network by an egress network device and the second identifier is removed from the packet by the egress network device. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the connection established through the network is an Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC). 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the computing system is a cloud-based computing environment. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the packet is a first packet, the method further comprising:
 receiving a second packet for a second resource of the plurality of resources, the second resource being different than the first resource;   in response to identifying the second packet includes one of the first identifiers, inserting the second identifier into the second packet;   routing the second packet through the network and along the connection according to the second identifier; and   transmitting the second packet from the network to the computing system according to the first identifier associated with the second resource.