Patent ID: 9602415
Date: 2017-03-21
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. A method comprising: receiving, in a network comprising a plurality of virtual machines hosted by a plurality of nodes, a service request for network services to be performed on packets traversing the network from a first virtual machine hosted by a first node to a second virtual machine hosted by a second node; determining a service node topology of the network and virtual or physical network services available at each node in the network; generating a service chain and a service chain identifier corresponding to the generated service chain for the network services, the service chain comprising an ordered list of the network services to be applied to the packets traversing the network; starting each requested network service at a corresponding node in the service chain; establishing a flow path based upon the service chain by flow programming network paths between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine using the service chain identifier; and sending the packets from the first virtual machine to the second virtual machine by way of the flow path, wherein the packets are serviced at and sent directly to corresponding nodes based upon the ordered list of the network services of the service chain as the packets traverse the flow path.