System and method for configuring service appliances as virtual line cards in a network environment

摘要

An example method is provided and includes configuring a service appliance to offload network control plane and network data plane operations to a switch; establishing a communication channel between the service appliance and the switch; and communicating control messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel. In more particular embodiment, the method can include communicating data messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel.

主权项

1. A method, comprising:
establishing a communication channel between a service appliance and a switch; and configuring the service appliance to offload network control plane and network data plane operations to the switch, wherein the configured service appliance acts as a virtual line card in the switch, wherein the configuring comprises
communicating control messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel and configuring a service instance to transmit data messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel, wherein services provided by the service appliance are managed and provisioned at the switch, wherein the services run on the service appliance appearing as the virtual line card in the switch.