Implementing an interface between tuple and message-driven control entities

• US 10,204,122 B2
• Filed: 02/16/2016
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shakimov, Amre, Wang, Su, Chanda, Anupam, Thakkar, Pankaj
• Primary Examiner(s): Onat, Umut
• Application Number:
  US15/045,206
• Publication Number:
  US 20170091004A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,092 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2282 Tablespace storage structures; Management thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/00 Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications user-to-user messaging H04L51/00; network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/00

Abstract

Some embodiments of the invention provide a novel method for interfacing between a first tuple-based controller and a second controller using a message-based protocol. The method of some embodiments identifies a set of changed tuples stored in a set of output tables, generates a set of messages based on the changed tuples, and sends the generated set of messages to a second controller. In some embodiments, the first and second controllers are parts of a network control system that manages forwarding elements to implement a logical network.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a local first controller executing on a set of processing units of a host computer in a network managed by a central second controller, the local first controller comprising an input first set of tables, an output second set of tables, and sets of instructions for:

determining that a first set of data tuples stored in the input first set of tables has been modified;

based on the modified first set of data tuples, generating a second set of data tuples stored in the output second set of tables, the generated second set of data tuples comprising data for performing forwarding operations by a managed forwarding element executing on the host computer and managed by the local first controller to forward data messages to other managed forwarding elements in the network;

based on the generated second set of data tuples, generating a set of control messages; and

sending the generated set of control messages to the central second controller, which based on the set of control messages, generates at least one control message to distribute to at least one other local third controller to use in managing another managed forwarding element on another host computer.

2. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for determining that the first set of data tuples has been modified comprises a set of instructions for monitoring the input first set of tables.

3. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for generating the set of control messages comprises a set of instructions for:

identifying dependencies between data tuples in the second set; and

based on the identified dependencies, identifying a particular order for the control messages in the set of control messages.

4. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for generating the set of control messages comprises a set of instructions for generating a first number of control messages based on a second number of data tuples, wherein the first number and the second number are different.

5. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the output second set of tables comprises a subset of cacheable output tables and also comprises a subset of non-cacheable output tables, wherein the set of instructions for generating the second set of tuples comprises a set of instructions for generating a first subset of the second set of tuples stored in the subset of cacheable output tables and a second subset of the second set of tuples stored in the subset of non-cacheable output tables.

6. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein the set of instructions for generating the first and second subsets of tuples comprises a set of instructions for performing a series of table joins on the input first set of tables to create records in the subsets of cacheable and non-cacheable output tables.

7. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein the local first controller further comprises a set of instructions for, upon determining that a connection with the central second controller has been re-established, sending the set of control messages to the central second controller based on the first subset of the second set of tuples stored in the set of cacheable output tables.

8. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein the set of instructions for sending the set of control messages comprises sets of instructions for:

sending a first subset of control messages based on the first subset of tuples and a second subset of control messages based on the second subset of tuples; and

removing only the second subset of tuples from the set of non-cacheable output tables.

9. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein the subset of cacheable output tables are for storing physical information identified by the local first controller, wherein the physical information comprises virtual interface (VIF) information for the set of managed forwarding elements.

10. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 9, wherein the subset of non-cacheable output tables are for storing logical information regarding the set of managed forwarding elements, wherein the logical information comprises mappings of the VIF information to elements of a logical network that is (1) implemented by at least the managed forwarding elements and (2) managed by at least the central second controller.

11. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 10, wherein the logical information further comprises at least one of a virtual machine (VM) Internet Protocol (IP) address, a VM Media Access Control (MAC) address, and a virtual tunnel end point (VTEP) IP address.

12. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein the set of instructions for sending the generated set of control messages comprises a set of instructions for (1) receiving a request for information from the central second controller and (2) sending the set of control messages comprising the requested information in response to the request, wherein a key is used to filter the requested information, wherein the key is a virtual network identifier (VNI) for a logical network associated with at least one machine attached to a forwarding element managed by the local first controller.

13. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for generating the set of control messages comprises a set of instructions for identifying a dependence of a first subset of data tuples stored in a first table in the output second set of tables on a second subset of data tuples stored in a second table in the output second set of tables.

14. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the dependence of the first subset of data tuples on the second subset of data tuples is based on a key stored in the first and second tables, wherein the key is a virtual network identifier (VNI) for a logical network associated with at least one machine attached to a forwarding element managed by the first controller.

15. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the set of instructions for generating the set of control messages further comprises a set of instructions for identifying a dependence of a third subset of data tuples stored in a third table in the output second set of tables on the second subset of data tuples.

16. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the set of instructions for generating the set of control messages further comprises a set of instructions for identifying a dependence of a third subset of data tuples stored in a third table in the output second set of tables on the first subset of data tuples.

17. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the second set of data tuples indicate a particular type of operation, wherein the set of instructions for generating the set of control messages comprises a set of instructions for (i) identifying a dependence of a third subset of data tuples stored in a third table in the output second set of tables on a fourth subset of data tuples stored in a fourth table in the output second set of tables when the particular type of operation is a first type of operation, and (ii) identifying a dependence of the fourth subset of data tuples on the third subset of data tuples when the particular type of operation is a second type of operation.

18. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 17, wherein the second set of data tuples comprise a flag to indicate whether the particular type of operation is an insert operation or a delete operation.

19. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the first table is registered for notifications for changes to the second subset of data tuples stored in the second table, wherein the set of instructions for generating the set of control messages comprises a set of instructions for updating, when the first table receives a notification regarding changes to the second subset of data tuples, a reference in the first subset of data tuples, wherein the reference indicates whether control messages based on the first subset of data tuples can be sent.

20. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 19, wherein the reference is a counter, wherein the set of instructions for sending the generated set of control messages comprises a set of instructions for determining whether the counter has a particular value.