Virtual network interface multiplexing

• US 10,244,044 B2
• Filed: 01/26/2018
• Issued: 03/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Holgers, Tobias Lars-Olov, Miller, Kevin Christopher, Dickinson, Andrew Bruce, Salyers, David Carl, Zhang, Xiao, Hall, Shane Ashley, Hendrie, Christopher Ian, Divecha, Aniket Deepak, Flora, Ralph William
• Primary Examiner(s): Won, Michael
• Application Number:
  US15/881,545
• Publication Number:
  US 20180152503A1
• Time in Patent Office: 424 Days
• Field of Search: 709203, 709230, 709245
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

A control-plane component of a virtual network interface (VNI) multiplexing service assigns one or more VNIs as members of a first interface group. A first VNI of the interface group is attached to a first compute instance. Network traffic directed to a particular endpoint address associated with the first interface group is to be distributed among members of the first interface group by client-side components of the service. The control-plane component propagates membership metadata of the first interface group to the client-side components. In response to a detection of an unhealthy state of the first compute instance, the first VNI is attached to a different compute instance by the control-plane component.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium storing program instructions that when executed on one or more processors implements a client-side component of a virtual network interface multiplexing (VNIM) service, wherein the client-side component is configured to:

receive membership metadata pertaining to a first interface group established on behalf of a client of the VNIM service, wherein the membership metadata includes a respective indication of a plurality of virtual network interfaces (VNIs) designated as members of the first interface group;

detect that a particular baseline packet is directed towards a service endpoint address assigned to the first interface group;

select, based at least on a target selection policy associated with the first interface group, a particular VNI of the plurality of VNIs indicated by the membership metadata as a destination of contents of the particular baseline packet; and

transmit an encapsulation packet including contents of the particular baseline packet to a second network address assigned to the particular VNI, wherein the second network address differs from the service endpoint address.

2. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium storing program instructions as recited in claim 1, wherein the client side component is a subcomponent of an instance host of a virtual computing service.

3. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium storing program instructions as recited in claim 1, wherein the client-side component is a subcomponent of an edge device of a provider network.

4. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium storing program instructions as recited in claim 1, wherein the client-side component is configured to:

store connection state information indicating that the particular VNI was selected as a destination for the encapsulation packet; and

select, using the connection state information, the particular VNI as a destination for another encapsulation packet corresponding to a subsequent baseline packet directed to the service endpoint address.

5. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium storing program instructions as recited in claim 1, wherein the target selection policy is based at least on one of:

(a) different weights assigned to different ones of the one or more VNIs, (b) random selection of a VNI from among the one or more VNIs, or (c) a selection of a VNI from among the one or more VNIs based on performance measures obtained for previously transmitted packets.

6. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium storing program instructions as recited in claim 1, wherein the client-side component is configured to:

detect another baseline network packet generated at a particular traffic source and directed to the service endpoint address;

select, based at least on the target selection policy associated with the first interface group, another VNI of the plurality of VNIs indicated by the membership metadata as a destination of contents of the particular baseline packet; and

transmit another encapsulation packet including contents of the other baseline packet to a third network address assigned to the other VNI.

7. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium storing program instructions as recited in claim 6, wherein the third network address differs from the service endpoint address.

8. The non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium storing program instructions as recited in claim 6, wherein the other encapsulation packet includes an indication of a network address of the particular traffic source.

9. A system, comprising:

one or more processors and memory storing program instructions that when executed cause the one or more processors to implement a client-side component of a virtual network interface multiplexing (VNIM) service, wherein the client-side component is configured to;

receive membership metadata pertaining to a first interface group established on behalf of a client of the VNIM service, wherein the membership metadata includes a respective indication of a plurality of virtual network interfaces (VNIs) designated as members of the first interface group;

detect that a particular baseline packet is directed towards a service endpoint address assigned to the first interface group;

select, based at least on a target selection policy associated with the first interface group, a particular VNI of the plurality of VNIs indicated by the membership metadata as a destination of contents of the particular baseline packet; and

transmit an encapsulation packet including contents of the particular baseline packet to a second network address assigned to the particular VNI, wherein the second network address differs from the service endpoint address.

10. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein the client side component is a subcomponent of an instance host of a virtual computing service.

11. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein the client-side component is a subcomponent of an edge device of a provider network.

12. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein the client-side component is configured to:

store connection state information indicating that the particular VNI was selected as a destination for the encapsulation packet; and

select, using the connection state information, the particular VNI as a destination for another encapsulation packet corresponding to a subsequent baseline packet directed to the service endpoint address.

13. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein the target selection policy is based at least on one of:

(a) different weights assigned to different ones of the one or more VNIs, (b) random selection of a VNI from among the one or more VNIs, or (c) a selection of a VNI from among the one or more VNIs based on performance measures obtained for previously transmitted packets.

14. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein the client-side component is configured to:

detect another baseline network packet generated at a particular traffic source and directed to the service endpoint address;

select, based at least on the target selection policy associated with the first interface group, another VNI of the plurality of VNIs indicated by the membership metadata as a destination of contents of the particular baseline packet; and

transmit another encapsulation packet including contents of the other baseline packet to a third network address assigned to the other VNI.

15. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the third network address differs from the service endpoint address.

16. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the other encapsulation packet includes an indication of a network address of the particular traffic source.

17. A method, comprising:

performing by a client-side component of a virtual network interface multiplexing (VNIM) service, wherein the client-side component is implemented by one or more processors and memory;

receiving membership metadata pertaining to a first interface group established on behalf of a client of the VNIM service, wherein the membership metadata includes a respective indication of a plurality of virtual network interfaces (VNIs) designated as members of the first interface group;

detecting that a particular baseline packet is directed towards a service endpoint address assigned to the first interface group;

selecting, based at least on a target selection policy associated with the first interface group, a particular VNI of the plurality of VNIs indicated by the membership metadata as a destination of contents of the particular baseline packet; and

transmitting an encapsulation packet including contents of the particular baseline packet to a second network address assigned to the particular VNI, wherein the second network address differs from the service endpoint address.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the client side component is a subcomponent of an instance host of a virtual computing service, further comprising:

detecting generation of the baseline network packet a particular traffic source at the instance host; and

including in the encapsulation packet an indication of a network address of the particular traffic source.

19. The method as recited in claim 17, further comprising:

storing connection state information indicating that the particular VNI was selected as a destination for the encapsulation packet; and

selecting, using the connection state information, the particular VNI as a destination for another encapsulation packet corresponding to a subsequent baseline packet directed to the service endpoint address.

20. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the target selection policy is based at least on one of:

(a) different weights assigned to different ones of the one or more VNIs, (b) random selection of a VNI from among the one or more VNIs, or (c) a selection of a VNI from among the one or more VNIs based on performance measures obtained for previously transmitted packets.