Managing communications using alternative packet addressing
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- receiving, by one or more programmed computing systems, a communication directed to a destination in a virtual computer network, the virtual computer network being overlaid on a substrate network and using, as an addressing scheme for the virtual computer network, a plurality of textual network node monikers that include alphabetic characters, each computing node of the virtual computer network being associated with a substrate network address for the substrate network;
determining, by the one or more programmed computing systems and without resolving a textual network node moniker specified as the destination of the received communication to an actual physical address, a computing node of the virtual computer network that is associated with the specified textual network node moniker by identifying a virtual hardware address associated with the specified textual network node moniker;
encoding, by the one or more programmed computing systems, the received communication in a manner specific to the substrate network and to indicate, as a destination of the encoded communication in the substrate network, the associated substrate network address of the determined computing node; and
sending, by the one or more programmed computing systems, the encoded communication to the determined computing node via the substrate network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are described for managing communications for a managed virtual computer network overlaid on a distinct substrate computer network, including for communications involving computing nodes of the managed virtual computer network that use an alternative addressing scheme to direct network packets and other network communications to intended destination locations by using textual network node monikers instead of numeric IP addresses to represent computing nodes at a layer 3 or “network layer” of a corresponding computer networking stack in use by the computing nodes. The techniques are provided without modifying or configuring the network devices of the substrate computer network, by using configured modules to manage and modify communications from the logical edge of the substrate network.
29 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
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receiving, by one or more programmed computing systems, a communication directed to a destination in a virtual computer network, the virtual computer network being overlaid on a substrate network and using, as an addressing scheme for the virtual computer network, a plurality of textual network node monikers that include alphabetic characters, each computing node of the virtual computer network being associated with a substrate network address for the substrate network; determining, by the one or more programmed computing systems and without resolving a textual network node moniker specified as the destination of the received communication to an actual physical address, a computing node of the virtual computer network that is associated with the specified textual network node moniker by identifying a virtual hardware address associated with the specified textual network node moniker; encoding, by the one or more programmed computing systems, the received communication in a manner specific to the substrate network and to indicate, as a destination of the encoded communication in the substrate network, the associated substrate network address of the determined computing node; and sending, by the one or more programmed computing systems, the encoded communication to the determined computing node via the substrate network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored contents that, when executed, configure a computer system to:
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receive a communication directed to a destination in a virtual computer network having multiple computing nodes, the virtual computer network being overlaid on a distinct second network and using, as an addressing scheme for the virtual computer network, textual network node monikers that include alphabetic characters, wherein each of the multiple computing nodes is associated with a distinct second network address for the second network; determine, without resolving a first textual network node moniker specified as the destination of the received communication to an actual physical address, one of the multiple computing nodes that is associated with the first textual network node moniker by identifying a virtual hardware address associated with the specified first textual network node moniker; modify the received communication to indicate, as a destination for the modified communication in the second network, the second network address for the second network of the determined one computing node; and send the modified communication to the determined one computing node via the second network. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system, comprising:
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one or more hardware processors of one or more computing systems; and one or more memories with stored instructions that, when executed by at least one of the one or more hardware processors, cause the system to; receive a communication directed to a destination in a virtual computer network, the virtual computer network being overlaid on a substrate network and using, as an addressing scheme for the virtual computer network, multiple textual network node monikers that include alphabetic characters, wherein each computing node of the virtual computer network is associated with a substrate network address for the substrate network; determine, without resolving a textual network node moniker included in the received communication as the destination of the communication to an actual physical address, a computing node of the virtual computer network that is associated with the included textual network node moniker by identifying a virtual hardware address associated with the included textual network node moniker; encode the received communication in a manner specific to the substrate network and to indicate, as a destination of the encoded communication in the substrate network, the associated substrate network address of the determined computing node; and send the encoded communication to the determined computing node via the substrate network. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification