Multiple levels of logical routers

• US 10,411,955 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2017
• Issued: 09/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Neginhal, Srinivas, Zhang, Ronghua
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao, Kwang B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jeong, Moo
• Application Number:
  US15/495,930
• Publication Number:
  US 20170230241A1
• Time in Patent Office: 869 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/28 characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks] wireless communication networks H04W ; arrangements for dividing the transmission path H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/46 Interconnection of networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/08 Configuration management of networks or network elements address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0876 Aspects of the degree of configuration automation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0879 Manual configuration through operator
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0883 Semiautomatic configuration, e.g. proposals from system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0889 Techniques to speed-up the configuration process
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0895 Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/54 Organization of routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/566 Routing instructions carried by the data packet, e.g. active networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/586 of virtual routers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/74 Address processing for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/70 Virtual switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a managed network for implementing a logical network for a tenant. The managed network includes a first set of host machines and a second set of host machines. The first set of host machines is for hosting virtual machines (VMs) for the logical network. Each of the first set of host machines operates a managed forwarding element that implements a first logical router for the tenant logical network and a second logical router to which the first logical router connects. The implementation of the second logical router is for processing packets entering and exiting the tenant logical network. The second set of host machines is for hosting L3 gateways for the second logical router. The L3 gateways connect the tenant logical network to at least one external network.

Claims

1. A managed network for implementing a logical network for a tenant, the managed network comprising:

a first set of host machines for hosting virtual machines (VMs) for the logical network, each of the first set of host machines operating a managed forwarding element (MFE) that implements a first logical router for the tenant logical network and a second logical router to which the first logical router connects, wherein the implementation of the second logical router on the first set of host machines is for processing packets exiting the tenant logical network, wherein a packet sent from a VM of the logical network to a destination external to the logical network is processed by the MFE operating on a same host machine as the VM according to the implementations of the first logical router and the second logical router;

a second set of host machines for hosting L3 gateways for the second logical router, wherein the L3 gateways connect the tenant logical network to at least one external network, wherein each host machine of the second set of host machines further implements the first logical router for processing packets entering the tenant logical network, wherein a packet received from the external network by a specific host machine that operates an L3 gateway for the second logical router is processed by the specific host machine according to the implementations of the second logical router and the first logical router.

2. The managed network of claim 1, wherein the managed network is a multi-tenant datacenter.

3. The managed network of claim 2 further comprising a third set of host machines for hosting VMs for a second logical network for a second tenant, each of the third set of host machines also operating a managed forwarding element that implements a third logical router for the second tenant logical network and the second logical router to which the third logical router connects, wherein the implementation of the second logical router on the third set of host machines is further for processing packets exiting the second tenant logical network.

4. The managed network of claim 3, wherein at least a particular host machine is in both the first set of host machines and the third set of host machines, wherein the managed forwarding element operating on the particular host machine implements the first logical router, the second logical router, and the third logical router.

5. The managed network of claim 3, wherein a packet sent from a first VM of the first logical network to a second VM of the second logical network is not processed by an L3 gateway.

6. The managed network of claim 1 further comprising a set of network controllers for provisioning the managed forwarding elements and the L3 gateways according to received configuration data for the tenant logical network and the second logical router.

7. The managed network of claim 6, wherein at least a portion of the configuration data for the tenant logical network is received from an entity operated by the tenant.

8. The managed network of claim 7, wherein the configuration data for the second logical router is only received from one or more entities operated by a provider of the managed network.

9. The managed network of claim 1, wherein the second set of host machines are each further for operating a managed forwarding element that implements both the first logical router and the second logical router.

10. For a managed forwarding element operating on a host machine, a method comprising:

receiving a packet from an end machine that operates on the host machine, the end machine belonging to a particular tenant logical network, the packet having a destination address located outside the tenant logical network;

performing first logical router processing on the packet according to a first logical router for the tenant logical network to logically forward the packet to a second logical router to which the first logical router connects;

performing second logical router processing on the packet according to the second logical router; and

based on the second logical router processing, forwarding the packet to a gateway host machine that implements (i) a gateway for the second logical router to connect the tenant network to an external network and (ii) the first logical router.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising receiving configuration data for implementing the first and second logical routers from a set of network controllers, wherein the set of network controllers further provide configuration data for the gateway to the gateway host machine.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the set of network controllers receive configuration information specifying the first logical router from an entity operated by the tenant.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the set of network controllers receive configuration information specifying the second logical router from one or more entities operated by a provider of a datacenter to which the host machine belongs.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein a plurality of logical routers for a plurality of different tenant networks connect to the second logical router.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the gateway host machine implements the first logical router for packets received by the gateway from the external network and directed to end machines of the particular tenant logical network.

16. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program which when executed by at least one processing unit of a particular host machine implements a managed forwarding element, the program comprising sets of instructions for:

receiving a packet from an end machine that operates on the particular host machine, the end machine belonging to a particular tenant logical network, the packet having a destination address located outside the tenant logical network;

performing first logical router processing on the packet according to a first logical router for the tenant logical network to logically forward the packet to a second logical router to which the first logical router connects;

performing second logical router processing on the packet according to the second logical router; and

based on the second logical router processing, forwarding the packet to a gateway host machine that implements (i) a gateway for the second logical router to connect the tenant network to an external network and (ii) the first logical router.

17. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for receiving configuration data for implementing the first and second logical routers from a set of network controllers, wherein the set of network controllers further provide configuration data for the gateway to the gateway host machine.

18. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 17, wherein the set of network controllers receive configuration information specifying the first logical router from an entity operated by the tenant.

19. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 18, wherein the set of network controllers receive configuration information specifying the second logical router only from one or more entities operated by a provider of a datacenter to which the particular host machine belongs.

20. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein a plurality of logical routers for a plurality of different tenant networks connect to the second logical router.