Trunking inter-switch links
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of routing a flow through a switch in a fibre channel fabric comprising:
- receiving traffic at a port coupled to said switch;
identifying said flow from said traffic using header information;
determining at least one path operative for routing said flow through said fibre channel fabric; and
rerouting said flow from a first link in said at least one path to a second link in said at least one path based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for routing frames through a fibre channel fabric to make the most efficient possible use of redundant inter-switch links between neighboring switches. The inter-switch links may have different bandwidths. The flow between adjacent switches is monitored to determine various local usage statistics and periodically adjust routing tables to move data flows from congested links to lightly loaded links.
49 Citations
60 Claims
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1. A method of routing a flow through a switch in a fibre channel fabric comprising:
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receiving traffic at a port coupled to said switch;
identifying said flow from said traffic using header information;
determining at least one path operative for routing said flow through said fibre channel fabric; and
rerouting said flow from a first link in said at least one path to a second link in said at least one path based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of routing a flow on at least one path in a fibre channel fabric, said at least one path comprising a source switch and a destination switch, wherein at least one switch pair in said at least one path is coupled by a plurality of links, said method comprising:
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determining said at least one path between said source switch and said destination switch;
routing said flow over a first link coupling said at least one switch pair in said at least one path, said at least one switch pair having the same originating switch; and
rerouting said flow to a second link coupling said at least one switch pair based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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44. A method of routing traffic through a switch in a fibre channel fabric, wherein said switch is coupled to a plurality of links for routing said traffic, said method comprising:
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at a receive port of said switch, receiving traffic comprising a plurality of frames, each frame comprising a destination identification specifying at least a specific destination of a plurality of destinations;
grouping said traffic into a plurality of flows based upon header information;
scanning said plurality of flows for one or more flows that satisfy operating performance information; and
rerouting at least one flow from a first link to a second link based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information.
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50. A fibre channel switch comprising:
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a plurality of ports for transmitting and receiving frames;
a first port operative for receiving a frame;
a first protocol for selecting a second port for transmitting a frame received from said first port; and
a second protocol for dynamically switching said selection from said second port to a third port based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A fibre channel fabric comprising:
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a first switch;
at least one switch coupled to said first switch by a plurality of links, said links operable for routing traffic;
a first protocol implemented in said first switch for selecting a first of said plurality of links and thereafter routing said traffic over said first link; and
a second protocol implemented in said first switch for rerouting said traffic to a second of said plurality of links based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information.
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59. A method of communicating traffic between a network device and a device coupled to a network by a plurality of redundant links comprising:
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identifying a flow from said traffic;
selecting a link from said plurality of redundant links based on operating performance information; and
routing said flow on said selected link.
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60. A method for routing a plurality of packets through a switch in a packet-switching network comprising:
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identifying a flow from said plurality of packets;
determining at least one shortest path operative for routing said flow through said packet-switching network, wherein said at least one shortest path comprises a first link and second link; and
rerouting said flow from said first link to said second link based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information.
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Specification