Methods and systems for exchanging reachability information and for switching traffic between redundant interfaces in a network cluster
First Claim
1. A method for exchanging reachability information in a network cluster, the method comprising:
- (a) connecting first and second nodes in a cluster via local area network connections between local area network (LAN) interfaces of the first and second nodes;
(b) from each LAN interface of the second node, transmitting a reachability message associating a physical Internet protocol (IP) address of the LAN interface with a virtual IP address of the second node;
(c) at the first node, receiving the reachability messages and storing virtual-to-physical IP address mappings for each of the LAN interfaces associated with the second node in a first routing table;
(d) at the first node, selecting one of the virtual-to-physical IP address mappings for the second node from the first routing table and storing the selected mapping in a second routing table; and
(e) repeating step (b) at predetermined time intervals, and, at the first node, in response to failing to receive a reachability message for a LAN interface of the second node within one or more of the predetermined time intervals, deleting the virtual-to-physical IP address mapping for the LAN interface from the first and second routing tables.
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Abstract
Methods and systems for exchanging reachability information and for switching between redundant interfaces in a network cluster are disclosed. Nodes in the network cluster are connected via redundant links and exchange reachability messages at periodic intervals. Each node includes a kernel routing table used to route messages and a reachability application routing table for storing reachability information used to update entries in the kernel routing table. Each node executes a predetermined algorithm for selecting entries in the reachability application routing table to be written to the kernel routing table.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method for exchanging reachability information in a network cluster, the method comprising:
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(a) connecting first and second nodes in a cluster via local area network connections between local area network (LAN) interfaces of the first and second nodes;
(b) from each LAN interface of the second node, transmitting a reachability message associating a physical Internet protocol (IP) address of the LAN interface with a virtual IP address of the second node;
(c) at the first node, receiving the reachability messages and storing virtual-to-physical IP address mappings for each of the LAN interfaces associated with the second node in a first routing table;
(d) at the first node, selecting one of the virtual-to-physical IP address mappings for the second node from the first routing table and storing the selected mapping in a second routing table; and
(e) repeating step (b) at predetermined time intervals, and, at the first node, in response to failing to receive a reachability message for a LAN interface of the second node within one or more of the predetermined time intervals, deleting the virtual-to-physical IP address mapping for the LAN interface from the first and second routing tables. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for exchanging reachability information between redundantly connected nodes in a network cluster, the system comprising:
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(a) a first network node having first and second network interfaces, the first network node being adapted to associate first and second physical Internet protocol (IP) addresses with the first and second network interfaces and a first virtual IP address with the first and second physical IP addresses;
(b) a second network node having third and fourth network interfaces connected to the first and second network interfaces of the first network node via a local area network (LAN) connection, the second network node being adapted to associate third and fourth physical IP address with the third and fourth network interfaces and a second virtual IP address with the third and fourth physical IP address;
(c) a reachability application associated with the second network node for periodically transmitting reachability messages from the third and fourth network interfaces to the first network node, the reachability messages for each network interface advertising a virtual-to-physical IP address mapping for the third and fourth network interfaces; and
(d) a reachability application associated with the first network node for receiving the reachability messages from the second network node, storing the virtual-to-physical IP address mappings for each of the third and fourth network interfaces in a first routing table, selecting one of the mappings from the first routing table and storing the selected mapping in a second routing table used for routing outbound packets. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification