METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SCALING NETWORK TRAFFIC MANAGERS

• US 20060291388A1
• Filed: 09/01/2006
• Published: 12/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: F5 Networks, Inc. (F5 Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: F5 Networks, Inc. (F5 Incorporated)
• Inventors: Schmitt, David D., Szabo, Paul I., Masters, Richard Roderick, Amdahl, Carlton G., Gilde, Robert George
• Granted Patent: US 7,697,427 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]

Abstract

A system for distributing network traffic to multiple traffic management devices. A distributor receives each packet from a network and may act as a layer 2 switch, a router, or distribute the packet to one of a group of traffic management devices. The distributor may receive packets from servers that the traffic management devices are managing communications to. When distributing packets to traffic management devices, information such as source and destination addresses may be used to determine which traffic management device each packet should be sent to. The distributor causes packets that are part of a flow to be delivered to the same traffic management device. Many configurations are possible for connecting the distributor to the traffic management devices, including connecting each traffic management device to a physical or virtual port on the distributor, connecting the traffic management devices to the distributor using a virtual local area network, and connecting the traffic management devices to a layer 2 switch.

Claims

1. An apparatus for distributing flows of packets in a network having a plurality of network devices and a plurality of traffic managers, comprising:

a receiving interface for receiving a flow of packets to one of the plurality of network devices; and

a forwarding component that forwards each received packet to a determined traffic manager, wherein the forwarding component determines the traffic manager based on whether at least one address that is included with a received packet is also associated with a set of addresses, and wherein if the packet includes a source address that is associated with the set of addresses, using a destination address of the packet to determined traffic manager.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the determined traffic manager is persistent for each packet in at least one flow of packets.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the forwarding component forwards the packet to the determined traffic manager using the source address of the packet if it includes the destination address that is associated with another set of addresses.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein using the source address of the packet includes hashing it to obtain a value that is then used to distribute the packet to a particular traffic manager.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the forwarding component enables the packet to be routed to a destination if at least one of the source address is not associated with the set of addresses or a destination address is not associated with the set of addresses.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each address includes at least one of a media access control (MAC) address, a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier, a transmission control protocol (TCP) port, a user datagram protocol (UDP) port, an internet protocol (IP) address, physical port identifier, or a physical port.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein if the packet is received from one of the plurality of traffic managers, a first address included in the packet is replaced with a second address.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further arranged to operate as at least one of a switch chassis, router, proxy, firewall, load balancer, or Network Address Translator (NAT).

9. An apparatus for distributing flows of packets in a network having a plurality of network devices and a plurality of traffic managers, comprising:

a receiving interface for receiving a flow of packets to one of the plurality of network devices; and

a forwarding component that forwards each received packet to a determined traffic manager, wherein the forwarding component determines the traffic manager based on whether at least one address that is included with a received packet is also associated with a set of addresses, and wherein if the packet includes a destination address that is associated with the set of addresses, forwarding the packet to the traffic manager using a source address of the packet.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the forwarding component forwards the packet to the determined traffic manager using the destination address of the packet if it includes the source address that is associated with the set of addresses.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the determined traffic manager is persistent for each packet in at least one flow of packets.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein if the packet is received from one of the plurality of traffic managers, a first address included in the packet is replaced with a second address.

13. A system for distributing flows of packets over a network, comprising:

a plurality of servers that are arranged to provide access to a resource over the network;

a plurality of traffic managers that are configured to direct at least one flow of packets to at least one of the plurality of servers; and

at least one distributor that is arranged to receive the flow of packets and forward the flow to a determined traffic manager, wherein if the packet includes a source address that is associated with a set of addresses, the distributor is configured to use a destination address of the packet to determine the one of the plurality of traffic managers to forward the packet to.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the distributor is further arranged to use a source address of the packet to determine the one of the plurality of traffic managers to forward the packet to if the packet includes a destination address that is associated with another set of addresses.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the determined one of the plurality of traffic managers is persistent for each packet in at least one flow of packets between two network devices.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein if the packet is received from one of the plurality of traffic managers, a first address included in the packet is replaced with a second address.

17. The system of claim 13, further comprising a virtual local area network (VLAN) coupled to at least a portion of the plurality of traffic managers, wherein the packet is forwarded by placing an identifier in front of a media access control header and sending the packet to the VLAN switch.

18. A system for distributing flows of packets over a network, comprising:

a plurality of servers that are arranged to provide access to a resource over the network;

a plurality of traffic managers that are configured to direct at least one flow of packets to at least one of the plurality of servers; and

at least one distributor that is arranged to receive the flow of packets and forward the flow to a determined traffic manager, wherein if the packet includes a destination address that is associated with a set of addresses, the distributor is configured to use a source address of the packet to determine the one of the plurality of traffic managers to forward the packet to.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the determined one of the plurality of traffic managers is persistent for each packet in at least one flow of packets between two network devices.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein if the packet is received from one of the plurality of traffic managers, a first address included in the packet is replaced with a second address.

21. The system of claim 18, further comprising a virtual local area network (VLAN) coupled to at least a portion of the plurality of traffic managers, wherein the packet is forwarded by placing an identifier in front of a media access control header and sending the packet to the VLAN switch.

22. A method for distributing flows of packets over a network having a plurality of network devices and a plurality of traffic managers, comprising:

receiving a flow of packets to at least one of the plurality of network devices;

for each packet in the flow with a source address associated with a set of addresses, forwarding that packet to one of the plurality of traffic managers that is selected based at least in part on a destination address of the packet, and

for each packet in the flow with the destination address associated with the set of addresses, forwarding that packet to one of the plurality of traffic managers that is selected based at least in part on a source address of the packet.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the selected one of the plurality of traffic managers is persistent for each packet in at least one flow of packets between two network devices.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein if the packet is received from one of the plurality of traffic managers, a first address included in the packet is replaced with a second address.

25. A processor readable media that includes components for enabling the distribution of a flow of packets over a network having a plurality of network devices and a plurality of traffic managers, comprising:

a first component arranged for enabling the receipt of a flow of packets to at least one of the plurality of network devices;

a second component arranged for enabling each packet in the flow with a source address associated with a set of addresses to be forwarded to one of the plurality of traffic managers that is selected based at least in part on a destination address of the packet, and

a third component arranged for enabling each packet in the flow with the destination address associated with the set of addresses to be forwarded to one of the plurality of traffic managers that is selected based at least in part on a source address of the packet.

26. The processor readable media of claim 25, wherein the selected one of the plurality of traffic managers is persistent for each packet in at least one flow of packets between two network devices.

27. The processor readable media of claim 25, wherein if the packet is received from one of the plurality of traffic managers, a first address included in the packet is replaced with a second address.