Method to Pass Virtual Local Area Network Information in Virtual Station Interface Discovery and Configuration Protocol

• US 20120063363A1
• Filed: 09/09/2011
• Published: 03/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Mack-Crane, T. Benjamin, Sultan, Robert, Li, Yizhou, Gu, Yingjie
• Granted Patent: US 8,718,071 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/255
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• 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 12/4645 Details on frame tagging routing of packets H04L45/00; support for virtual LAN H04L49/354
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4675 Dynamic sharing of VLAN information amongst network nodes configuration of the network or of network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

An apparatus comprising an edge virtual bridging (EVB) bridge, and an EVB station coupled to the EVB bridge, wherein the EVB station is configured to send to the EVB bridge a virtual station interface (VSI) discovery and configuration protocol (VDP) request comprising a filter information (info) field without specifying a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier (ID), and wherein the EVB bridge is configured to send a VLAN ID (VID) to the EVB station in a second filter info field in a VDP response to the VDP request.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an edge virtual bridging (EVB) bridge; and

an EVB station coupled to the EVB bridge,

wherein the EVB station is configured to send to the EVB bridge a virtual station interface (VSI) discovery and configuration protocol (VDP) request comprising a filter information (info) field without specifying a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier (ID), and

wherein the EVB bridge is configured to send a VLAN ID (VID) to the EVB station in a second filter info field in a VDP response to the VDP request.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the VDP request comprises a null VID set in the filter info field by the EVB station to request a real VID value from the EVB bridge.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the VDP request comprises a VSI Type ID indicated by the EVB station to request mapping the VSI Type ID to an associated VID from the EVB bridge.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the VDP request comprises a Group ID indicated in the filter info field by the EVB station to request mapping the Group ID to an associated VID from the EVB bridge.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the filter info field and the second filter info field comprises a set of one or more VID values.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the filter info field and the second filter info field comprises a set of one or more Media Access Control (MAC)/VID values.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the filter info field and the second filter info field comprises a set of one or more GroupID/Media Access Control (MAC)/VID values.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the filter info field and the second filter info field comprises a set of one or more GroupID/VID values.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the VDP request indicates a plurality of VLANs for a single MAC Address.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the VDP request indicates a plurality of VLANs for a plurality of MAC Addresses.

11. A server platform comprising:

a transmitter configured to send to a bridge a virtual station interface (VSI) discovery and configuration protocol (VDP) request message without specifying a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier (ID);

a receiver configured to receive from the bridge a VLAN ID in a VDP response message in response to the VDP request message; and

a logic unit configured to associate the VLAN ID with a VSI.

12. The server platform of claim 11, wherein the VSI is associated with a virtual machine (VM) that communicates with a bridge port.

13. The server platform of claim 11, wherein the VDP request message comprises a VLAN ID that is set to about zero to trigger the bridge to obtain a real VLAN ID from a network database.

14. The server platform of claim 11, wherein the VDP request message comprises a Group ID to trigger the bridge to obtain a VLAN ID from a network database.

15. The server platform of claim 11, wherein the VDP request message comprises a VSI Type ID (VTID) to trigger the bridge to obtain a VLAN ID from a network database.

16. A method implemented by at least one network component comprising:

sending from a virtual station a virtual station interface (VSI) discovery and configuration protocol (VDP) request that comprises a virtual local area network (VLAN) field to a bridge coupled to the virtual station via a VSI; and

receiving at the virtual station a VDP response that comprises a VLAN ID that is mapped at the bridge to the VLAN field.

17. The method implemented by at least one network component of claim 16, wherein at least one of the virtual station and the bridge store an association between the VLAN ID and VSI.

18. The method implemented by at least one network component of claim 16, wherein the VDP request is sent to change a VLAN ID associated with the VSI.

19. The method implemented by at least one network component of claim 18 wherein the bridge is configured send a VDP response to the virtual station to change a VLAN ID at the virtual station.

20. The method implemented by at least one network component of claim 16 further comprising:

sending from the virtual station to the bridge a second VDP request that comprises one or more MAC Addresses and one or more associated VLAN fields for one or more existing VLAN associations at the bridge to indicate to the bridge to delete any other existing VLAN associations that are not included in the second VDP request; and

receiving at the virtual station a second VDP response that indicates an acknowledgement of successful removal of the VLAN associations at the bridge.

21. A network bridge comprising:

a receiver configured to receive from a network server a virtual station interface (VSI) discovery and configuration protocol (VDP) request message without specifying a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier (ID);

a transmitter configured to transmit to the network server a VLAN ID in a VDP response message in response to the VDP request message; and

a logic unit configured to retrieve the VLAN ID based on an ID in the VDP request message.

22. The network bridge of claim 21, wherein the ID in the VDP request message is a VSI Type (VTID).

23. The network bridge of claim 21, wherein the ID in the VDP request message is a Group ID.

24. A method implemented by at least one network component comprising:

receiving at a bridge from a virtual station coupled to the bridge via a VSI a virtual station interface (VSI) discovery and configuration protocol (VDP) request that comprises a virtual local area network (VLAN) field; and

sending to the virtual station a VDP response that comprises a VLAN ID that is mapped at the bridge to the VLAN field.

25. The method implemented by at least one network component of claim 24, wherein at least one of the virtual station and the bridge store an association between the VLAN ID and VSI.

26. The method implemented by at least one network component of claim 24, wherein the VDP request is sent to change a VLAN ID associated with the VSI.

27. The method implemented by at least one network component of claim 26 wherein the bridge is configured send a VDP response to the virtual station to change a VLAN ID at the virtual station.