DIRECTING DATA FLOWS IN DATA CENTERS WITH CLUSTERING SERVICES
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving a forward packet originating from a client;
identifying a first service engine from among a group of available service engines, wherein the first service engine controls a network connection with the client;
identifying, by the first service engine, a first server from among a group of servers to act on the forward packet;
creating an entry in a flow table, which entry relates the first service engine, the first server and the client;
receiving a reverse packet originating from the first server;
determining that the reverse packet originated from the first server and is destined for the client; and
applying a MAC address of the first service engine to the reverse packet.
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Abstract
Techniques are provided for implementing clustering services in a virtual data center or other virtualized infrastructure in a manner that allows packets to be directed to a particular service engine of a service engine cluster.
230 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving a forward packet originating from a client; identifying a first service engine from among a group of available service engines, wherein the first service engine controls a network connection with the client; identifying, by the first service engine, a first server from among a group of servers to act on the forward packet; creating an entry in a flow table, which entry relates the first service engine, the first server and the client; receiving a reverse packet originating from the first server; determining that the reverse packet originated from the first server and is destined for the client; and applying a MAC address of the first service engine to the reverse packet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus, comprising:
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a plurality of interfaces configured to receive packets; one or more processors and associated memory configured to; identify a first service engine, from among a group of available service engines, upon receiving a forward packet originating from a client, wherein the first service engine controls a network connection with the client; identify, by the first service engine, a first server from among a group of servers to act on the forward packet; create an entry in a flow table, which entry relates the first service engine, the first server and the client; determine that a reverse packet originating from the first server and destined for the client originated from the first server and is destined for the client; and apply a MAC address of the first service engine to the reverse packet. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer readable storage medium having computer program instructions stored thereon for performing the following operations:
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receiving a forward packet originating from a client; identifying a first service engine from among a group of service engines, wherein the first service engine controls a network connection with the client; identifying, by the first service engine, a first server from among a group of servers to act on the forward packet; creating an entry in a flow table, which entry relates the first service engine, the first server and the client receiving a reverse packet; determining that the reverse packet originated from the first server and is destined for the client; and applying a MAC address of the first service engine to the reverse packet.
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20. A method, comprising:
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receiving a forward packet from a client; determining a classification for the forward packet; if the determined classification indicates that the packet is one for which it is desirable that any reverse traffic be processed using a same first service engine that processed forward traffic, creating an entry in a flow table, which flow table entry relates the first service engine, the client, and a destination of the forward packet; receiving a reverse packet; locating the flow table entry; rewriting the header of the reverse packet to identify the first service engine.
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Specification