SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VIRTUAL PORTCHANNEL LOAD BALANCING IN A TRILL NETWORK

• US 20130336164A1
• Filed: 06/15/2012
• Published: 12/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Yang, Yibin, Tsai, Alex, Janakiraman, Rajagopalan, Parameswarannair, Vinay V.
• Granted Patent: US 8,989,049 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/255
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/462 LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/245 Link aggregation, e.g. trunking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering

Abstract

An example method includes storing a portion of virtual PortChannel (vPC) information in a TRansparent Interconnect of Lots of Links network environment, deriving, from the portion of vPC information, a physical nickname of an edge switch to which a frame can be forwarded, and rewriting an egress nickname in a TRILL header of the frame with the physical nickname. In example embodiments, the vPC information can include respective vPC virtual nicknames, EtherChannel hash algorithms, hash values, and physical nicknames of edge switches associated with vPCs in the network environment. In some embodiments, the portion of vPC information can be derived from an Interested vPC Type Length Value (TLV) information of an Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) routing protocol data unit (PDU).

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

storing a portion of virtual PortChannel (vPC) information in a TRansparent Interconnect of Lots of Links (TRILL) network environment;

deriving, from the portion of vPC information, a physical nickname of an edge switch to which a frame can be forwarded; and

rewriting an egress nickname in a TRILL header of the frame with the physical nickname.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vPC information includes respective vPC virtual nicknames, EtherChannel hash algorithms, hash values, and physical nicknames of edge switches associated with vPCs in the network environment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the egress nickname is a selected one of a vPC virtual nickname and a distribution tree nickname.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of vPC information is derived from at least one of an Interested vPC Type Length Value (TLV) information and a vPC Reachability TLV information of an Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) routing protocol data unit (PDU).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the frame is not forwarded on a link, and wherein a portion of vPCs are represented in the portion of vPC information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the vPC information includes an aggregated vPC virtual nickname representing a plurality of vPCs that anchor on a common set of anchoring edge switches, and each anchoring edge switch is responsible for a common subset of hash values associated with the plurality of vPCs.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

advertising vPC reachability in a vPC Reachability TLV information of an IS-IS routing PDU, wherein the vPC reachability indicates vPCs represented by the portion of vPC information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the frame at a particular edge switch having the physical nickname;

obtaining a hash value of a portion of the frame;

determining if the particular edge switch is responsible for the hash value; and

performing a selected one of a group of actions, the group consisting of;

forwarding the frame to a vPC anchored on the particular edge switch, dropping the frame,

sending the frame to a spine switch based on a lookup result, and

sending the frame to a spine switch selected from a distribution tree.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying an association between a vPC virtual nickname and a server'"'"'s Media Access Control (MAC) address, wherein the vPC virtual nickname is associated with a vPC anchored on the server.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the TRILL network environment comprises a fat-tree network topology, and wherein spine switches are connected to edge switches that are anchored by vPCs.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the TRILL network environment comprises a hub-and-spoke network topology, and wherein hub switches are connected to spoke switches that are anchored by vPCs.

12. Logic encoded in non-transitory media that includes instructions for execution and when executed by a processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:

storing a portion of virtual PortChannel (vPC) information in a TRansparent Interconnect of Lots of Links (TRILL) network environment;

deriving, from the portion of vPC information, a physical nickname of an edge switch, to which to forward a frame; and

rewriting an egress nickname in a TRILL header of the frame with the physical nickname.

13. The logic of claim 12, wherein the vPC information includes respective vPC virtual nicknames, EtherChannel hash algorithms, hash values, and physical nicknames of edge switches associated with vPCs in the network environment.

14. The logic of claim 12, the operations further comprising:

receiving the frame at a particular edge switch having the physical nickname;

obtaining a hash value of a portion of the frame; and

determining if the particular edge switch is responsible for the hash value.

15. The logic of claim 12, wherein the frame is not forwarded on a link, and wherein a portion of vPCs are represented in the portion of vPC information.

16. The logic of claim 12, wherein the vPC information includes an aggregated vPC virtual nickname representing a plurality of vPCs that anchor on a common set of anchoring edge switches, and each anchoring edge switch is responsible for a common subset of hash values associated with the plurality of vPCs.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory element for storing data; and

a processor that executes instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and the memory element cooperate, such that the apparatus is configured for;

storing a portion of virtual PortChannel (vPC) information in a TRansparent Interconnect of Lots of Links (TRILL) network environment;

deriving, from the portion of vPC information, a physical nickname of an edge switch, to which to forward a frame; and

rewriting an egress nickname in a TRILL header of the frame with the physical nickname.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the vPC information includes respective vPC virtual nicknames, EtherChannel hash algorithms, hash values, and physical nicknames of edge switches associated with vPCs in the network environment.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, further configured for:

receiving the frame at a particular edge switch having the physical nickname;

obtaining a hash value of a portion of the frame; and

determining if the particular edge switch is responsible for the hash value.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the frame is not forwarded on a link, and wherein a portion of vPCs are represented in the portion of vPC information.