METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENABLING MULTI-CORE PROCESSING OF VXLAN TRAFFIC

• US 20140059111A1
• Filed: 07/30/2013
• Published: 02/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Veeraiyan, Ayyappan
• Granted Patent: US 9,736,211 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/026 using flow identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0882 Utilisation of link capacity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

The disclosure herein describes a computer system that facilitates multi-core processing of VXLAN encapsulated packets. A VXLAN encapsulated packet typically contains an outer Ethernet header, an outer IP header, an outer UDP header, and an inner Ethernet header. The computer system hosts virtualization software which includes a virtual switch, a VXLAN module, and a load balancer. The load balancer monitors a port on the virtual switch. This port is dedicated to receiving VXLAN encapsulated packets and can be referred to as a VXLAN VMKNIC port. When the traffic statistics on the VXLAN VMKNIC port surpasses a predetermined threshold, the load balancer can instruct the physical network interface to allocate a number of receiver side scaling (RSS) queues. In turn, the physical network interface can store received VXLAN encapsulated packets in a number of RSS receive queues which facilitates multi-core processing of the received encapsulated packets.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating multi-core processing of encapsulated packets, wherein a respective encapsulated packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an outer IP header, an outer UDP header, and an inner Ethernet header, the method comprising:

monitoring a port on a virtual switch, wherein the port is configured for receiving encapsulated packets;

in response to traffic statistics on the monitored port being greater than a predetermined threshold, instructing a physical network interface to allocate receive side scaling (RSS) receive queues; and

allowing the physical network interface to store received encapsulated packets in a number of RSS receive queues which facilitates multi-core processing of the received encapsulated packets.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a respective encapsulated packet is encapsulated based on a VXLAN protocol;

and

wherein a source UDP port in the encapsulated packet corresponds to a hash of the packet'"'"'s inner TCP/IP header.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the monitored port on the virtual switch is a VMKNIC port dedicated to VXLAN traffic.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

allowing the physical network interface to store received encapsulated packets based on a 5-tuple of the packets'"'"' outer Ethernet header, outer IP header, and outer UDP header, and

wherein the 5-tuple includes a source IP address, a destination IP address, a protocol name, a source port, and a destination port.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

instructing the physical network interface to allocate regular receive queues for receiving un-encapsulated packets.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating traffic statistics on the monitored port.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

instructing the physical network interface to de-allocate the RSS receive queues in response to the traffic statistics on the monitored port dropping below the predetermined threshold.

8. A non-transitory storage medium storing instructions which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform a method for facilitating multi-core processing of encapsulated packets, wherein a respective encapsulated packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an outer IP header, an outer UDP header, and an inner Ethernet header, the method comprising:

monitoring a port on a virtual switch, wherein the port is configured for receiving encapsulated packets;

in response to traffic statistics on the monitored port being greater than a predetermined threshold, instructing a physical network interface to allocate receive side scaling (RSS) receive queues; and

allowing the physical network interface to store received encapsulated packets in a number of RSS receive queues which facilitates multi-core processing of the received encapsulated packets.

9. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 8,

wherein a respective encapsulated packet is encapsulated based on a VXLAN protocol;

and

wherein a source UDP port in the encapsulated packet corresponds to a hash of the packet'"'"'s inner TCP/IP header.

10. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 9, wherein the monitored port on the virtual switch is a VMKNIC port dedicated to VXLAN traffic.

11. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 8,

wherein the method further comprises allowing the physical network interface to store received encapsulated packets based on a 5-tuple of the packets'"'"' outer Ethernet header, outer IP header, and outer UDP header, and

wherein the 5-tuple includes a source IP address, a destination IP address, a protocol name, a source port, and a destination port.

12. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises instructing the physical network interface to allocate regular receive queues for receiving un-encapsulated packets.

13. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises updating traffic statistics on the monitored port.

14. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises instructing the physical network interface to de-allocate the RSS receive queues in response to the traffic statistics on the monitored port dropping below the predetermined threshold.

15. A computer system for facilitating multi-core processing of encapsulated packets, wherein a respective encapsulated packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an outer IP header, an outer UDP header, and an inner Ethernet header, the computer system comprising:

a physical network interface;

a virtual switch; and

a load balancer module coupled to the physical network interface and the virtual switch and configured to;

monitor a port on the virtual switch, wherein the port is configured for receiving encapsulated packets;

in response to traffic statistics on the monitored port being greater than a predetermined threshold, to instruct a physical network interface to allocate receive side scaling (RSS) receive queues; and

allow the physical network interface to store received encapsulated packets in a number of RSS receive queues which facilitates multi-core processing of the received encapsulated packets.

16. The computer system of claim 15,

wherein a respective encapsulated packet is encapsulated based on a VXLAN protocol;

and

wherein a source UDP port in the encapsulated packet corresponds to a hash of the packet'"'"'s inner TCP/IP header.

17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the monitored port on the virtual switch is a VMKNIC port dedicated to VXLAN traffic.

18. The computer system of claim 15,

wherein the physical network interface is configured to store received encapsulated packets based on a 5-tuple of the packets'"'"' outer Ethernet header, outer IP header, and outer UDP header, and

wherein the 5-tuple includes a source IP address, a destination IP address, a protocol name, a source port, and a destination port.

19. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the load balancer module is further configured to instruct the physical network interface to allocate regular receive queues for receiving un-encapsulated packets.

20. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising a VXLAN module configured to update traffic statistics on the monitored port.

21. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the load balancer module is further configured to instruct the physical network interface to de-allocate the RSS receive queues in response to the traffic statistics on the monitored port dropping below the predetermined threshold.