DISTRIBUTING SERVICE SESSIONS

• US 20160044095A1
• Filed: 05/15/2014
• Published: 02/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: A10 Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: A10 Networks Incorporated
• Inventors: Sankar, Swaminathan, Karampurwala, Hasnain, Gupta, Rahul, Kamat, Gurudeep, Jalan, Rajkumar
• Granted Patent: US 10,021,174 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1004 Server selection for load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources

Abstract

Provided are methods and systems for distributing service sessions from a client device in a service data network. A packet of the service session is received by a forwarding node. The forwarding node determines whether the packet matches a service address associated with the service session. Responsive to the determining, a servicing node associated with the service address is selected based on a forwarding policy. The packet is sent to the selected servicing node. The servicing node determines whether the packet is a service request packet. A server is selected based on a service policy, wherein the server is configured to serve the service session. The packet is sent to the server. Before being received by a forwarding node, the packet is received by a gateway node. The gateway node determines whether the packet matches the service address and selects the forwarding node based on a notification.

Claims

1. A method for distributing a service session from a client device, the method comprising:

receiving, by a forwarding node, a packet of the service session;

determining, by the forwarding node, whether the packet matches a service address, the service address being associated with the service session;

responsive to the determining, selecting a servicing node from a plurality of servicing nodes based on a forwarding policy, wherein each of the plurality of servicing nodes is associated with the service address; and

sending the packet to the servicing node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding policy comprises a source network address.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining selecting the servicing node from a plurality of servicing nodes based on a forwarding policy comprises:

retrieving a packet source network address associated with the packet; and

comparing the packet source network address to the forwarding policy.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the source network address comprises an IP address of the client device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the packet by the servicing node;

determining, by the servicing node, whether the packet is a service request packet;

selecting, by the servicing node, a server, the server being configured to serve the service session; and

sending, by the servicing node, the packet to the server.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the server is selected by the servicing node based on a service policy.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding node is receiving the packet from a gateway node.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising, prior to receiving the packet, by the forwarding node:

receiving, by the gateway node, a notification and the packet;

determining, by the gateway node, whether the packet matches the service address;

selecting, by the gateway node, the forwarding node based on the notification; and

sending, by the gateway node, the packet to the forwarding node.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the notification comprises the forwarding node and the service address.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the gateway node receives the notification over a routing protocol session with the forwarding node.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the gateway node receives the notification from a network controller.

12. A system for distributing a service session from a client device, the system comprising:

one or more forwarding nodes; and

a plurality of servicing nodes, wherein each of the plurality of servicing nodes is associated with a service address, the service address being associated with the service session; and

wherein the one or more forwarding nodes are configured to;

receive the service session;

determine whether a packet included in the service session matches the service address;

select a servicing node from the plurality of servicing nodes based on a forwarding policy; and

send the packet to the servicing node.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the forwarding policy comprises a source network address.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more forwarding nodes are further configured:

to retrieve a packet source network address associated with the packet; and

to compare the packet source network address to the forwarding policy.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the source network address comprises an IP address of the client device.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the servicing node is configured to:

receive the packet;

determine whether the packet is a service request packet;

select a server, the server being configured to serve the service session; and

send the packet to the server.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the server is selected by the servicing node based on a service policy.

18. The system of claim 12, further comprising a gateway node;

and

wherein the one or more forwarding nodes are further configured to receive the packet from a gateway node.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the gateway node is configured to receive a notification and the packet;

determine whether the packet matches the service address;

select the forwarding node from the one or more forwarding nodes based on the notification; and

send the packet to the forwarding node.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the notification comprises the forwarding node and the service address.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the gateway node is configured to receive the notification over a routing protocol session with the forwarding node.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the gateway node is configured to receive the notification from a network controller.

23. A non-transitory processor-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the following steps of a method for distributing a service session from a client device, the method comprising:

receiving by a forwarding node, a packet of the service session;

determining by the forwarding node, whether the packet matches a service address, the service address being associated with the service session;

responsive to the determining, selecting, based on a forwarding policy, a servicing node from a plurality of servicing nodes, wherein each of the plurality of servicing nodes is associated with the service address;

sending the packet to the servicing node;

receiving the packet by the servicing node;

determining, by the servicing node, whether the packet is a service request packet;

selecting, by the service node, a server, the server being configured to serve the service session; and

sending, by the service node, the packet to the server.

24. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the gateway node, a notification and the packet;

determining, by the gateway node, whether the packet matches the service address;

selecting, by the gateway node, the forwarding node based on the notification; and

sending, by the gateway node, the packet to the forwarding node.