Configuring Logical Routers on Hardware Switches

• US 20170034051A1
• Filed: 07/31/2015
• Published: 02/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chanda, Anupam, Davie, Bruce
• Granted Patent: US 9,847,938 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/02 Topology update or discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/44 Distributed routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/586 of virtual routers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/70 Virtual switches

Abstract

A method for configuring a managed hardware forwarding element (MHFE) to perform packet forwarding operations for a logical network is described. The method receives data for the logical network that defines a logical router and a set of logical switches for logically connecting several end machines that operate on different host machines to several physical machines that are connected to the MHFE. The method defines multiple routing components for the logical router, where each routing component includes a separate set of logical ports. The method then configures a forwarding table on the MHFE by populating the forwarding table with tunnel endpoint data for each logical port of each routing component of the logical router that is associated with a logical port of a logical switch. The tunnel endpoint data populated for logical ports of one routing component indicate that no tunnel should be established for any of the logical ports.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a managed hardware forwarding element (MHFE) to perform packet forwarding operations for a logical network, the method comprising:

receiving data for the logical network that defines a logical router and a set of logical switches for logically connecting a plurality of end machines operating on a plurality of host machines to a plurality of physical machines that are connected to the MHFE;

defining a plurality of routing components for the logical router based on the received logical network data, each routing component comprising a separate set of logical ports; and

configuring a forwarding table on the MHFE by populating the forwarding table with tunnel endpoint data for each logical port of each routing component of the logical router that is associated with a logical port of a logical switch, wherein the tunnel endpoint data populated for a set of logical ports of one particular routing component in the plurality of routing components indicate that no tunnel should be established for any of the logical ports in the set.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each logical switch in the set of logical switches is implemented by the MHFE and by a set of managed forwarding elements (MFEs), each MFE operating on a host machine on which a subset of the plurality of end machines reside.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the tunnel endpoint data populated for each logical port of the remaining routing components in the plurality of routing components indicate a tunnel endpoint network address for an MFE that implements a logical switch in order to establish a tunnel from the MHFE to the MFE for exchanging network data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the logical switch comprises logical switch one of ports of which is associated with a logical port of the routing component for which the tunnel is established.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the particular routing component comprises a distributed router that is also implemented by both the MHFE and MFEs, wherein every other routing component in the plurality of routing components comprises a service router that is neither implemented by the MHFE nor by any of the MFEs.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the logical router further connects the logical network to one or more external physical networks, wherein each service router is implemented on a gateway machine that connects the logical network to one or more external physical networks.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the distributed component of the logical router is also implemented by the different gateway machines.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising, based on the definition of the logical router, defining a transit logical switch for logically handling traffic between the distributed router and the service routers, wherein the MHFE, gateway machines, and MFEs further implement the transit logical switch.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the tunnel endpoint data for (i) each logical port of the distributed router comprises a fixed network address of 127.0.0.1 which specifies that no tunnel should be established between the MHFE and an MFE that implements a logical switch associated with the logical port of the distributed router, and (ii) each logical port of a service router comprises a network address of a gateway machine that implements the transit logical switch one of logical ports of which is associated with a logical port of the service router.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the network address of the gateway machine specifies that a tunnel has to be established between the MHFE and the gateway machine in order to send network data to the gateway machine through the tunnel.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the MHFE comprises a third-party top-of-rack (TOR) switch to which the plurality of physical machines connects.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding table is one of a plurality of forwarding tables that are configured on the MHFE using an open source protocol that is recognizable and used by the MHFE to implement the set of logical switches and the logical router of the logical network.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the logical network data further comprises logical forwarding data that specify forwarding behaviors of the logical router and the set of logical switches of the logical network that are implemented by the MHFE.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the logical router is a first logical router, the method further comprising receiving a definition of a second logical router that connects to an logical port of the first logical router.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the definition of the first logical router comprises a plurality of logical ports for communicating with an external network, wherein the second logical router only communicates with the external network through the first logical router.

16. A method for configuring a managed hardware forwarding element (MHFE) to perform packet forwarding operations for a logical network, the method comprising:

receiving data for the logical network that defines a logical router and a set of logical switches for logically connecting a plurality of end machines operating on a plurality of host machines to a plurality of physical machines that are connected to the MHFE;

defining a plurality of routing components for the logical router based on the received logical network data, each routing component comprising a separate set of logical ports; and

configuring the MHFE with a forwarding table that is populated with tunnel endpoint data for each logical port of each routing component of the logical router, wherein the tunnel endpoint data for a logical port of a distributed routing component is populated in a first manner and the tunnel endpoint data for a logical port of a service routing components is populated in a second different manner.

17. A non-transitory machine readable medium of a controller computer of a control plane for storing a program to configure a managed hardware forwarding element (MHFE) to perform packet forwarding operations for a logical network, the program comprising sets of instructions for:

receiving data for the logical network that defines a logical router and a set of logical switches for logically connecting a plurality of end machines operating on a plurality of host machines to a plurality of physical machines that are connected to the MHFE;

defining a plurality of routing components for the logical router based on the received logical network data, each routing component comprising a separate set of logical ports; and

configuring a forwarding table on the MHFE by populating the forwarding table with tunnel endpoint data for each logical port of each routing component of the logical router that is associated with a logical port of a logical switch, wherein the tunnel endpoint data populated for a set of logical ports of one particular routing component in the plurality of routing components indicate that no tunnel should be established for any of the logical ports in the set.

18. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 17, wherein the set of logical switches is implemented by the MHFE and by a set of managed forwarding elements (MFEs), each MFE operating on a host machine on which a subset of the plurality of end machines reside, wherein the particular routing component comprises a distributed router that is implemented by both the MHFE and MFEs, wherein every other routing component in the plurality of routing components comprises a service router that is neither implemented by the MHFE nor by any of the MFEs.

19. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 18, wherein the logical router further connects the logical network to one or more external physical networks, wherein each service router is implemented on a gateway machine that connects the logical network to one or more external physical networks.

20. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 19, wherein the tunnel endpoint data for (i) each logical port of the distributed router comprises a fixed Internet Protocol (IP) address of 127.0.0.1, and (ii) each logical port of a service router comprises an IP address of a gateway machine that implements the service router.