NETWORK SERVICE HEADER METADATA FOR LOAD BALANCING

• US 20170180257A1
• Filed: 03/04/2017
• Published: 06/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Guichard, James N., Pignataro, Carlos M., Quinn, Paul, Ward, David D.
• Granted Patent: US 10,148,577 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/38 Flow based routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/74 Address processing for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1023 based on a hash applied to IP addresses or costs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/52 based on load

Abstract

A method for load balancing based on metadata in a network service header. The method includes receiving a packet or frame of a traffic flow, wherein the packet or frame has a payload and the network service header including metadata and service path information for the traffic flow identifying the service path, and the metadata comprises classification information of the packet or frame, extracting, by a service header processor of the load balancer, the classification information of the metadata from the packet or frame, and applying, by a load balancing function of the load balancer, a load balancing policy on the packet or frame based on the classification information of the metadata.

Claims

1. A method for load balancing based on metadata in a network service header, the method comprising:

receiving, at a load balancer in a service path, a packet or frame of a traffic flow, wherein;

the packet or frame has a payload and the network service header including metadata and service path information for the traffic flow identifying the service path;

the metadata comprises classification information of the packet or frame; and

the classification information is a result of metadata augmentation by a service node upstream of the load balancer in the service path;

extracting, by a service header processor of the load balancer, the classification information of the metadata from the packet or frame; and

applying, by a load balancing function of the load balancer, a load balancing policy on the packet or frame based on the classification information of the metadata.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the load balancing policy on the packet or frame based on the classification information comprises deciding to load balance the packet or frame differently depending on the classification information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata augmentation adds precision to the classification information which was previously determined by an initial classifier.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata augmentation by the service node upstream of the load balancer affects how the load balancer processes the packet or frame.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the load balancer is not capable of deducing the classification information of the packet or frame based on the packet or frame.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the load balancing policy on the packet or frame does not include processing the payload of the packet or frame.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the service node upstream of the load balancer in the service path is a deep packet inspection engine and adds additional information when performing metadata augmentation.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the load balancing policy on the packet or frame does not include processing the layer 7 Hypertext Transfer Protocol header of the packet or frame.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the classification information from the result of metadata augmentation by the service node upstream of the load balancer comprises application information associated with the traffic flow.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the load balancer, encoding scheme of the metadata of the network service header via in-line of the service path.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the load balancer, encoding scheme of the metadata of the network service header via a control plane of the service path.

12. A load balancer in a service path for load balancing based on metadata in a network service header, the load balancer comprising:

at least one memory element having instructions stored thereon;

at least one processors coupled to the at least one memory element and configured to execute the instructions to cause the load balancer to;

receive a packet or frame of a traffic flow, wherein;

the packet or frame has a payload and the network service header including metadata and service path information for the traffic flow identifying the service path, the metadata comprises classification information of the packet or frame, and the classification information is a result of metadata augmentation by a service node upstream of the load balancer in the service path;

extract the classification information of the metadata from the packet or frame; and

apply a load balancing policy on the packet or frame based on the classification information of the metadata.

13. The load balancer of claim 12, wherein applying the load balancing policy on the packet or frame based on the classification information comprises deciding to load balance the packet or frame differently depending on the classification information.

14. The load balancer of claim 12, wherein the metadata augmentation adds precision to the classification information which was previously determined by an initial classifier.

15. The load balancer of claim 12, wherein the metadata augmentation by the service node upstream of the load balancer affects how the load balancer processes the packet or frame.

16. The load balancer of claim 12, wherein the load balancer is not capable of deducing the classification information of the packet or frame based on the packet or frame.

17. A computer-readable non-transitory medium comprising one or more instructions for load balancing based on metadata in a network service header, that when executed on a processor configure the processor to:

receive, at a load balancer in a service path, a packet or frame of a traffic flow, wherein;

the packet or frame has a payload and the network service header including metadata and service path information for the traffic flow identifying the service path;

the metadata comprises classification information of the packet or frame; and

the classification information is a result of metadata augmentation by a service node upstream of the load balancer in the service path;

extract, by a service header processor of the load balancer, the classification information of the metadata from the packet or frame; and

apply, by a load balancing function of the load balancer, a load balancing policy on the packet or frame based on the classification information of the metadata.

18. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 17, wherein the service node upstream of the load balancer in the service path is a deep packet inspection engine and adds additional information when performing metadata augmentation.

19. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 17, wherein the classification information from the result of metadata augmentation by the service node upstream of the load balancer in the service path comprises application information associated with the traffic flow.

20. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 17, further comprising receiving, at the load balancer, encoding scheme of the metadata of the network service header in-line of the service path.