DYNAMICALLY PINNING MICRO-SERVICE TO UPLINK PORT

• US 20180019948A1
• Filed: 07/12/2016
• Published: 01/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Patwardhan, Sourabh, Manam, Rajasekhar
• Granted Patent: US 10,432,532 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4645 Details on frame tagging routing of packets H04L45/00; support for virtual LAN H04L49/354
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/4629 using multilayer switching, e.g. layer 3 switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/38 Flow based routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/50 using label swapping, e.g. multi-protocol label switch [MPLS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/54 Organization of routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/22 Traffic shaping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2475 for supporting traffic characterised by the type of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2483 involving identification of individual flows
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/803 Application aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/70 Virtual switches

Abstract

A virtual networking switch on a host computing device can receive a first data packet of a micro-service data flow from a virtual machine running on the host computing device. The first data packet can include micro-service flow data identifying a first container instance that transmitted the first data packet. The virtual networking switch can provide a subset of the micro-service flow data to a container orchestrator, that utilizes the first subset of the micro-service flow data to assign a label to the first micro-service data flow. The virtual networking switch can pin the first micro-service data flow to a first uplink port of the host computing device based on the label assigned to the first micro-service data flow, causing data packets received from the virtual machine as part of the first micro-service data flow to be forwarded to their intended recipient via the first uplink port.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a virtual networking switch of a host computing device, a first data packet of a micro-service data flow from a virtual machine running on the host computing device, wherein the virtual machine is hosting a set of one or more container instances providing micro-services and the first data packet includes micro-service flow data identifying a first container instance from the set of one more container instances that transmitted the first data packet;

providing at least a first subset of the micro-service flow data to a container orchestrator, wherein the container orchestrator utilizes the first subset of the micro-service flow data to assign a label to the first micro-service data flow; and

pinning the first micro-service data flow to a first uplink port of the host computing device based on the label assigned to the first micro-service data flow, causing data packets received from the virtual machine as part of the first micro-service data flow to be forwarded to their intended recipient via the first uplink port.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of micro-service flow data includes at least one of an IP address, a source port number, Virtual Extensible Local-Area Network (VXLAN) identifier, Virtual Local-Area Network (VLAN) identifier) or network header field data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein pinning the first micro-service data flow comprises:

updating a pinning table to include at least a second subset of the micro-service flow data and an identifier corresponding to the first uplink port.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

after pinning the first micro-service data flow to the first uplink port, receiving a second data packet of the micro-service data flow from the virtual machine;

determining, based on the pinning table, that the second data packet should be forwarded to its intended recipient via the first uplink port; and

forwarding the second data packet to its intended recipient via the first uplink port.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the label assigned to the first micro-service data flow identifies a micro-service provided by the first container instance.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein pinning the first micro-service data flow comprises:

identifying, based on the label assigned to the first micro-service data flow, a bandwidth allocation policy assigned to the micro-service provided by the first container instance, the bandwidth allocation policy identifying a desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance; and

determining that the first uplink port can provide the desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

after pinning the first micro-service data flow to the first uplink port, determining that a reevaluation event occurred, the reevaluation event being either an operational or configuration related event;

in response to determining that the reevaluation event occurred, determining whether the first uplink port can provide the desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance;

in response to determining that the first uplink port can no longer provide the desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance, determining that a second uplink port can provide the desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance; and

pinning the micro-service data flow to the second uplink port.

8. A virtual networking switch of a host computing device, comprising:

one or more computer processors; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the virtual networking switch to;

receive a first data packet of a micro-service data flow from a virtual machine running on the host computing device, wherein the virtual machine is hosting a set of one or more container instances providing micro-services and the first data packet includes micro-service flow data identifying a first container instance from the set of one more container instances that transmitted the first data packet;

provide at least a first subset of the micro-service flow data to a container orchestrator, wherein the container orchestrator utilizes the first subset of the micro-service flow data to assign a label to the first micro-service data flow; and

pin the first micro-service data flow to a first uplink port of the host computing device based on the label assigned to the first micro-service data flow, causing data packets received from the virtual machine as part of the first micro-service data flow to be forwarded to their intended recipient via the first uplink port.

9. The virtual networking switch of claim 8, wherein the first set of micro-service flow data includes at least one of an IP address, a source port number, Virtual Extensible Local-Area Network (VXLAN) identifier, Virtual Local-Area Network (VLAN) identifier) or network header field data.

10. The virtual networking switch of claim 8, wherein pinning the first micro-service data flow comprises:

updating a pinning table to include at least a second subset of the micro-service flow data and an identifier corresponding to the first uplink port.

11. The virtual networking switch of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause the virtual networking switch to:

after pinning the first micro-service data flow to the first uplink port, receive a second data packet of the micro-service data flow from the virtual machine;

determine, based on the pinning table, that the second data packet should be forwarded to its intended recipient via the first uplink port; and

forward the second data packet to its intended recipient via the first uplink port.

12. The virtual networking switch of claim 8, wherein the label assigned to the first micro-service data flow identifies a micro-service provided by the first container instance.

13. The virtual networking switch of claim 12, wherein pinning the first micro-service data flow comprises:

identifying, based on the label assigned to the first micro-service data flow, a bandwidth allocation policy assigned to the micro-service provided by the first container instance, the bandwidth allocation policy identifying a desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance; and

determining that the first uplink port can provide the desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance.

14. The virtual networking switch of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the virtual networking switch to:

after pinning the first micro-service data flow to the first uplink port, determine that a reevaluation event occurred, the reevaluation event being either an operational or configuration related event;

in response to determining that the reevaluation event occurred, determine whether the first uplink port can provide the desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance;

in response to determining that the first uplink port can no longer provide the desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance, determine that a second uplink port can provide the desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance; and

pin the micro-service data flow to the second uplink port.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a virtual networking switch, cause the virtual networking switch to:

receive a first data packet of a micro-service data flow from a virtual machine running on the host computing device, wherein the virtual machine is hosting a set of one or more container instances providing micro-services and the first data packet includes micro-service flow data identifying a first container instance from the set of one more container instances that transmitted the first data packet;

provide at least a first subset of the micro-service flow data to a container orchestrator, wherein the container orchestrator utilizes the first subset of the micro-service flow data to assign a label to the first micro-service data flow; and

pin the first micro-service data flow to a first uplink port of the host computing device based on the label assigned to the first micro-service data flow, causing data packets received from the virtual machine as part of the first micro-service data flow to be forwarded to their intended recipient via the first uplink port.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first set of micro-service flow data includes at least one of an IP address, a source port number, Virtual Extensible Local-Area Network (VXLAN) identifier, Virtual Local-Area Network (VLAN) identifier) or network header field data.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein pinning the first micro-service data flow comprises:

updating a pinning table to include at least a second subset of the micro-service flow data and an identifier corresponding to the first uplink port.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the virtual networking switch to:

after pinning the first micro-service data flow to the first uplink port, receive a second data packet of the micro-service data flow from the virtual machine;

determine, based on the pinning table, that the second data packet should be forwarded to its intended recipient via the first uplink port; and

forward the second data packet to its intended recipient via the first uplink port.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the label assigned to the first micro-service data flow identifies a micro-service provided by the first container instance.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein pinning the first micro-service data flow comprises:

identifying, based on the label assigned to the first micro-service data flow, a bandwidth allocation policy assigned to the micro-service provided by the first container instance, the bandwidth allocation policy identifying a desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance; and

determining that the first uplink port can provide the desired bandwidth for the micro-service provided by the first container instance.