Method for determining multiple paths between ports in a switched fabric
First Claim
1. A method for programming forwarding tables for switches for multipathing in a subnet of a switched fabric including at least a host system, a target system and switches each having one or more ports interconnected via links, each port having multiple local identifiers (LIDs) assigned thereto for multipathing, said method comprising:
- determining all possible links between all ports on the subnet during topology discovery;
creating an all port connectivity table which records all port-to-port connectivity information;
creating an all switch shortest paths table which records all the shortest paths between every switch pair on the subnet based on the port-to-port connectivity information; and
computing forwarding tables for respective switches on the subnet that allow usage of multiple paths between switch pairs based on the port-to-port connectivity information and based on the shortest paths between every switch pair.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A mechanism provided to program forwarding tables for switches in a subnet of a switched fabric including at least a host system, a target system and switches each having one or more ports interconnected via links for multipathing. Such a mechanism may be installed in a host system to determine all possible links between all ports on the subnet during topology discovery; create an all port connectivity table which records all port-to-port connectivity information; create an all switch shortest paths table which records all the shortest paths between every switch pair on the subnet based the port-to-port connectivity information; and compute forwarding tables for respective switches on the subnet that allow usage of multiple paths between port pairs based on the port-to-port connectivity information and based on the shortest paths between every switch pair.
56 Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A method for programming forwarding tables for switches for multipathing in a subnet of a switched fabric including at least a host system, a target system and switches each having one or more ports interconnected via links, each port having multiple local identifiers (LIDs) assigned thereto for multipathing, said method comprising:
-
determining all possible links between all ports on the subnet during topology discovery; creating an all port connectivity table which records all port-to-port connectivity information; creating an all switch shortest paths table which records all the shortest paths between every switch pair on the subnet based on the port-to-port connectivity information; and computing forwarding tables for respective switches on the subnet that allow usage of multiple paths between switch pairs based on the port-to-port connectivity information and based on the shortest paths between every switch pair. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A method for programming forwarding tables for switches for multipathing in a subnet of a switched fabric including at least a host system, a target system and switches each having one or more ports interconnected via links, said method comprising:
-
determining all possible links between all ports on the subnet during topology discovery; creating an all port connectivity table which records all port-to-port connectivity information; creating an all switch shortest paths table which records all the shortest paths between every switch pair on the subnet based on the port-to-port connectivity information; and computing forwarding tables for respective switches on the subnet that allow usage of multiple paths between switch pairs based on the port-to-port connectivity information and based on the shortest paths between every switch pair; wherein each of said host system and said target system includes a channel adapter (CA) installed supporting one or more ports with each port having multiple local identifiers (LIDs) assigned thereto for multipathing. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method for programming forwarding tables for switches for multipathing in a subnet of a switched fabric including at least a host system, a target system and switches each having one or more ports interconnected via links, said method comprising:
-
determining all possible links between all ports on the subnet during topology discovery; creating an all port connectivity table which records all port-to-port connectivity information; creating an all switch shortest paths table which records all the shortest paths between every switch pair on the subnet based on the port-to-port connectivity information; and computing forwarding tables for respective switches on the subnet that allow usage of multiple paths between switch pairs based on the port-to-port connectivity information and based on the shortest paths between every switch pair; wherein said forwarding tables are computed to ensure loop-less paths and allow ports to be addressed by multiple local identifiers (LIDs), and wherein said all-port connectivity and all-switch shortest paths tables are constantly updated reflecting any dynamic changes to the subnet topology.
-
-
11. A data network, comprising:
-
a host system having at least one channel adapter (CA) installed therein supporting one or more ports with each port having multiple local identifiers (LIDs) assigned thereto for multipathing; at least one target system having at least one channel adapter (CA) installed therein supporting one or more ports with each port having multiple local identifiers (LIDs) assigned thereto for multipathing; a switched fabric comprising a plurality of different switches which interconnect said host system via CA ports to said remote system via CA port along different physical links for data communications; and a fabric manager provided in said host system for making topology discovery, assigning local identifiers (LIDs) to all ports that are connected in the switched fabric, and programming forwarding tables for switches in the switched fabric, wherein said fabric manager programs forwarding tables for switches for multipathing by; determining all possible links between all ports that are connected in the switched fabric during topology discovery; creating an all port connectivity table which records all port-to-port connectivity information; creating an all switch shortest paths table which records all the shortest paths between every switch pair on the switched fabric based on the port-to-port connectivity information; and computing forwarding tables for respective switches on the switched fabric that allow usage of multiple paths between switch pairs based on the port-to-port connectivity information and based on the shortest paths between every switch pair. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to:
-
determine all possible links between all ports on a subnet including at least a host system, a target system and switches each having one or more ports interconnected via links during topology discovery, each port having multiple local identifiers (LIDs) assigned thereto for multipathing; create an all port connectivity table which records all port-to-port connectivity information; create an all switch shortest paths table which records all the shortest paths between every port pair on the subnet based on the port-to-port connectivity information; and compute forwarding tables for respective switches on the subnet that allow usage of multiple paths between port pairs based on the port-to-port connectivity information and based on the shortest paths between every port pairs. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
Specification