Apparatus for inter-domain communications including a virtual switch for routing data packets between virtual interfaces of the virtual switch
First Claim
1. A network device for inter-domain communications, comprising:
- a transceiver that is configured to transmit and receive packets over a network based, in part, on a network protocol; and
a processor that is configured to create a virtual switch that is configured to receive a packet at one of a plurality of interfaces associated with the virtual switch, wherein the plurality of interfaces includes a plurality of virtual interfaces, and wherein the virtual switch is configured to be associated with at least three virtual interfaces, and to provide the packet at another of the plurality of interfaces,wherein the virtual switch is configured to provide the packet at the other of the plurality of interfaces by determining if a destination address for the packet is included in a neighbor cache table that is associated with the virtual switch, andwherein the virtual switch is further configured to add an entry to a neighbor cache table such that the entry includes a source address of the packet, and further includes the one of the plurality of interfaces that received the packet.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for a multi-domain computer system includes multiple virtual system domains, each having an associated, independent routing instance. A virtual switch is created to forward packets between the domains. The virtual switch is configured to operate substantially as if it were a physical layer-2 switch. The virtual switch and the virtual domains are connected together by virtual interfaces, where the virtual switch, the virtual domains, and the virtual interfaces are all created in software. Further, protocols such as ARP, IP, and/or IPv6 operate over the virtual interfaces in substantially the same way that they would over Ethernet. Also, each domain has a software driver that behaves like an Ethernet driver, and has a 48-bit Ethernet-like address that is used for the physical address.
21 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A network device for inter-domain communications, comprising:
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a transceiver that is configured to transmit and receive packets over a network based, in part, on a network protocol; and a processor that is configured to create a virtual switch that is configured to receive a packet at one of a plurality of interfaces associated with the virtual switch, wherein the plurality of interfaces includes a plurality of virtual interfaces, and wherein the virtual switch is configured to be associated with at least three virtual interfaces, and to provide the packet at another of the plurality of interfaces, wherein the virtual switch is configured to provide the packet at the other of the plurality of interfaces by determining if a destination address for the packet is included in a neighbor cache table that is associated with the virtual switch, and wherein the virtual switch is further configured to add an entry to a neighbor cache table such that the entry includes a source address of the packet, and further includes the one of the plurality of interfaces that received the packet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer program for inter-domain communications embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising components that are configured to enable actions to be performed, including:
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configuring a processor to create a virtual switch that is configured to be associated with at least one of a plurality of interfaces that includes at least three virtual interfaces; and if a packet is received by the virtual switch at one of the plurality of interfaces, employing the virtual switch to provide the packet to another of the plurality of interfaces, wherein the virtual switch is configured to provide the packet at the other of the plurality of interfaces by determining if a destination address for the packet is included in a neighbor cache table that is associated with the virtual switch, and wherein the virtual switch is further configured to add an entry to a neighbor cache table such that the entry includes a source address of the packet, and further includes the one of the plurality of interfaces that received the packet. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for inter-domain communications, comprising:
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creating means for creating a virtual switch that is configured to be associated with a plurality of interfaces that include a plurality of at least three virtual interfaces; and employing means for, if a packet is received by the virtual switch at one of the plurality of interfaces, employing the virtual switch to provide the packet to another of the plurality of interfaces, wherein the virtual switch is configured to provide the packet at the other of the plurality of interfaces by determining if a destination address for the packet is included in a neighbor cache table that is associated with the virtual switch, and wherein the virtual switch is further configured to add an entry to a neighbor cache table such that the entry includes a source address of the packet, and further includes the one of the plurality of interfaces that received the packet.
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Specification