Distributed, rule based packet redirection

• US 7,443,796 B1
• Filed: 09/24/2004
• Issued: 10/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Albert, Mark, Menditto, Louis F., Tsang, Tzu-Ming, Tiwari, Pranav, Nix, Shannon
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo; Ricky
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chery; Dady
• Application Number:
  US10/950,198
• Time in Patent Office: 1,495 Days
• Field of Search: 370235-237, 370/389, 709/238, 709/239, 709/242, 709/244
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/34 Signalling channels for network management communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/026 using flow identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/308 Route determination based on user's profile, e.g. premium users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/76 Routing in software-defined topologies, e.g. routing between virtual machines
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/25 of the same type
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0209 Architectural arrangements, e.g. perimeter networks or demilitarized zones
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A forwarding agent is implemented on a router. The forwarding agent receives instructions from a service manager for redirecting packets that match the instructions. A packet is received that matches the instructions and the packet is redirected according to the instructions.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving instructions from a service manager for redirecting one or more packets that match the instructions;

receiving a selected one or more of the packets that match the instructions; and

redirecting the selected one or more packets according to the instructions, wherein the selected one or more packets are redirected using a network address translation operation, which is signaled through an affinity key included in the instructions, whereby the affinity key includes a dispatch flag indicating where a packet should be forwarded, not directed, without referencing a destination IP address of the packet being forwarded, the affinity key also including an information flag indicating that statistics for packets related to the affinity key should be gathered.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the affinity key is identified by the service manager.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet destination Internet Protocol (IP) address.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet source port.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet destination port.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected one or more of the packets are forwarded to the service manager using a user datagram protocol (UDP).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the affinity key is a selected one of a fixed affinity and a wildcard affinity, both of which are operable to signal the network address translation operation.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on whether a packet source IP belongs to a set of IP addresses.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on whether a packet destination IP belongs to a set of IP addresses.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

gathering one or more statistics associated with the selected one or more packets.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving updated instructions for redirecting one or more of the packets.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the updated instructions are derived using information provided in gathered statistics associated with one or more of the packets.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet source IP address.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

implementing the service manager on a network device, wherein the network device includes one or more forwarding agents.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the network device is operable to perform a selected one of a group of operations, the group consisting of:

a routing operation;

a load balancing operation;

a proxying operation;

a statistics gathering operation;

a packet modification operation;

a tunneling operation; and

a tag switching operation.

16. A network device, comprising:

a service manager operable to generate instructions for redirecting one or more packets; and

a forwarding agent operable to receive the instructions, wherein the forwarding agent is further operable to receive a selected one or more of the packets that match the instructions and to redirect the selected one or more packets according to the instructions, and wherein the selected one or more packets are redirected using a network address translation operation, which is signaled through an affinity key included in the instructions, whereby the affinity key includes a dispatch flag indicating where a packet should be forwarded, not directed, without referencing a destination IP address of the packet being forwarded, the affinity key also including an information flag indicating that statistics for packets related to the affinity key should be gathered.

17. The network device of claim 16, wherein the affinity key is identified by the service manager.

18. The network device of claim 16, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet destination IP address.

19. The network device of claim 16, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet source port.

20. The network device of claim 16, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet destination port.

21. The network device of claim 16, wherein the selected one or more of the packets are forwarded to the service manager using a user datagram protocol (UDP).

22. The network device of claim 16, wherein the affinity key is a selected one of a fixed affinity and a wildcard affinity, both of which are operable to signal the network address translation operation.

23. The network device of claim 16, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on whether a packet source IP belongs to a set of IP addresses.

24. The network device of claim 16, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on whether a packet destination IP belongs to a set of IP addresses.

25. The network device of claim 16, wherein one or more statistics associated with the selected one or more packets are gathered by the network device.

26. The network device of claim 16, wherein updated instructions for redirecting one or more of the packets are generated by the service manager.

27. The network drive of claim 26, wherein the updated instructions are derived using information provided by statistics associated with one or more of the packets.

28. The network device of claim 16, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet source IP address.

29. The network device of claim 16, wherein the network device is operable to perform a selected one of a group of operations, the group consisting of:

a routing operation;

a load balancing operation;

a proxying operation;

a statistics gathering operation;

a packet modification operation;

a tunneling operation; and

a tag switching operation.

30. A system, comprising:

means for receiving instructions from a service manager for redirecting one or more packets that match the instructions;

means for receiving a selected one or more of the packets that match the instructions; and

means for redirecting the selected one or more packets according to the instructions, wherein the selected one or more packets are redirected using a network address translation operation, which is signaled through an affinity key included in the instructions, whereby the affinity key includes a dispatch flag indicating where a packet should be forwarded, not directed, without referencing a destination IP address of the packet being forwarded, the affinity key also including an information flag indicating that statistics for packets related to the affinity key should be gathered.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the affinity key is identified by the service manager.

32. The system of claim 30, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet destination IP address.

33. The system of claim 30, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet source port.

34. The system of claim 30, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet destination port.

35. The system of claim 30, wherein the selected one or more of the packets are forwarded to the service manager using a user datagram protocol (UDP).

36. The system of claim 30, wherein the affinity key is a selected one of a fixed affinity and a wildcard affinity, both of which are operable to signal the network address translation operation.

37. The system of claim 30, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on whether a packet source IP belongs to a set of IP addresses.

38. The system of claim 30, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on whether a packet destination IP belongs to a set of IP addresses.

39. The system of claim 30, further comprising:

means for gathering one or more statistics associated with the selected one or more packets.

40. The system of claim 30, further comprising:

means for receiving updated instructions for redirecting one or more of the packets.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the updated instructions are derived using information provided by statistics associated with one or more of the packets.

42. The system of claim 30, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet source IP address.

43. Software for processing information in a network environment, the software being embodied in a computer readable medium such that when executed is operable to:

receive instructions from a service manager for redirecting one or more packets that match the instructions;

receive a selected one or more of the packets that match the instructions; and

redirect the selected one or more packets according to the instructions, wherein the selected one or more packets are redirected using a network address translation operation, which is signaled through an affinity key included in the instructions, whereby the affinity key includes a dispatch flag indicating where a packet should be forwarded, not directed, without referencing a destination IP address of the packet being forwarded, the affinity key also including an information flag indicating that statistics for packets related to the affinity key should be gathered.

44. The medium of claim 43, wherein the affinity key is identified by the service manager.

45. The medium of claim 43, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet destination IP address.

46. The medium of claim 43, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet source port.

47. The medium of claim 43, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet destination port.

48. The medium of claim 43, wherein one or more of the packets are forwarded to the service manager using a user datagram protocol (UDP).

49. The medium of claim 43, wherein the affinity key is a selected one of a fixed affinity and a wildcard affinity, both of which are operable to signal the network address translation operation.

50. The medium of claim 43, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on whether a packet source IP belongs to a set of IP addresses.

51. The medium of claim 43, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on whether a packet destination IP belongs to a set of IP addresses.

52. The medium of claim 43, wherein the code is further operable to:

gather one or more statistics associated with the selected one or more packets.

53. The medium of claim 43, wherein the code is further operable to:

receive updated instructions for redirecting one or more of the packets.

54. The medium of claim 53, wherein the updated instructions are derived using information provided by statistics associated with one or more of the packets.

55. The medium of claim 43, wherein the selected one or more packets are determined to match the instructions based on a packet source IP address.