Virtual cluster switching

• US 8,867,552 B2
• Filed: 04/14/2011
• Issued: 10/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vobbilisetty, Suresh, Chatwani, Dilip
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAN, MAN U
• Application Number:
  US13/087,239
• Publication Number:
  US 20110268125A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,286 Days
• Field of Search: 370229-235, 370248-252, 370351-397, 370401-414, 709220-224
• US Class Current: 370/395.53
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/245 Link aggregation, e.g. trunking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/46 Cluster building
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/352 Gigabit ethernet switching [GBPS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/357 Fibre channel switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/70 Virtual switches

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch system. The switch includes one or more ports on the switch configured to transmit packets encapsulated based on a first protocol. The switch further includes a control mechanism. During operation, the control mechanism forms a logical switch based on a second protocol, receives an automatically assigned identifier for the logical switch without requiring manual configuration of the identifier, and joins a virtual cluster switch.

Claims

1. A switch, comprising:

a forwarding module operable to determine an output port for a packet; and

a control module operable to;

receive an identifier for the switch; and

join a virtual cluster switch;

a media access control (MAC) learning module operable to;

learn a source MAC address and a corresponding virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier of an ingress packet associated with a port; and

communicate the learned MAC address, corresponding VLAN identifier, and corresponding port information to a name service.

2. The switch of claim 1,

wherein the virtual cluster switch comprises one or more physical switches which are allowed to be coupled in an arbitrary topology;

and

wherein the virtual cluster switch operates as one single switch.

3. The switch of claim 1, wherein while determining the output port for the packet, the forwarding module is operable to make the determination based on an Ethernet protocol.

4. The switch of claim 1, wherein while determining the output port for the packet, the forwarding module is operable to make the determination based on a Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) protocol, and wherein the packets is encapsulated in a TRILL header.

5. The switch of claim 1, wherein the identifier is based on a Fibre Channel (FC) switch domain ID.

6. The switch of claim 1, wherein the control module is further operable to maintain a copy of configuration information for the virtual cluster switch.

7. The switch of claim 6, wherein the configuration information for the virtual cluster switch indicates a respective switch identifier assigned to a respective physical switch in the virtual cluster switch.

8. The switch of claim 1, wherein the forwarding module is further operable to query the name service based on a received packet'"'"'s destination MAC address and corresponding VLAN information.

19. The switch of claim 1, wherein the identifier for Ethernet switch is a TRILL RBridge identifier.

20. The switch of claim 1, wherein the first protocol is a Multi-Protocol Label Switch (MPLS) protocol.

21. The switch of claim 1, wherein while determining the output port for the packet, the forwarding module is operable to perform a lookup using the name service, receive an egress switch identifier from the name service, and determine the output port corresponding to the egress switch identifier.

22. The switch of claim 2, wherein the physical switches in the virtual cluster switch are allowed to be coupled in a mesh topology.

9. A switching system, comprising:

a plurality of switches configured to transport packets using a first protocol;

a control module residing on a respective switch;

wherein the control module runs a control plane based on a second protocol;

wherein the plurality of switches are allowed to be coupled in an arbitrary topology;

wherein the control module configures the respective switch within the switching system based on the control plane; and

wherein the switching system operates as a single Ethernet switch; and

a media access control (MAC) learning module residing on the respective switch and operable to;

learn a source MAC address and a corresponding virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier of an ingress packet associated with a port; and

communicate the learned MAC address, corresponding VLAN identifier, and corresponding port information to a name service.

10. The switching system of claim 9, wherein a respective switch in the switching system receives an identifier based on the control plane.

11. The switching system of claim 10, wherein the identifier is based on an FC switch domain ID.

12. The switching system of claim 11,

wherein the packets are transported between switches based on a TRILL protocol;

and

wherein the respective switch is assigned a TRILL RBridge identifier that corresponds to the FC switch domain ID.

13. The switching system of claim 9, wherein a respective switch maintains a copy of configuration information of all the switches in the switching system.

14. The switching system of claim 9, further comprising the name service which maintains records of MAC addresses and VLAN information learned by a respective switch.

23. The switching system of claim 9, wherein the packets are transported between switches based on an MPLS protocol.

24. The switching system of claim 9, wherein the switches are allowed to be coupled in a mesh topology.

25. The switching system of claim 9, wherein the name service can be queried to return an egress switch identifier based on a packet'"'"'s destination MAC address, and wherein the egress switch identifier can be used to determine an output port for the packet.

15. A method performed by a switch, comprising:

encapsulating a packet based on a first protocol;

receiving an identifier for the switch based on a second protocol;

joining a virtual cluster switch;

learning a source MAC address and a corresponding VLAN identifier of an ingress packet associated with a port; and

communicating the learned MAC address, corresponding VLAN identifier, and corresponding port information to a name service.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the identifier assigned to the Ethernet switch is based on an FC switch domain ID.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising maintaining a copy of configuration information for the virtual cluster switch.

26. The method of claim 15, wherein the first protocol is based on a TRILL protocol.

27. The method of claim 15, wherein the identifier is a TRILL RBridge identifier.

28. The method of claim 15, wherein the first protocol is based on an MPLS protocol.

29. The method of claim 15, further comprising querying the name service with a packet'"'"'s destination MAC address, receiving a corresponding egress switch identifier from the name service, and determining an output port for the packet based on the egress switch identifier.

18. A switch means, comprising:

a communication means for encapsulating packets based on a first protocol;

a control means for running a control plane based on a second protocol;

a switch means for forming an Ethernet switch based on the control panel;

a receiving means for receiving an identifier for the Ethernet switch;

a joining means for joining a virtual cluster switch via the control plane; and

a MAC learning means for learning a source MAC address and a corresponding VLAN identifier of an ingress packet associated with a port and communicating the learned MAC address, corresponding VLAN identifier, and corresponding port information to a name service.