Centralized logical L3 routing

• US 8,958,298 B2
• Filed: 08/17/2012
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhang, Ronghua, Thakkar, Pankaj, Gross, Jesse E. IV, Pettit, Justin, Amidon, Keith E., Wendlandt, Daniel J., Koponen, Teemu, Casado, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Hsu, Alpus H
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILLIAMS, ELTON S
• Application Number:
  US13/589,074
• Publication Number:
  US 20130051399A1
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• Field of Search: 370/400, 370/401, 370/235, 370/254, 370/256, 370/392, 370/395.31, 370/396, 370/397, 370406-409, 709/201, 709/220, 709/223, 709/230, 709/238, 709/252
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/04 Interdomain routing, e.g. hierarchical routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/54 Organization of routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/74 Address processing for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/12 Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/103 across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/256 NAT traversal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2592 using tunnelling or encapsulation

Abstract

A novel method for logically routing a packet between a source machine that is in a first logical domain and a destination machine that is in a second logical domain is described. The method configures a managed switching element as a second-level managed switching element. The method configures a router in a host that includes the second-level managed switching element. The method communicatively couples the second-level managed switching element with the router. The method causes the router to route a packet when the router receives a packet from the first logical domain that is addressed to the second logical domain.

Claims

1. For a network controller that manages a network, a method for configuring a plurality of network elements in the network to logically route packets between a first logical domain and a second logical domain, the method comprising:

configuring a first plurality of edge managed switching elements to perform logical switching for the first logical domain and a second plurality of edge managed switching elements to perform logical switching for the second logical domain;

configuring a particular managed switching element, not in either the first or second pluralities of managed switching elements, that operates in a host machine as a second-level managed switching element to perform logical switching for the first logical domain and the second logical domain;

configuring a namespace in the host machine to operate as a logical router for handling packets with logical addresses sent from one of the first logical domain and the second logical domain to the other one of the first logical domain and the second logical domain, wherein the second-level managed switching element is configured to forward to the namespace packets sent from one of the first and second logical domains to the other of the first and second logical domains, wherein the namespace is configured to route packets sent from one of the first and second logical domains to the other of the first and second logical domains and return the routed packets to the second-level managed switching element in the host machine, wherein the namespace is configured to handle packets by configuring a routing table in the namespace.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising establishing a tunnel between the second-level managed switching element and a particular managed edge switching element in the first plurality edge switching elements.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the managed edge switching element is a software switch that executes on another host machine along with a set of virtual machines.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring a second namespace in the host machine to operate as a logical router for handling packets with logical addresses sent from one of a third logical domain and a fourth logical domain to the other one of the third logical domain and the fourth logical domain, wherein the second-level managed switching element is configured to forward to the second namespace packets sent from one of the third and fourth logical domains to the other of the third and fourth logical domains.

5. A computer operating as a host machine for processing logical network traffic in a network managed by at least one network controller, the computer comprising:

a set of processing units; and

a set of machine readable media storing;

a namespace for execution by at least one processing unit in the set of processing units, the namespace storing a routing table to implement a logical router for handling packets with logical addresses for a particular set of logical domains; and

a managed software switching element operating in a kernel of the host machine, separate from the namespace, for execution by at least one processing unit in the set of processing units, the managed software switching element communicatively coupled to a plurality of edge switching elements that operate at a plurality of additional host machines for hosting virtual machines in the particular set of logical domains,

wherein said software switching element stores a set of forwarding tables configured to facilitate forwarding of packets, sent to and from the virtual machines in the set of particular set of logical domains, between the edge switching elements and the namespace implementing the logical router.

6. The computer of claim 5, wherein the managed software switching element is communicatively coupled to at least one of the edge switching elements via a tunnel through the managed network.

7. The computer of claim 5, wherein at least the plurality of the edge switching elements are also software switching elements.

8. The computer of claim 5, wherein the namespace is a first namespace, wherein the set of machine readable media further stores a second namespace for execution by at least one processing unit in the set of processing units, wherein the second namespace stores a second routing table.

9. The computer of claim 8, wherein the set of forwarding tables stored by the software switching element is configured to route traffic between the first and second namespaces without the traffic exiting the computer.

10. The computer of claim 5, wherein the routing table is a configurable table for storing entries for controlling data flow through the logical router.

11. A non-transitory machine readable medium for storing a program for a network controller that manages a network, the network controller for configuring a plurality of network elements in the network to logically route packets between a first logical domain and a second logical domain, the program comprising sets of instructions for:

configuring a first plurality of edge switching elements to perform logical switching for the first logical domain and a second plurality of edge switching elements to perform logical switching for the second logical domain;

configuring a particular managed switching element, not in either the first or second pluralities of managed switching elements, that operates in a host machine as a second-level managed switching element to perform logical switching for the first logical domain and the second logical domain;

configuring a namespace in the host machine to operate as a logical router for handling packets with logical addresses sent from one of the first logical domain and the second logical domain to the other one of the first logical domain and the second logical domain, wherein the second-level managed switching element is configured to forward to the namespace packets sent from one of the first and second logical domains to the other of the first and second logical domains, wherein the namespace is configured to route packets sent from one of the first and second logical domains to the other of the first and second logical domains and return the routed packets to the second-level managed switching element in the host machine, wherein the namespace is configured to handle packets by configuring a routing table in the namespace.

12. The machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for establishing a tunnel between the second-level managed switching element and at least one of the managed edge switching elements.

13. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein a particular one of the managed edge switching elements is a software switch that executes on another host machine along with a set of virtual machines.

14. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for configuring a second namespace in the host machine to operate as a logical router for handling packets with logical addresses sent from one of a third logical domain and a fourth logical domain to the other one of the third logical domain and the fourth logical domain.