Distributed fabric management protocol
First Claim
1. A distributed fabric system comprising a plurality of independent network elements interconnected by inter-switch links (ISLs) and assigned to a same group, each network element including one or more switching chips, a processor, and memory storing layered program code that is executed by the processor, the layered program code of each network element including a device configuration (DC) stacking module and a switch discovery protocol (SDP) module that includes a member tracking layer (MTL) component, the SDP module of each network element, when executed, discovering each other network element in the group, the MTL component of each network element electing one of the network elements as a master network element, the SDP module of the master network element, when executed, sending messages to the DC stacking module of the master network element, each sent message identifying one of the network elements in the group, the DC-stacking module of the master network element, when executed, maintaining a record of all network elements that are currently members in the group, wherein:
- the master network element receives a switch discovery protocol data unit (SDPDU) from a remote network element that is not a member of the group and sends, in response to receiving the SDPDU from the remote network element, a message to the remote network element by which the master network element identifies itself to the remote network element as master of the group;
the remote network element, after receiving the message from the master network element by which master network element identifies itself, determines whether the remote network element is ready to join the group; and
the MTL component of the master network element maintains switch information about all network elements that are currently members in the group learned over the ISLs, employs a timer to age out the remote network element if no SDPDU is received from the remote network element for a specified duration, clears switch information learned over a given ISL when the given ISL goes down, and sends a message to the DC-stacking module of the master network element to notify of any change in membership in the group resulting from a newly discovered network element or from a departure of a network element.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed fabric system comprises a plurality of independent network elements interconnected by inter-switch links and assigned to a same group. Each network element includes a switching chip, a processor, and memory storing program code that is executed by the processor. The program code of each network element includes a device configuration (DC) stacking module and a switch discovery protocol (SDP) module. The SDP module of each network element, when executed, discovers each other network element in the group and elects one of the network elements as a master network element. The SDP module of the master network element, when executed, sends messages to the DC-stacking module of the master network element. Each sent message identifies one of the network elements in the group. The DC stacking module of the master network element, when executed, maintains a record of all network elements that are currently members in the group.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A distributed fabric system comprising a plurality of independent network elements interconnected by inter-switch links (ISLs) and assigned to a same group, each network element including one or more switching chips, a processor, and memory storing layered program code that is executed by the processor, the layered program code of each network element including a device configuration (DC) stacking module and a switch discovery protocol (SDP) module that includes a member tracking layer (MTL) component, the SDP module of each network element, when executed, discovering each other network element in the group, the MTL component of each network element electing one of the network elements as a master network element, the SDP module of the master network element, when executed, sending messages to the DC stacking module of the master network element, each sent message identifying one of the network elements in the group, the DC-stacking module of the master network element, when executed, maintaining a record of all network elements that are currently members in the group, wherein:
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the master network element receives a switch discovery protocol data unit (SDPDU) from a remote network element that is not a member of the group and sends, in response to receiving the SDPDU from the remote network element, a message to the remote network element by which the master network element identifies itself to the remote network element as master of the group; the remote network element, after receiving the message from the master network element by which master network element identifies itself, determines whether the remote network element is ready to join the group; and the MTL component of the master network element maintains switch information about all network elements that are currently members in the group learned over the ISLs, employs a timer to age out the remote network element if no SDPDU is received from the remote network element for a specified duration, clears switch information learned over a given ISL when the given ISL goes down, and sends a message to the DC-stacking module of the master network element to notify of any change in membership in the group resulting from a newly discovered network element or from a departure of a network element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer program product for managing a distributed fabric system in which a plurality of independent network elements are interconnected by inter-switch links (ISLs), the network elements being assigned to a same group, the computer program product comprising:
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a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code comprising; switch discovery protocol (SDP) module configured to discover each network element in the group, the SDP module including a member tracking layer (MTL) component configured to elect one of the network elements as a master network element, the MTL component of the master network element maintaining switch information about all network elements that are currently members in the group learned over the ISLs and clearing switch information learned over a given ISL when the given ISL goes down, the SDP module, when executed by the master network element, being further configured to issue a message for each network element in the group; and a device configuration (DC) stacking module configured to communicate switch information with each other network element in the distributed fabric system, the DC-stacking module, when executed by the master network element, being configured to receive each message issued by the SDP module running on the master network element and to maintain a record of all network elements that are currently members in the group, wherein; the master network element is configured to receive a switch discovery protocol data unit (SDPDU) from a remote network element that is not a member of the group and to send, in response to receiving the SDPDU from the remote network element, a message to the remote network element by which the master network element identifies itself to the remote network element as master of the group; the remote network element is configured to, after receiving the message from the master network element by which master network element identifies itself, determine whether the remote network element is ready to join the group; and the MTL component of the master network element employs a timer to age out the remote network element if no SDPDU is received from the remote network element for a specified duration and sends a message to the DC-stacking module of the master network element to notify of any change in membership in the group resulting from a newly discovered network element or from a departure of a network element. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification