Packet processing in managed interconnection switching elements
First Claim
1. A method for forwarding a packet at a first managed interconnection switching element in a managed network of interconnection switching elements, the method comprising:
- receiving a packet from a source machine on a first network segment in a first physical segmented network having a first plurality of network segments, the packet having a destination address that identifies a machine located on a second network segment in a second, different physical segmented network having a second plurality of network segments, wherein the first and second network segments are logically coupled to logical ports of a logical switching element that comprises a plurality of logical ports to which a plurality of network segments logically connect, the plurality of network segments located at physically disparate physical segmented networks, the logical switching element implemented by the interconnection switching elements that operate at the edge of the physically disparate physical segmented networks and connect the physically disparate physical segmented networks to an interconnecting network;
removing a context tag that identifies the first network segment;
using the identification of the first network segment to determine a logical switching element that connects at least the first and second network segments;
using the destination address of the packet to logically forward the packet to a particular logical port of the logical switching element, the particular logical port corresponding to the second network segment, wherein the destination address is one of a plurality of addresses that map to the particular logical port;
encapsulating the packet with a logical context identifier that identifies the particular logical port; and
transmitting the encapsulated packet towards a second managed interconnection switching element at the second physical segmented network.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Some embodiments provide a novel method for forwarding a packet at a first managed interconnection switching element in a managed network of interconnection switching elements. The method receives a packet from a source machine on a first network segment in a first network. The packet identifies a destination machine located on a second network segment in a second, different network. The method removes a context tag that identifies the first network segment. The method uses the identification of the first network segment to determine a logical switching element that connects at least the first and second network segments. The method encapsulates the packet with a logical context identifier that identifies a logical port of the logical switching element. The logical port corresponds to the second network segment. The method transmits the twice-encapsulated packet towards a second managed interconnection switching element at the second network.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for forwarding a packet at a first managed interconnection switching element in a managed network of interconnection switching elements, the method comprising:
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receiving a packet from a source machine on a first network segment in a first physical segmented network having a first plurality of network segments, the packet having a destination address that identifies a machine located on a second network segment in a second, different physical segmented network having a second plurality of network segments, wherein the first and second network segments are logically coupled to logical ports of a logical switching element that comprises a plurality of logical ports to which a plurality of network segments logically connect, the plurality of network segments located at physically disparate physical segmented networks, the logical switching element implemented by the interconnection switching elements that operate at the edge of the physically disparate physical segmented networks and connect the physically disparate physical segmented networks to an interconnecting network; removing a context tag that identifies the first network segment; using the identification of the first network segment to determine a logical switching element that connects at least the first and second network segments; using the destination address of the packet to logically forward the packet to a particular logical port of the logical switching element, the particular logical port corresponding to the second network segment, wherein the destination address is one of a plurality of addresses that map to the particular logical port; encapsulating the packet with a logical context identifier that identifies the particular logical port; and transmitting the encapsulated packet towards a second managed interconnection switching element at the second physical segmented network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for forwarding a packet at a managed interconnection switching element in a network of managed interconnection switching elements, the method comprising:
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at a first interconnection switching element that connects a first segmented network having a first plurality of network segments to an interconnecting network, receiving a packet from a second interconnection switching element that connects a second segmented network having a second plurality of network segments to the interconnecting network, the packet encapsulated with a context identifier that identifies a destination logical port of a logical switching element that comprises a plurality of logical ports to which a plurality of network segments couple, including a first network segment at the first segmented network and a second network segment at the second segmented network, the plurality of network segments located at physically disparate physical segmented networks including the first segmented network and the second segmented network, the logical switching element implemented by the interconnection switching elements that operate at the edge of the physically disparate physical segmented networks and connect the physically disparate physical segmented networks to an interconnecting network; removing the encapsulation to identify that the destination logical port corresponds to the first network segment; adding to the packet a context tag for the first network segment that enables physical switching elements located within the first segmented network to identify the packet as belonging to the first network segment; and transmitting the packet with the context tag onto the first segmented network for delivery to a particular destination machine on the first network segment. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for execution by at least one processing unit of a first managed interconnection switching element, the machine readable medium for forwarding a packet in a managed network of interconnection switching elements, the program comprising sets of instructions for:
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receiving a packet from a source machine on a first network segment in a first physical segmented network having a first plurality of network segments, the packet having a destination address that identifies a machine located on a second network segment in a second, different physical segmented network having a second plurality of network segments, wherein the first and second network segments are logically coupled to logical ports of a logical switching element that comprises a plurality of logical ports to which a plurality of network segments logically connect, the plurality of network segments located at physically disparate physical segmented networks, the logical switching element implemented by the interconnection switching elements that operate at the edge of the physically disparate physical segmented networks and connect the physically disparate physical segmented networks to an interconnecting network; removing a context tag that identifies the first network segment; using the identification of the first network segment to determine a logical switching element that connects at least the first and second network segments; using the destination address of the packet to logically forward the packet to a logical port of the logical switching element, the logical port corresponding to the second network segment, wherein the destination address is one of a plurality of addresses that map to the logical port; encapsulating the packet with a logical context identifier that identifies the logical port; and transmitting the encapsulated packet towards a second managed interconnection switching element at the second physical segmented network. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification