Constructing a network enabling layer-2 interconnection of data centers

• US 9,264,305 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2012
• Issued: 02/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: H3C Technologies Co., Limited (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Zhou, Wan, Zhu, Guoping
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaw, Peling
• Application Number:
  US14/130,401
• Publication Number:
  US 20140215023A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,292 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/70 Virtual switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/324 in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC

Abstract

A method for constructing a network enabling layer-2 interconnection of data centers includes: a current data center registers at a neighbor server when the current data center gets online, obtains information of all registered data centers, generates a virtual bridge port for each registered data center; after the current data center comes online, the current data center obtains information of all newly registered data centers according to a pre-set rule, generates a virtual bridge port for each newly registered data center; establishes a tunnel to each registered data center by using the virtual bridge port corresponding to the registered data center, and transmit data via the tunnel.

Claims

1. A method for constructing a network enabling layer-2 interconnection of data centers, comprising:

registering, by an edge device of a first data center, information of the first data center, which includes an IP address of the first data center, at a neighbor server;

obtaining, by the edge device, information of a second data center from the neighbor server;

generating a virtual bridge port for the second data center based on the information of the second data center;

configuring a tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to the virtual bridge port in a tunnel encapsulation mapping table, wherein the tunnel encapsulation entry includes the virtual bridge port, an IP address of the second data center, the IP address of the first data center; and

establishing, by the edge device, a tunnel with the second data center according to the tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to the second data center, and transmitting data via the tunnel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining by the edge device information of the second data center from the neighbor server comprises:

obtaining, by the edge device when the first data center comes online, information of all registered data centers from the neighbor server;

generating a virtual bridge port for each registered data center according to information of the registered data center;

configuring a tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to the virtual bridge port in the tunnel encapsulation mapping table;

obtaining, by the edge device after the first data center comes online, information of all newly registered data centers from the neighbor server;

generating a virtual bridge port for each newly registered data center according to information of the newly registered data center; and

configuring a tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to the virtual bridge port in the tunnel encapsulation mapping table.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein obtaining information of all newly registered data centers from the neighbor server comprises:

sending, by the edge device, a register request to the neighbor server at each first pre-set time interval;

receiving a register response from the neighbor server;

obtaining information of all registered data centers from the register response;

searching for a tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to each registered data center according to the information of the registered data center; and

determining the registered data center is a newly registered data center when the tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to the registered data center is not found, and obtaining information of the newly registered data center.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein registering by the edge device information of the first data center at the neighbor server and obtaining information of all registered data centers from the neighbor server comprise:

sending, by the edge device, a register request including information of the first data center to the neighbor server;

receiving a register response sent by the neighbor server in response to the register request; and

obtaining the information of all registered data centers from the register response.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

setting register re-attempt time intervals;

sending a register request to the neighbor server again if a register response is not received from the neighbor server within a current register re-attempt time interval and taking a next time interval in the register re-attempt time intervals as the current register re-attempt time interval until a register response is received from the neighbor server; and

sending a register request to the neighbor server again if a register response is not received from the neighbor server within the current register re-attempt time interval and taking a first time interval in the register re-attempt time intervals as the current register re-attempt time interval to start another round of register re-attempts if the current re-attempt time interval is the last time interval in the register re-attempt time intervals.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the information of a data center comprises a MAC address of the data center, wherein the method further comprises:

before generating a virtual bridge port for each registered data center based on the information of the registered data center, determining whether the MAC address of the registered data center is identical to a MAC address of the first data center;

skipping the step of generating the virtual bridge port for the registered data center in response to a determination that the MAC address of the registered data center is identical with the MAC address of the first data center; and

performing the step of generating the virtual bridge port for the registered data center in response to a determination that the MAC address of the registered data center is not identical with the MAC address of the current data center.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

after generating the virtual bridge port for the registered data center, sending a resolution request to the registered data center, and setting a state of the virtual bridge port to be UP after receiving a resolution response from the registered data center;

or setting the state of the virtual bridge port to be DOWN when the virtual bridge port is generated for the registered data center; and

after generating the virtual bridge port for the registered data center, sending a resolution request to the registered data center every second of a pre-set time interval, setting the state of the virtual bridge port to be DOWN when resolution responses for a pre-set number of consecutive resolution requests are not received, starting an aging timer for the virtual bridge port, and deleting the virtual bridge port when the aging timer expires.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by the edge device of the first data center when the first data center is to go offline, a purge request, which comprises the IP address of the first data center, to the neighbor server, which transmits the purge request to other registered data centers; and

searching, by the edge device when receiving a purge request from the neighbor server, for a tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to an IP address of a logging off data center in the purge request, and deleting a virtual bridge port corresponding to the tunnel encapsulation entry.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by the edge device, a first MAC address of a host in the first data center to the second data center via the tunnel, receiving a second MAC address sent by the second data center, and recording the second MAC address and the virtual bridge port corresponding to the second data center into a MAC address mapping table;

or

receiving an Ethernet packet from a virtual bridge port corresponding to a second host, recording a source MAC address in the received Ethernet packet and the virtual bridge port corresponding to the second host into the MAC address mapping table; and

receiving, by the edge device, an Ethernet packet destined for the second MAC address from an internal Ethernet port in the first data center, searching in the MAC address mapping table by using a destination MAC address of the Ethernet packet to determine a virtual bridge port corresponding to the destination MAC address, performing tunnel encapsulation on the Ethernet packet based on a tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to the virtual bridge port, and sending the encapsulated packet.

10. An edge device for constructing a network enabling layer-2 interconnection of data centers, comprising:

a register module, a control module and a transmit module;

wherein

the register module is to register at a neighbor server when a data center to which the edge device belongs comes online, obtain information of registered data centers, and obtain information of newly registered data centers from the neighbor server according to a pre-set rule after the data center comes online;

the control module is to generate a virtual bridge port for each registered data center based on the information of the registered data centers obtained, configure a tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to the virtual bridge port in a tunnel encapsulation mapping table, generate a virtual bridge port for each newly registered data center based on the information of the newly registered data centers obtained, configure a tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to the virtual bridge port in the tunnel encapsulation mapping table; and

the transmit module is to establish a tunnel with each registered data center according to the tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to the registered data center, and transmit data via the tunnel.

11. The edge device of claim 10, wherein the register module is to send a register request which comprises information of the data center to which the edge device belongs to the neighbor server, receive a register response sent by the neighbor server in response to the register request, and obtain information of all registered data centers from the register response.

12. The edge device of claim 11, wherein the register module is to store a pre-configured register re-attempt time interval list;

after the register request is sent to the neighbor server, send the register request again if a register response has not been received from the neighbor server within a current register re-attempt time interval and take a next time interval in the register re-attempt time interval list as the current register re-attempt time interval until a register response is received from the neighbor server; and

if the current register re-attempt time interval is the last time interval in the register re-attempt time interval list, send the register request again and take a first time interval in the register re-attempt time interval list as the current register re-attempt time interval to start a new round of register re-attempts.

13. The edge device of claim 12, wherein the register module is to send a register request to the neighbor server at each first pre-set time interval when obtaining information of all newly registered data centers from the neighbor server according to a pre-set rule, receive a register response from the neighbor server, obtain information of all registered data centers in the register response, search in a storage module for a tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to each registered data center according to the information of the registered data center, determine that the registered data center is a newly registered data center when the tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to the registered data center is not found, and obtain information of the newly registered data center.

14. The edge device of claim 13, wherein the register module is to obtain information of the registered data center, which includes a MAC address of the registered data center;

the control module is to determine whether a MAC address of each registered data center is identical to a MAC address of the local data center to which the edge device belongs before generating a virtual bridge port for each registered data center based on the information of the registered data center, skip generating the virtual bridge port for the registered data center in response to a determination that the MAC address of the registered data center is identical with the MAC address of the local data center, and perform the generating of the virtual bridge port for the registered data center in response to a determination that the MAC address of the registered data center is not identical with the MAC address of the local data center.

15. The edge device of claim 10, wherein the register module is to send a purge request including an IP address of the local data center to which the edge device belongs to the neighbor server, which transmits the purge request to other registered data centers when the local data center is to go offline, receive a purge request from the neighbor server, search in a storage module for a tunnel encapsulation entry corresponding to an IP address of a logging off data center in the purge request, and delete a virtual bridge port corresponding to the tunnel encapsulation entry.