Adaptive link aggregation and virtual link aggregation
First Claim
1. A switch, comprising:
- a plurality of ports;
link management circuitry configured to operate at least two ports of the plurality of ports of the switch to form a link aggregation, wherein the link aggregation operates as a single logical channel;
forwarding circuitry configured to determine an egress port among the ports participating in the link aggregation for a packet of a data flow based on a calculation function associated with a distribution policy, wherein a first value obtained from computing the calculation function for the packet indicates the egress port; and
link adaptation circuitry configured to;
in response to detecting an imbalance of respective link utilizations among links of the link aggregation, modify the calculation function associated with the distribution policy, wherein a second value obtained from computing the modified calculation function for a packet of the data flow indicates a different port among the ports participating in the link aggregation.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch. The switch comprises a plurality of ports, a link management module, a forwarding module, and a link adaptation module. The link management module operates at least two ports of the plurality of ports of the switch to form a link aggregation. This link aggregation operates as a single logical channel. The forwarding module determines an egress port for a packet among the ports participating in the link aggregation based on a distribution policy. The link adaptation module detects an imbalance of the respective link utilizations among links of the link aggregation based on one or more imbalance criteria, and applies one or more corrective actions to the distribution policy.
-
Citations
29 Claims
-
1. A switch, comprising:
-
a plurality of ports; link management circuitry configured to operate at least two ports of the plurality of ports of the switch to form a link aggregation, wherein the link aggregation operates as a single logical channel; forwarding circuitry configured to determine an egress port among the ports participating in the link aggregation for a packet of a data flow based on a calculation function associated with a distribution policy, wherein a first value obtained from computing the calculation function for the packet indicates the egress port; and link adaptation circuitry configured to; in response to detecting an imbalance of respective link utilizations among links of the link aggregation, modify the calculation function associated with the distribution policy, wherein a second value obtained from computing the modified calculation function for a packet of the data flow indicates a different port among the ports participating in the link aggregation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
5. The switch of claim l, wherein the imbalance criteria include one or more of:
-
a number of links in the link aggregation having higher utilization than a high threshold; and a number of links in the link aggregation having lower utilization than a low threshold.
-
-
13. A method, comprising:
-
operating at least two ports of a plurality of ports of a switch to form a link aggregation, wherein the link aggregation operates as a single logical channel; determining an egress port among the ports participating in the link aggregation for a packet of a data flow based on a calculation function associated with a distribution policy, wherein a first value obtained from computing the calculation function for the packet indicates the egress port; and in response to detecting an imbalance of respective link utilizations among links of the link aggregation, modifying the calculation function associated with the distribution policy, wherein a second value obtained from computing the modified calculation function for a packet of the data flow indicates a different port among the ports participating in the link aggregation. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. A system, comprising:
-
one or more ports; a processor; a memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the system to perform a method, the method comprising; operating at least two ports of ports of the system to form a link aggregation, wherein the link aggregation operates as a single logical channel; determining an egress port among the ports participating in the link aggregation for a packet of a data flow based on a calculation function associated with a distribution policy, wherein a first value obtained from computing the calculation function for the packet indicates the egress port; in response to detecting an imbalance of respective link utilizations among links of the link aggregation, modifying the calculation function associated with the distribution policy, wherein a second value obtained from computing the modified calculation function for a packet of the data flow indicates a different port among the ports participating in the link aggregation. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. A switch means, comprising:
-
a plurality of port means; a link management means for operating at least two port means of the plurality of port means of the switch means to form a link aggregation, wherein the link aggregation operates as a single logical channel; a forwarding means for determining an egress port means among the port means participating in the link aggregation for a packet of a data flow based on a calculation function associated with a distribution policy, wherein a first value obtained from computing the calculation function for the packet indicates the egress port means; and a link adaptation means for; in response to detecting an imbalance of respective link utilizations among links of the link aggregation, modifying the calculation function associated with the distribution policy, wherein a second value obtained from computing the modified calculation function for a packet of the data flow indicates a different port means among the port means participating in the link aggregation.
-
Specification