Systems and methods for stopping and starting a packet processing task
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of packets at an ingress port of a network switch appliance from a plurality of nodes on a computer network, wherein the plurality of packets include duplicate packets;
repeatedly determining, by the network switch appliance, a workload of the network switch appliance;
if the workload is below a first prescribed threshold;
performing, by the network switch appliance, a packet de-duplication processing task on the received packets to identify and discard the duplicate packets; and
internally forwarding, according to a user-configurable transmission scheme, the received packets, not including the discarded duplicate packets, to an egress port of the network switch appliance for transmission to an external network monitoring instrument andif the workload is above the first prescribed threshold;
suspending the packet de-duplication processing task; and
internally forwarding, according to the user-configurable transmission scheme, the received packets, including the duplicate packets, to the egress port of the network switch appliance for transmission to the external network monitoring instrument;
wherein the user-configurable forwarding scheme is not part of the packet de-duplication processing task and is independent of an outcome of said determining the workload; and
wherein the user-configurable forwarding scheme defines transmission within the network switch appliance of at least some of the received packets from the ingress port to the egress port of the network switch appliance, the egress port communicatively coupled to the external network monitoring instrument.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of packet processing by a network switch appliance includes receiving a first packet at a first network port of the network switch appliance, determining a first workload at the network switch appliance at a first time instant, performing a task to process the first packet when the first workload is below a first prescribed threshold, and passing the first packet to an instrument port at the network switch appliance. A method of packet processing by a network switch appliance includes receiving a first packet at a first network port of the network switch appliance, determining a first resource at the network switch appliance at a first time instant, performing a task to process the first packet when the first resource is above a first prescribed threshold, and passing the first packet to an instrument port at the network switch appliance.
52 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of packets at an ingress port of a network switch appliance from a plurality of nodes on a computer network, wherein the plurality of packets include duplicate packets; repeatedly determining, by the network switch appliance, a workload of the network switch appliance; if the workload is below a first prescribed threshold; performing, by the network switch appliance, a packet de-duplication processing task on the received packets to identify and discard the duplicate packets; and internally forwarding, according to a user-configurable transmission scheme, the received packets, not including the discarded duplicate packets, to an egress port of the network switch appliance for transmission to an external network monitoring instrument and if the workload is above the first prescribed threshold; suspending the packet de-duplication processing task; and internally forwarding, according to the user-configurable transmission scheme, the received packets, including the duplicate packets, to the egress port of the network switch appliance for transmission to the external network monitoring instrument; wherein the user-configurable forwarding scheme is not part of the packet de-duplication processing task and is independent of an outcome of said determining the workload; and wherein the user-configurable forwarding scheme defines transmission within the network switch appliance of at least some of the received packets from the ingress port to the egress port of the network switch appliance, the egress port communicatively coupled to the external network monitoring instrument. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A network switch appliance for packet processing, comprising:
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an ingress port through which to receive a plurality of packets from a plurality of nodes on a computer network, wherein the plurality of packets include duplicate packets; an egress port through which to communicate with an external network monitoring instrument; and a processor configured to; repeatedly determine a workload of the network switch appliance; if the workload is below a first prescribed threshold; perform a packet de-duplication processing task on received packets to identify and discard the duplicate packets; and internally forward, according to a user-configurable transmission scheme, the received packets, not including the discarded duplicate packets, to an egress port of the network switch appliance for transmission to an external network monitoring instrument and if the workload is above the first prescribed threshold; suspend the packet de-duplication processing task; and internally forward, according to the user-configurable transmission scheme, the received packets, including the duplicate packets, to the egress port of the network switch appliance for transmission to the external network monitoring instrument; wherein the user-configurable forwarding scheme is not part of the packet de-duplication processing task and is independent of an outcome of said determining the workload; and wherein the user-configurable forwarding scheme defines transmission within the network switch appliance of at least some of the received packets from the ingress port to the egress port, the egress port configured to be communicatively coupled to the external network monitoring instrument. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium for use in a network switch appliance, the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions, an execution of which causes the network switch appliance to perform a process comprising:
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receiving a plurality of packets at ingress port of the network switch appliance from a plurality of nodes on a computer network, wherein the plurality of packets include duplicate packets; repeatedly determining a workload of the network switch appliance; if the workload is below a first prescribed threshold; performing a packet de-duplication processing task on the received packets to identify and discard the duplicate packets; and internally forwarding, according to a user-configurable transmission scheme, the received packets, not including the discarded duplicate packets, to an egress port of the network switch appliance for transmission to an external network monitoring instrument and if the workload is above the first prescribed threshold; suspending the packet de-duplication processing task; and internally forwarding, according to the user-configurable transmission scheme, the received packets, including the duplicate packets, to the egress port of the network switch appliance for transmission to the external network monitoring instrument; wherein the user-configurable forwarding scheme is not part of the packet de-duplication processing task and is independent of an outcome of said determining the workload; and wherein the user-configurable forwarding scheme defines transmission through the network switch appliance of at least some of the received packets from the ingress port to the egress port of the network switch appliance, the egress port configured to be communicatively coupled to an external network monitoring instrument. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification