Methods and systems to offload overlay network packet encapsulation to hardware
First Claim
1. A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network, the method comprising:
- sending a mapping table of the overlay network from a host machine to a physical network interface controller (NIC) of the host machine, the mapping table associating each VM of a set of VMs of a tenant with an associated tunnel endpoint on the overlay network;
determining whether the overlay network encapsulation of a packet received at the host from a VM of the tenant is to be offloaded to the physical NIC;
when the encapsulation of the packet is to be offloaded to the physical NIC, tagging the received packet at the host for encapsulation by the physical NIC and sending the packet to the physical NIC without encapsulation, wherein when the packet is tagged, the physical NIC encapsulates the packet for the overlay network by using the mapping table to identify the tunnel endpoint based on an identifier of the VM; and
when the encapsulation of the packet is not to be offloaded to the physical NIC, encapsulating the received packet at the host by using the mapping table to identify the tunnel endpoint associated with the VM based on the identifier of the VM and sending the encapsulated packet without a tag to the physical NIC.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network is provided. The method, at a virtualization software of a host, sends a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host. The mapping table maps the identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network. The method, at the virtualization software, receives a packet from a VM of the tenant. The method sends the packet to the physical NIC. The method, at the physical NIC, encapsulates the packet for transmission over the overlay network by using the mapping table. The method of claim also tags the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC.
61 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network, the method comprising:
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sending a mapping table of the overlay network from a host machine to a physical network interface controller (NIC) of the host machine, the mapping table associating each VM of a set of VMs of a tenant with an associated tunnel endpoint on the overlay network; determining whether the overlay network encapsulation of a packet received at the host from a VM of the tenant is to be offloaded to the physical NIC; when the encapsulation of the packet is to be offloaded to the physical NIC, tagging the received packet at the host for encapsulation by the physical NIC and sending the packet to the physical NIC without encapsulation, wherein when the packet is tagged, the physical NIC encapsulates the packet for the overlay network by using the mapping table to identify the tunnel endpoint based on an identifier of the VM; and when the encapsulation of the packet is not to be offloaded to the physical NIC, encapsulating the received packet at the host by using the mapping table to identify the tunnel endpoint associated with the VM based on the identifier of the VM and sending the encapsulated packet without a tag to the physical NIC. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computing device serving as a host of virtual machines (VMs) comprising:
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a physical network interface controller (NIC); a set of processing units for executing instructions; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing sets of instructions for execution by the set of processing units, the sets of instructions for; sending a mapping table of an overlay network to the NIC, the mapping table associating each VM of a set of VMs of a tenant on the host with an associated tunnel endpoint on the overlay network; determining whether the overlay network encapsulation of a packet received at the host from a VM of the tenant is to be offloaded to the physical NIC; when the encapsulation of the packet is to be offloaded to the physical NIC, tagging the received packet for encapsulation by the physical NIC and sending the packet to the physical NIC without encapsulation, wherein when the packet is tagged, the physical NIC encapsulates the packet for the overlay network by using the mapping table to identify the tunnel endpoint based on an identifier of the VM; when the encapsulation of the packet is not to be offloaded to the physical NIC, encapsulating the received packet for the overlay network by using the mapping table to identify the tunnel endpoint associated with the VM based on the identifier of the VM and sending the encapsulated packet without a tag to the physical NIC to be transmitted. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification