Distributed configuration management in a switch group

• US 9,699,029 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2014
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Guntaka, Vidyasagara R., Vobbilisetty, Suresh, Gowda, Manjunath A. G., Varshney, Himanshu
• Primary Examiner(s): ROBERTS, BRIAN S
• Application Number:
  US14/512,268
• Publication Number:
  US 20160105316A1
• Time in Patent Office: 998 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0266 using meta-data, objects or commands for formatting management information, e.g. using eXtensible markup language [XML]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/042 comprising distributed management centres cooperatively managing the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0823 characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0869 Validating the configuration within one network element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/15 Interconnection of switching modules

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch. The switch includes a switch group module, a persistent storage module, and a distributed configuration management module. The switch group module maintains a membership in a switch group. The switch group includes a plurality of switches and operates as a single switch. The persistent storage module stores configuration information associated with the switch group in a table, which includes one or more columns for attribute values of the configuration information, in a local persistent storage. The distributed configuration management module verifies whether the configuration information is eligible for a distributed commit to the switch group. If the configuration information is eligible for the distributed commit, the distributed configuration management module commits the configuration information to the persistent storage and switch modules of the switch.

Claims

1. A switch, comprising:

switch-group circuitry configured to maintain a membership in a network of interconnected switches, wherein the network of interconnected switches is identified by a fabric identifier associated with a respective switch of the network of interconnected switches;

storage circuitry configured to store configuration information associated with the network of interconnected switches in a table in a local persistent storage, wherein the table includes one or more columns for attribute values of the configuration information; and

configuration-management circuitry configured to;

verify whether the configuration information is eligible for a distributed commit in the network of interconnected switches; and

in response to verifying the configuration information to be eligible for the distributed commit, commit the configuration information to the persistent storage and one or more corresponding hardware modules of the switch.

2. The switch of claim 1, wherein verifying the configuration information comprises:

verifying whether the configuration information is implementable in hardware modules of one or more switches of the network of interconnected switches, wherein the configuration information is associated with the one or more switches; and

verifying whether the configuration information is prepared for storage in a persistent storage of a respective switch of the network of interconnected switches.

3. The switch of claim 2, wherein, in response to verifying the configuration information not to be eligible for the network of interconnected switches, the configuration-management circuitry is further configured to roll back the configuration information from a persistent storage of a respective switch, which has succeeded in storage preparation, of the network of interconnected switches.

4. The switch of claim 1, wherein the configuration-management circuitry is further configured to verify whether the network of interconnected switches has converged based on a visibility list of a respective switch of the network of interconnected switches, wherein a visibility list includes switch identifiers of discovered neighbors of a switch.

5. The switch of claim 1, wherein the configuration information includes one or more of:

global configuration information associated with the network of interconnected switches; and

local configuration information associated with a switch of the network of interconnected switches.

6. The switch of claim 1, wherein the configuration-management circuitry is further configured to ensure a persistent storage of a respective switch of the network of interconnected switches stores a same copy of the configuration information.

7. The switch of claim 1, wherein the configuration-management circuitry is further configured to:

generate a first message for a second switch of the network of interconnected switches, wherein the first message comprises an instruction to clear persistent storage of the remote switch; and

generate a second message for the second switch, wherein the second message comprises an image of the local persistent storage of the switch.

8. The switch of claim 1, wherein the configuration-management circuitry is further configured to:

identify local configuration information associated with a second switch of the network of interconnected switches; and

perform a switch-specific distributed commit of the identified local configuration information in the network of interconnected switches.

9. The switch of claim 8, wherein the configuration-management circuitry is further configured to:

identify a modified local configuration information associated with the second switch, wherein the second switch has rejoined the network of interconnected switches; and

perform a switch-specific distributed commit of the modified local configuration information in the network of interconnected switches.

10. The switch of claim 1, wherein the switch is designated to perform distributed commit for configuration information associated with a first service in the network of interconnected switches, and wherein a second switch is designated to perform distributed commit for configuration information associated with a second service in the network of interconnected switches.

11. The switch of claim 1, wherein the configuration-management circuitry is further configured to identify the configuration information in a message received from a second switch of the network of interconnected switches, wherein the configuration information is generated at a console of the remote switch.

12. The switch of claim 1, wherein the persistent storage is an object relational database.

13. The switch of claim 1, wherein the network of interconnected switches is an Ethernet fabric switch, wherein the network of interconnected switches operate as a single Ethernet switch.

14. A method, comprising:

maintaining a membership of a switch in a network of interconnected switches, wherein the network of interconnected switches identified by a fabric identifier associated with a respective switch of the network of interconnected switches;

storing configuration information associated with the network of interconnected switches in a first table in a local persistent storage, wherein the first table includes one or more columns for attribute values of the configuration information;

verifying whether the configuration information is eligible for a distributed commit in the network of interconnected switches; and

in response to verifying the configuration information to be eligible for the network of interconnected switches, committing the configuration information to the persistent storage and one or more corresponding hardware modules of the switch.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein verifying the configuration information comprises:

verifying whether the configuration information is implementable in hardware modules of one or more switches of the network of interconnected switches, wherein the configuration information is associated with the one or more switches; and

verifying whether the configuration information is prepared for storage in a persistent storage of a respective switch of the network of interconnected switches.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, in response to verifying the configuration information not to be eligible for the network of interconnected switches, the method further comprises rolling back the configuration information from a persistent storage of a respective switch, which has succeeded in storage preparation, of the network of interconnected switches.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising verifying whether the network of interconnected switches has converged based on a visibility list of a respective switch of the network of interconnected switches, wherein a visibility list includes switch identifiers of discovered neighbors of a switch.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the configuration information includes one or more of:

global configuration information associated with the network of interconnected switches; and

local configuration information associated with a switch of the network of interconnected switches.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising ensuring a persistent storage of a respective switch of the network of interconnected switches stores a same copy of the configuration information.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

generating a first message for a second switch of the network of interconnected switches, wherein the first message comprises an instruction to clear persistent storage of the second switch; and

generating a second message for the second switch, wherein the second message comprises an image of the local persistent storage of the switch.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

identifying local configuration information associated with a second switch of the network of interconnected switches; and

performing a switch-specific distributed commit of the identified local configuration information in the network of interconnected switches.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

identifying a modified local configuration information associated with the second switch, wherein the second switch has rejoined the network of interconnected switches; and

perform a switch-specific distributed commit of the modified local configuration information in the network of interconnected switches.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein the switch is designated to perform distributed commit for configuration information associated with a first service in the network of interconnected switches, and wherein a second switch is designated to perform distributed commit for configuration information associated with a second service in the network of interconnected switches.

24. The method of claim 14, further comprising identifying the configuration information in a message received from a second switch of the network of interconnected switches, wherein the configuration information is generated at a console of the remote switch.

25. The method of claim 14, wherein the persistent storage is an object relational database.

26. The method of claim 14, wherein the network of interconnected switches is an Ethernet fabric switch, wherein the network of interconnected switches operate as a single Ethernet switch.