Methods and apparatus for configuring a virtual network switch

• US 9,882,776 B2
• Filed: 12/10/2014
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Inventors: Aybay, Gunes, Sindhu, Pradeep, Venkatramani, Anjan
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamza, Faruk
• Assistant Examiner(s): DECKER, CASSANDRA L
• Application Number:
  US14/566,179
• Publication Number:
  US 20150092605A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,147 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0895 Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/12 Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/35 Switches specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/65 Re-configuration of fast packet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/70 Virtual switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0263 Rule management

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes sending a configuration signal to a virtual network switch module within a control plane of a communications network. The configuration signal is configured to define a first network rule at the virtual network switch module. The method also includes configuring a packet forwarding module such that the packet forwarding module implements a second network rule, and receiving status information from the virtual network switch module and status information from the packet forwarding module. The status information is received via the control plane.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

sending a configuration signal to a virtual network switch within a control plane of a communications network such that the virtual network switch defines a network rule based on the configuration signal;

receiving a data packet from the virtual network switch when a processing duration associated with the data packet and determined by the virtual network switch meets a criterion, the network rule being applied to the data packet by the virtual network switch when the processing duration does not meet the criterion; and

applying the network rule in response to receiving the data packet and when the processing duration meets the criterion.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration signal is a first configuration signal, the method further comprising:

receiving, before the sending, a second configuration signal including a description of the network rule.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the communications network is a multi-stage switch fabric.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration signal includes a portion of at least one of a filter, an access control list (ACL), or a flow table.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving exception information from the virtual network switch in response to the virtual network switch identifying an exception in the data packet.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the criterion is based at least in part on a computational capability of a server hosting the virtual network switch.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor configured to forward data packets based on a plurality of network rules defined at the processor,

the processor operatively coupled to the memory, the processor configured to communicate with a first virtual switch hosted at a first computing device and a second virtual switch hosted at a second computing device, the first virtual switch and the second virtual switch each being configured to function as an access switch or a distributed component of an access switch,

the processor configured to cause the first virtual switch to apply a first network rule to data packets received at the first virtual switch, the processor configured to cause the second virtual switch to apply a second network rule to data packets received at the second virtual switch,

the processor configured to cause the first virtual switch to transfer the first network rule from the first virtual switch to the second virtual switch based on status information received from the first virtual switch and status information received from the second virtual switch.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor includes an application specific integrated circuit to perform data packet classification.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the data packets received at the first virtual switch are first data packets, the processor is configured to determine a utilization value associated with the processor, the processor configured to remove a network rule from the plurality of network rules and configured to cause the first virtual switch to apply that network rule to second data packets received at the first virtual switch.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to define the plurality of network rules.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to receive at least one of protocol packets or exception packets from the first virtual switch.

12. A method, comprising:

sending a configuration signal to a first virtual network switch within a control plane of a communications network such that the first virtual network switch defines a first network rule based on the configuration signal;

causing a second virtual network switch to implement a second network rule;

receiving, via the control plane, status information from the first virtual network switch;

receiving, via the control plane, status information from the second virtual network switch; and

causing the second virtual network switch to transfer the second network rule from the second virtual network switch to the first virtual network switch based on the status information from the first virtual network switch and the status information from the second virtual network switch.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the receiving the status information from the first virtual network switch is at a first time and the configuration signal is a first configuration signal, the method further comprising:

receiving, at a second time after the first time, a third network rule; and

sending, at a third time after the second time, a second configuration signal to the first virtual network switch such that the first virtual network switch defines the third network rule based on the second configuration signal.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the receiving the status information from the second virtual network switch is at a first time and the configuration signal is a first configuration signal, the method further comprising:

sending, at a second time after the first time, a second configuration signal to the second virtual network switch in response to the status information from the second virtual network switch, the second virtual network switch defining a third network rule after receiving and based on the second configuration signal.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the configuration signal includes an instruction to change a data value stored at a memory associated with the first virtual network switch.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving, before the sending, a configuration file including a description of the first network rule and a description of the second network rule.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the configuration signal is a first configuration signal, the method further comprising:

receiving a data packet from the first virtual network switch within a data plane of the communications network; and

sending a second configuration signal to the first virtual network switch within the control plane of the communications network in response to the receiving the data packet from the first virtual network switch, the first virtual network switch defining a third network rule after receiving and based on the second configuration signal.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the first virtual network switch is hosted at a first computing device; and

the second virtual network switch is hosted at a second computing device.