Trunking inter-switch links
First Claim
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1. A method of routing a flow through a switch in a fibre channel fabric comprising:
- receiving traffic at a port coupled to said switch;
identifying said flow from said traffic using header information;
determining at least one path operative for routing said flow through said fibre channel fabric; and
rerouting said flow from a first link in said at least one path to a second link in said at least one path based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information, wherein said operating performance information comprises a congested link condition comprising a first condition resulting from an additional flow on said first link resulting in said first link exceeding a first congestion threshold, wherein said first congestion threshold defines a percentage of bandwidth on said first link in relation to the total available amount of bandwidth on said first, and wherein said congested link condition comprises a second condition resulting from the data rate of said flow plus a data rate on said second link resulting in said second link not exceeding a second congestion threshold, wherein said second congestion threshold defines a percentage of bandwidth on said second link in relation to the total available amount of bandwidth on said second link.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for routing frames through a fibre channel fabric to make the most efficient possible use of redundant inter-switch links between neighboring switches. The inter-switch links may have different bandwidths. The flow between adjacent switches is monitored to determine various local usage statistics and periodically adjust routing tables to move data flows from congested links to lightly loaded links.
237 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of routing a flow through a switch in a fibre channel fabric comprising:
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receiving traffic at a port coupled to said switch;
identifying said flow from said traffic using header information;
determining at least one path operative for routing said flow through said fibre channel fabric; and
rerouting said flow from a first link in said at least one path to a second link in said at least one path based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information, wherein said operating performance information comprises a congested link condition comprising a first condition resulting from an additional flow on said first link resulting in said first link exceeding a first congestion threshold, wherein said first congestion threshold defines a percentage of bandwidth on said first link in relation to the total available amount of bandwidth on said first, and wherein said congested link condition comprises a second condition resulting from the data rate of said flow plus a data rate on said second link resulting in said second link not exceeding a second congestion threshold, wherein said second congestion threshold defines a percentage of bandwidth on said second link in relation to the total available amount of bandwidth on said second link.
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2. A method of routing a flow through a switch in a fibre channel fabric comprising:
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receiving traffic at a port coupled to said switch;
identifying said flow from said traffic using header information;
determining at least one path operative for routing said flow through said fibre channel fabric; and
rerouting said flow from a first link in said at least one path to a second link in said at least one path based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information, wherein said operating performance information comprises comparing a projected change in a first cost function on said first link with a projected change in a second cost function on said second link, and wherein said projected change in said first cost function is determined from an initial cost function of said first link and a cost function of said first link minus said flow and said projected change in said second cost function is determined from an initial cost function of said second link and a cost function of said second link plus said flow. - View Dependent Claims (3)
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4. A method of routing a flow on at least one path in a fiber channel fabric, said at least one path comprising a source switch and a destination switch, wherein at least one switch pair in said at least one path is coupled by a plurality of links, said method comprising:
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determining said at least one path between said source switch and said destination switch;
routing said flow over a first link coupling said at least one switch pair in said at least one path, said at least one switch pair having the same originating switch; and
rerouting said flow to a second link coupling said at least one switch pair based upon operating performance information and topology information, Wherein said performance information comprises a condition where said flow cannot be rerouted to said second link if said flow has been recently rerouted within a period of time, wherein said period of time is one minute.
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5. A method of routing a flow through a switch in a fibre channel fabric comprising:
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receiving traffic at a port coupled to said switch;
identifying said flow from said traffic using header information;
determining at least one path operative for routing said flow through said fibre channel fabric;
rerouting said flow from a first link in said at least one path to a second link in said at least one path based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information;
assigning a flow value for said portion of a destination identification; and
entering said flow value and associated plurality of operating performance information into a data structure resident on said first switch, wherein said operating performance information comprises a transmit port of the flow, a plurality of statistics used to compute a short-term and long-term filtered value for a frame rate and a time the flow was last rerouted.
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6. A method of routing a flow on at least one path in a fiber channel fabric, said at least one path comprising a source switch and a destination switch, wherein at least one switch pair in said at least one path is coupled by a plurality of links, said method comprising:
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determining said at least one path between said source switch and said destination switch;
routing said flow over a first link coupling said at least one switch pair in said at least one path, said at least one switch pair having the same originating switch; and
rerouting said flow to a second link coupling said at least one switch pair based upon operating performance information and topology information, wherein said operating performance information comprises a congested link condition, said congested link condition comprises a first condition resulting in said first link exceeding a first congestion threshold, wherein said first congestion threshold defines a percentage of bandwidth on said first link in relation to the total available amount of bandwidth on said first link and, wherein said congested link condition comprises a second condition resulting from an additional flow on said second link resulting in said second link not exceeding a second congestion threshold, wherein said second congestion threshold defines a percentage of bandwidth on said second link in relation to the total available amount of bandwidth on said second link.
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7. A method of routing traffic through a switch in a fibre channel fabric, wherein said switch is coupled to a plurality of links for routing said traffic, said method comprising:
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at a receive port of said switch, receiving traffic comprising a plurality of frames, each frame comprising a destination identification specifying at least a specific destination of a plurality of destinations;
grouping said traffic into a plurality of flows based upon header information;
scanning said plurality of flows for one or more flows that satisfy operating performance information; and
rerouting at least one flow from a first link to a second link based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A fibre channel switch comprising:
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a plurality of ports for transmitting and receiving frames;
a first port operative for receiving a frame;
a first protocol for selecting a second port for transmitting a frame received from said first port; and
a second protocol for dynamically switching said selection from said second port to a third port based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A fibre channel fabric comprising:
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a first switch;
at least one switch coupled to said first switch by a plurality of links, said links operable for routing traffic;
a first protocol implemented in said first switch for selecting a first of said plurality of links and thereafter routing said traffic over said first link; and
a second protocol implemented in said first switch for rerouting said traffic to a second of said plurality of links based upon operating performance information in addition to topology information.
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Specification