Configuring intercommunications between computing nodes

• US 8,055,789 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2007
• Issued: 11/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Richardson, David R., Cohn, Daniel T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan; Wing
• Assistant Examiner(s): KATSIKIS, KOSTAS J
• Application Number:
  US11/692,038
• Publication Number:
  US 20080240122A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,687 Days
• Field of Search: 709/238, 370/401
• US Class Current: 709/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways

Abstract

Techniques are described for configuring intercommunications between multiple computing nodes, such as multiple virtual machine nodes hosted on one or more physical computing machines or systems. In some situations, virtual networks may be established and maintained for groups of computing nodes, such as those operated by or on behalf of various users. Such virtual networks may be established in some situations by automatically configuring various communication manager modules to associate communications from a computing node belonging to a virtual network with one or more networking identifiers associated with the virtual network, such that other communication manager modules may appropriately forward or otherwise process such communications.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for configuring intercommunications between computing systems, the method comprising:

determining a virtual network to which an indicated program is to be associated, the indicated program to be executed on one of multiple virtual machines that are hosted by a first computing system associated with a program execution service, the first computing system being connected to a first of multiple physical networks of the program execution service that are configured to communicate via an interconnection network, the determined virtual network including computing systems on multiple of the physical networks of the program execution service;

automatically enabling the one virtual machine of the first computing system to intercommunicate with other computing systems that are part of the determined virtual network, by;

identifying a first networking identifier based on a first networking protocol that is associated with the determined virtual network and that is for use with the first physical network, and identifying a second networking identifier based on a second networking protocol that is associated with the determined virtual network and that is for use with the interconnection network;

configuring a communication manager module for the first computing system to associate communications from the indicated program on the one virtual machine with the determined virtual network by using the first networking identifier with the communications; and

configuring a networking device that connects the first physical network to the interconnection network to forward communications associated with the determined virtual network to the other physical networks that have computing systems that are part of the determined virtual network by using the second networking identifier with the forwarded communications;

under control of the configured communication manager module, sending on the first physical network a communication from the indicated program on the one virtual machine, the sent communication on the first physical network being associated with the first networking identifier and being directed to a destination computing system that has a hosted virtual machine associated with the determined virtual network, the destination computing system being on a second of the multiple physical networks that is distinct from the first physical network; and

under control of the configured networking device, forwarding the sent communication from the first physical network over the interconnection network toward the second physical network, the forwarded sent communication being associated with the second networking identifier.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the sent communication includes one or more network packets that each indicates the destination computing system as a destination of the packet.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein each of the network packets is an Ethernet packet.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises, under control of another networking device that connects the second physical network to the interconnection network, receiving the forwarded communication and sending the forwarded communication on the second physical network by associating a third networking identifier with the communication as it is sent over the second physical network, the third networking identifier being based on a third networking protocol that is associated with the determined virtual network and that is for use with the second physical network.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuring of the communication manager module for the first computing system to use the first networking identifier with communications from the indicated program is performed such that the communications using the first networking identifier on the first physical network are not forwarded to computing systems of the first physical network that do not have a hosted virtual machine associated with the determined virtual network.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the using of the second networking identifier with forwarded communications by the configured networking device includes adding the second networking identifier to addressing information associated with the forwarded communications.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the using of the first networking identifier with communications by the configured communications manager module includes adding the first networking identifier to addressing information associated with the communications.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatic enabling of the one virtual machine to intercommunicate with the other computing systems on the determined virtual network includes configuring multiple networking devices internal to the interconnection network to forward communications associated with the second networking identifier to other physical networks of the program execution service that have one or more computing systems that are part of the determined virtual network.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatic enabling of the one virtual machine to intercommunicate with the other computing systems on the determined virtual network is performed as part of provisioning the one virtual machine to execute the indicated program.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining of the virtual network to which the indicated program is to be associated is based at least in part on a customer of the program execution service on whose behalf the indicated program is being executed.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the networking device is a router configured to provide a gateway between the first physical network and the interconnection network.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the communication manager module for the first computing system is executed on the first computing system.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second networking protocols are distinct.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the first networking protocol is based on at least one of a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) tagging protocol, an Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) protocol, a Layer 2 Tunneling (L2TP) protocol, a Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) protocol, an Internet Protocol in Internet Protocol (IP in IP) encapsulation protocol, a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), a Virtual Private Local Area Networking Services (VPLS) protocol, and a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) protocol.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the second networking protocol is based on at least one of a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) tagging protocol, an Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) protocol, a Layer 2 Tunneling (L2TP) protocol, a Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) protocol, an Internet Protocol in Internet Protocol (IP in IP) encapsulation protocol, a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), a Virtual Private Local Area Networking Services (VPLS) protocol, and a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) protocol.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the determined virtual network further includes one or more other computing systems that are not part of the program execution service, and wherein the automatic enabling of the one virtual machine to intercommunicate with other computing systems that are part of the determined virtual network includes configuring a networking device that connects the interconnection network to a communication connection external to the program execution service in such a manner as to forward communications associated with the determined virtual network to at least one of the other computing systems.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the external communication connection is the Internet.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the indicated program is executed on behalf of a customer of the program execution service, and wherein the one or more other computing systems are operated by the customer.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the determined virtual network includes at least one computing system that does not host virtual machines.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the computing systems of the program execution service are housed in a data center facility that includes the interconnection network and at least some of the multiple physical networks.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining of the virtual network to which the indicated program is to be associated is performed in response to a received indication to execute the indicated program.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents include instructions that when executed configure a computing system to configure intercommunications between computing systems, by performing a method comprising:

automatically enabling a software program executing on an indicated computing node to intercommunicate with other computing nodes associated with a virtual network, the indicated computing node being one of multiple computing nodes connected to a first of multiple physical networks of a program execution service that are able to intercommunicate via one or more networking devices, at least some of the other computing nodes associated with the virtual network being on other of the multiple physical networks distinct from the first physical network, by;

configuring a communication manager module for the indicated computing node to associate communications from the indicated computing node with the virtual network in such a manner as to use with the communications a first networking identifier that is based on a first networking protocol for the first physical network and is specific to the virtual network; and

configuring at least one of the one or more networking devices to forward communications that are associated with the virtual network and received using the first networking identifier, the forwarding of the communications including using with the forwarded communications a second networking identifier that is based on a distinct second networking protocol and is specific to the virtual network, the forwarded communications being forwarded over another physical network that is distinct from the first physical network and that uses the second networking protocol, and such that the forwarded communications are provided to at least one of the at least some other computing nodes on at least one of the other of the multiple physical networks;

under control of the configured communication manager module, sending on the first physical network a communication from the software program on the indicated computing node, the sent communication on the first physical network being associated with the first networking identifier and being directed to a destination computing system that is associated with the determined virtual network and is on a second of the multiple physical networks that is distinct from the first physical network; and

under control of one of the configured at least one networking devices, forwarding the sent communication over the another physical network toward the destination computing system on the second physical network, the forwarded sent communication being associated with the second networking identifier.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 wherein the indicated computing node is one of multiple virtual machines hosted by a physical computing system on the first physical network, and wherein the communication manager module for the indicated computing node is a virtual machine manager module that executes on the physical computing system to manage communications by the multiple hosted virtual machines.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 wherein the method further comprises automatically determining the virtual network based at least in part on the software program to be executed by the one virtual machine.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 wherein the configuring of the communication manager module for the indicated computing node includes identifying the first networking identifier based on the first networking protocol to be used with the communications from the indicated computing node, and wherein the configuring of the at least one networking devices includes identifying the second networking identifier based on the second networking protocol to be used with the communications from the indicated computing node and associating the first networking identifier with the second networking identifier.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of the configured computing system.

27. A system structured to configure intercommunications between multiple hosted virtual machines each configurable to execute one or more programs, comprising:

one or more processors of one or more computing devices;

a system manager module configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, maintain virtual networks among multiple computing systems that each are connected to one of multiple physical networks, at least some of the multiple computing systems each hosting multiple virtual machines that are each configurable to execute one or more programs, each of the at least some computing systems having a virtual machine communication manager module configured to manage communications of the virtual machines hosted by that computing system that are sent over the physical network to which that computing system belongs, each physical network having a communication manager module configured to forward communications to other physical networks, the maintaining of the virtual networks including, in response to an indication of a virtual machine hosted on one of the at least some computing systems that is to be associated with one of the virtual networks;

configuring the virtual machine communication manager module of the one computing system to associate communications by the indicated virtual machine with the one virtual network via use of a first networking identifier that is specific to the one virtual network and to a first physical network, the first physical network being the physical network to which the one computing system belongs, the first networking identifier being based on a first networking protocol that is specific to the first physical network, such that the communications by the indicated virtual machine are not made available to computing systems that are not part of the one virtual network; and

configuring the communication manager module associated with the first physical network to forward received communications that use the first networking identifier to other physical networks in a manner associated with the one virtual network, the forwarding of the received communications being performed via use of a second networking identifier specific to the one virtual network, the second networking identifier being based on a distinct second networking protocol specific to an interconnection network that connects the multiple physical networks;

the configured virtual machine communication manager module, wherein the configured virtual machine communication manager module when executed sends on the first physical network a communication from the indicated virtual machine, the sent communication on the first physical network being associated with the first networking identifier and being directed to a destination computing system that has a hosted virtual machine associated with the one virtual network, the destination computing system being on a second of the multiple physical networks that is distinct from the first physical network; and

the configured communication manager module, wherein the configured communication manager module when executed forwards the sent communication from the first physical network over the interconnection network toward the second physical network, the forwarded sent communication being associated with the second networking identifier.

28. The system of claim 27 further comprising the multiple computing systems that are connected to the multiple physical networks.

29. The system of claim 27 wherein the virtual machine communication manager modules each execute on the computing system hosting the virtual machines whose communications are managed by the virtual machine communication manager module, and wherein the communication manager modules are each part of a networking device that connects a physical network to the interconnection network.

30. The system of claim 27 wherein, for at least one of the virtual networks, the first networking identifier specific to the virtual network and the second networking identifier specific to the virtual network are the same.

31. The system of claim 27 wherein the system manager module is provided by a program execution service to maintain virtual networks on behalf of customers of the program execution service, and wherein the received indication of the virtual machine to be associated with the indicated virtual network is based on one of the customers initiating execution of one or more programs of the customer on the indicated virtual machine, such that the virtual network with which the indicated virtual machine is to be associated is a virtual network associated with the customer.

32. The system of claim 27 wherein the system manager module includes software instructions for execution in memory of one or more computing systems.