Smart NIC leader election

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11863376-B2
Application number	US-202117560153-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2021
Priority date	Dec 22, 2021
Publication date	Jan 2, 2024
Grant date	Jan 2, 2024

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a method for a first smart NIC of multiple smart NICs of a host computer. Each of the smart NICs is for performing virtual networking operations for a set of data compute machines executing on the host computer. The method determines that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with a network management and control system that configures the virtual networking operations. The method receives a set of configuration data for the virtual networking operations from the network management and control system. The method provides the received set of configuration data to the other smart NICs of the host computer.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method comprising:
at a first smart network interface controller (NIC) of a plurality of smart NICs of a host computer, each of the smart NICs for performing virtual networking operations for a set of data compute machines executing on the host computer:
determining that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with a network management and control system that configures the virtual networking operations, wherein the network management and control system comprises a management plane and a control plane, wherein said determining that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with the network management and control system comprises determining that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with the management plane;
receiving a set of configuration data for the virtual networking operations from the network management and control system, wherein the set of configuration data is received from the management plane; and
providing the received set of configuration data to the other smart NICs of the host computer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with the network management and control system comprises executing a deterministic selection algorithm to determine that the first smart NIC is elected.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein each of the other smart NICs in the plurality of smart NICs executes the same deterministic algorithm to determine that the first smart NIC is elected.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with the network management and control system comprises exchanging messages with the other smart NICs of the plurality of smart NICs via a private communication channel that connects the smart NICs.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising collecting runtime statistics from the other smart NICs.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining that a second smart NIC of the plurality of smart NICs is elected to communicate with the control plane.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein:
the set of configuration data is a first set of configuration data; and
the second smart NIC receives a second set of configuration data from the control plane and provides the second set of configuration data to the first smart NIC and the other smart NICs of the host computer.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received set of configuration data is provided to the other smart NICs via a private communication channel connecting the plurality of smart NICs.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising monitoring the other smart NICs to determine whether the other smart NICs are operable.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein, upon determination that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with a network management and control system, a network address used by the network management and control system to communicate with the host computer is assigned to an interface of the first smart NIC.

11. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing a program for execution by at least one processing unit of a first smart network interface controller (NIC) of a plurality of smart NICs of a host computer, each of the smart NICs for performing virtual networking operations for a set of data compute machines executing on the host computer, the program comprising sets of instructions for:
determining that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with a network management and control system that configures the virtual networking operations such that the first smart NIC is the only one of the plurality of smart NICs of the host computer to communicate with a particular component of the network management and control system;
receiving a set of configuration data for the virtual networking operations from the network management and control system; and
providing the received set of configuration data to the other smart NICs of the host computer that do not communicate with the particular component of the network management and control system.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for collecting runtime statistics from the other smart NICs.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein:
the set of instructions for determining that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with the network management and control system comprises a set of instructions for executing a deterministic selection algorithm to determine that the first smart NIC is elected; and
each of the other smart NICs in the plurality of smart NICs executes the same deterministic algorithm to determine that the first smart NIC, and not any of the other smart NICs, is elected.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the set of instructions for determining that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with the network management and control system comprises a set of instructions for exchanging messages with the other smart NICs of the plurality of smart NICs via a private communication channel that connects the smart NICs.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein:
the network management and control system comprises a management plane and a control plane, the management plane being the particular component of the network management and and control system;
the set of instructions for determining that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with the network management and control system comprises a set of instructions for determining that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with the management plane; and
the set of configuration data is received from the management plane.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein:
the program further comprises a set of instructions for determining that a second smart NIC of the plurality of smart NICs is elected to communicate with the control plane such that the second smart NIC is the only one of the plurality of smart NICs of the host computer to communicate with the control plane;
the set of configuration data is a first set of configuration data; and
the second smart NIC receives a second set of configuration data from the control plane and provides the second set of configuration data to the first smart NIC and the other smart NICs of the host computer that do not communicate with the control plane.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the received set of configuration data is provided to the other smart NICs via a private communication channel connecting the plurality of smart NICs.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for monitoring the other smart NICs to determine whether the other smart NICs are operable.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein, upon determination that the first smart NIC is elected to communicate with the particular component of the network management and control system, a network address used by the network management and control system to communicate with the host computer is assigned to an interface of the first smart NIC.

Assignees

• Vmware Inc

Inventors

• Ang Boon S
• Jiang Wenyi
• Yang Guolin
• Heo Jin

Classifications

• H04L41/0803 Primary

  Configuration setting · CPC title

• G06F9/45558

  Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects · CPC title

• G06F2009/45595

  Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances · CPC title

• H04L41/0806 Primary

  for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play · CPC title

• H04L41/40

  using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities · CPC title