Method and system of session-aware load balancing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016080505-A1
Application number	US-201414488085-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 16, 2014
Priority date	Sep 16, 2014
Publication date	Mar 17, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods implemented in a network device are disclosed for maintaining session integrity through load balancing. The method assigns a same virtual Internet protocol VIPA to the network device and a set of servers. The network device is assigned a set of next hop IP addresses, where each next hop IP address corresponds to a route to a server, and the VIPA of the network device is advertised to outside of the load balancing system. When a packet is a first packet from a source of a communication session and destined to the VIPA, the network device selects a next hop IP address to forward to a server according to its load balancing policy. The selection is saved so that subsequent packets of the same communication session from the same source will be forwarded to the same server.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method implemented in a network device serving as a load balancing network device coupled to a network containing a load balancing system, wherein the load balancing system contains the network device and a plurality of servers, the method comprising:
assigning a virtual Internet Protocol address (VIPA) to the network device, wherein the VIPA is shared with the plurality of servers; assigning a set of next hop IP addresses in the network device, wherein each next hop IP address corresponds to a route to one of the plurality of servers; advertising the VIPA of the network device to network elements outside of the load balancing system; receiving a packet with a destination IP address corresponds to the VIPA shared by the network device and the plurality of servers; determining that the packet with a source IP address is a first packet in a communication session with the source IP address; selecting one of the set of next hop IP addresses to forward the packet to reach a server of the plurality of servers based on a load balancing policy in response to the determination that the packet with the source IP address is the first packet in the communication session with the source IP address; forwarding the packet to the selected next hop IP address; and saving the selection of the network device for forwarding subsequent packets of the communication session with the destination IP address.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the selection of the network device is saved in a forwarding table coupled to the network device.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving a subsequent packet of the communication session with the source and destination IP addresses; identifying the selected next hop IP address from the forwarding table; and forwarding the subsequent packet to the selected next hop IP address.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
removing the selection of the network device from the forwarding table once the communication session is terminated.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the server operates in an abnormal state, wherein the server saves state information of the communication session to a database external to the server, and wherein the database is accessible to other servers of the plurality of servers; selecting one of the set of next hop IP addresses to forward the subsequent packets of the communication session to reach another server of the plurality of servers based on the load balancing policy; and saving the selection of the network device for forwarding the subsequent packets with the destination IP address.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the determination of the server operating in the abnormal state is through monitoring the server at the network device.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the route to the one of the plurality of servers passes a network element performing virtual routing and forwarding function, wherein the network element contains one or more interfaces coupled to the network device, and a plurality of interfaces each coupled to one of the plurality of servers.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network device is a software-defined networking (SDN) controller.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the packet complies with one of protocol suites:
Internet Protocol Security (IPSec); Diameter; Session Initiation Protocol (SIP); H.248; and Transport Layer Security.

10 . A network device coupled to a load balancing system, wherein the network device is to balance load of the load balancing system and is coupled to a plurality of servers, the network device comprising:
a processor; and a non-transitory machine readable storage media coupled to the processor and storing load balancing software, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to:
assign a virtual Internet Protocol address (VIPA) to the network device, wherein the VIPA is shared with the plurality of servers,
assign a set of next hop IP addresses in the network device, wherein each next hop IP address corresponds to a route to one of the plurality of servers,
advertise the VIPA of the network device to network elements outside of the load balancing system,
receive a packet with a destination IP address corresponds to the VIPA shared by the network device and the plurality of servers,
determine that the packet with a source IP address is a first packet in a communication session with the source IP address,
select one of the set of next hop IP addresses to forward the packet to reach a server of the plurality of servers based on a load balancing policy in response to the determination that the packet with the source IP address is the first packet in the communication session with the source IP address,
forward the packet to the selected next hop IP address, and
save the selection of the network device for forwarding subsequent packets of the communication session with the destination IP address.

11 . The network device of claim 10 , where the selection of the network device is to be saved in a forwarding table coupled to the network device.

12 . The network device of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further to:
receive a subsequent packet with the source and destination IP addresses; identify the selected next hop IP address from the forwarding table; and forward the subsequent packet to the selected next hop IP address.

13 . The network device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further to:
determine that the server operates in an abnormal state, wherein the server saves state information of the communication session to a database external to the server, wherein the database is accessible to other servers of the plurality of servers; select one of the set of next hop IP addresses to forward the subsequent packets of the communication session to reach another server of the plurality of servers based on the load balancing policy; save the update selection of the network device for forwarding the subsequent packets with the destination IP address.

14 . The network device of claim 13 , wherein the determination of the server operating in the abnormal state is through the processor to monitor the server.

15 . The network device of claim 10 , wherein the network device is a software-defined networking (SDN) controller.

16 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations at a network device coupled to a load balancing system, wherein the network device is to balance load of the load balancing system and is coupled to a plurality of servers, the operations comprising:
assigning a virtual Internet Protocol address (VIPA) to the network device, wherein the VIPA is shared with the plurality of servers; assigning a set of next hop IP addresses in the network device, wherein each next hop IP address corresponds to a route to one of the plurality of servers; advertising the VIPA of the network device to network elements outside of the load balancing system; receiving a packet with a destination IP address corresponds to the VIPA shared by the network device and the plurality of servers; determining that the packet with a source IP address is a first packet in a communication session with the source IP address; selecting, one of the set of next hop IP addresses to forward the packet to reach a server of the plurality of servers based on a load balancing policy in response to the determination that the packet with the

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Sahin Serdar
• Zhang Qiwen

Classifications

• H04L67/148 Primary

  Migration or transfer of sessions · CPC title

• H04L67/1027 Primary

  Persistence of sessions during load balancing · CPC title

• H04L67/1001

  for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers · CPC title

• H04L67/1034

  Reaction to server failures by a load balancer · CPC title