Interoperability for distributed overlay virtual environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016234033-A1
Application number	US-201615132092-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 18, 2016
Priority date	Mar 8, 2013
Publication date	Aug 11, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method includes receiving tunnel information and end point information in response to a request to a distributed cluster. A common tunnel type supported by a source switch and a destination switch is selected. A packet is encapsulated with the common tunnel type supported by the source switch and the destination switch for a destination virtual machine (VM).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
receiving tunnel information and end point information in response to a request to a distributed cluster; selecting a common tunnel type supported by a source switch and a destination switch; and encapsulating a packet with the common tunnel type supported by the source switch and the destination switch for a destination virtual machine (VM).

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the request comprises a request for tunnel information and includes a request for the end point Internet Protocol (IP) address and a network identifier for communicating with the destination VM.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the end point information comprises a virtual network identifier (VNID), an end point media access control (MAC) address, and an end point Internet Protocol (IP) address; and the tunnel information comprises the VNID, a tunnel end point (TEP) port, an IP address value, tunnel type supported by the source switch, and a translation gateway and tunnel types supported by the translation gateway.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the distributed cluster comprises a distributed overlay virtual Ethernet (DOVE) connectivity service (DCS) cluster, a DCS node of the DCS cluster enhances mapping of the tunnel information of the MAC address of VMs and switches with encapsulation of tunnel types that are supported by each switch, and the DCS node maintains a list of each available translation gateway and maps each available translation gateway in the list with encapsulation protocol and tunnel type translation capabilities.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein:
the DCS node creates a list of supported tunnel types that are supported by each switch and assigns a priority for each supported tunnel type supported for each switch; the priority is determined based on one of: a number of switches that support a particular tunnel type, a particular preference, and efficiency of processing particular tunnel types; the list of supported tunnel types is sorted in priority order; and the source virtual switch selects the common tunnel type supported by the source switch and the destination switch based on priority.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein translation via a translation gateway is not required for the selected common tunnel type.

7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the packet is encapsulated by adding encapsulation formatted fields comprising: an outer media access control (MAC) address, an outer IP address, user datagram protocol (UDP), and an encapsulation protocol header, and the encapsulation protocol header comprises a format of a specific encapsulation protocol type.

8 . A computer system comprising a processor, a computer readable memory, a computer readable storage device, and program code stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the processor via the computer readable memory to perform a method comprising:
receiving tunnel information and end point information in response to a request to a distributed cluster; selecting a common tunnel type supported by a source switch and a destination switch; and encapsulating a packet with the common tunnel type supported by the source switch and the destination switch for a destination virtual machine (VM).

9 . The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the request comprises a request for tunnel information including a request for the end point Internet Protocol (IP) address and a network identifier for communicating with the destination VM.

10 . The computer system of claim 8 , wherein:
the end point information comprises a virtual network identifier (VNID), an end point media access control (MAC) address, and an end point Internet Protocol (IP) address; and the tunnel information comprises the VNID, a tunnel end point (TEP) port, an IP address value, tunnel type supported by the source switch, and a translation gateway and tunnel types supported by the translation gateway.

11 . The computer system of claim 10 , wherein the distributed cluster comprises a distributed overlay virtual Ethernet (DOVE) connectivity service (DCS) cluster, a DCS node of the DCS cluster maps the tunnel information of the MAC address of VMs and switches with encapsulation of tunnel types that are supported by each virtual switch, and the DCS node maintains a list of each available translation gateway and maps each available translation gateway in the list with encapsulation protocol and tunnel type translation capabilities.

12 . The computer system of claim 11 , wherein:
the DCS node creates a list of supported tunnel types that are supported by each virtual switch and assigns a priority for each supported tunnel type supported for each virtual switch; the priority is determined by the DCS node based on one of: a number of virtual switches that support a particular tunnel type, a particular preference, and efficiency of processing particular tunnel types; the list of supported tunnel types is sorted by the DCS node in priority order; and the source virtual switch selects the common tunnel type supported by the source virtual switch and the destination virtual switch based on priority.

13 . The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the packet is encapsulated by the source virtual switch by adding encapsulation formatted fields comprising: an outer media access control (MAC) address, an outer IP address, user datagram protocol (UDP), and an encapsulation protocol header, and the encapsulation protocol header comprises a format of a specific encapsulation protocol type.

14 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage device having program code embodied therewith, the program code executable by a processor to perform a method comprising:
receiving, by the processor, tunnel information and end point information in response to a request to a distributed cluster; selecting, by the processor, a common tunnel type supported by a source switch and a destination switch; and encapsulating, by the processor, a packet with the common tunnel type supported by the source switch and the destination switch for a destination virtual machine (VM).

15 . The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the request comprises a request for tunnel information including a request for the end point Internet Protocol (IP) address and a network identifier for communicating with the destination VM.

16 . The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein:
the end point information comprises a virtual network identifier (VNID), an end point media access control (MAC) address, and an end point Internet Protocol (IP) address; and the tunnel information comprises the VNID, a tunnel end point (TEP) port, an IP address value, tunnel type supported by the source switch, and a translation gateway and tunnel types supported by the translation gateway.

17 . The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein mapping of the tunnel information of the MAC address of VMs and switches is enhanced with encapsulation of tunnel types that are supported by each switch, a list of each available translation gateway is maintained, and each available translation gateway in the list is mapped with encapsulation protocol and tunnel type translation capabilities.

18 . The computer program product of claim 17 , further comprising:
creating, by the processor, a list of supported tunnel types that are supported by each switch; assigning, by the processor, a priority for each supported tunnel type supported for each switch; determining, by the processor,

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Banavalikar Bhalachandra G
• Biswas Amitabha
• Jain Vinit
• Kidambi Jayakrishna

Classifications

• H04L47/83

  based on usage prediction · CPC title

• H04L12/28 Primary

  characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks] (wireless communication networks H04W {; arrangements for dividing the transmission path H04W40/00}) · CPC title

• H04L12/4633 Primary

  Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling · CPC title

• H04L49/354

  for supporting virtual local area networks [VLAN] · CPC title

• H04L49/70

  Virtual switches · CPC title