Method for Acquiring Physical Address of Virtual Machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016330143-A1
Application number	US-201615192341-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 24, 2016
Priority date	Dec 26, 2013
Publication date	Nov 10, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for acquiring a physical address of a virtual machine includes acquiring, by a first switching endpoint, an address list of N switching endpoints from a centralized controller after receiving an address acquisition request sent by a first virtual machine, where the N switching endpoints include a second switching endpoint, sending, in a unicast manner according to the address list, the request to the N switching endpoints that include the second switching endpoint, and after receiving a second response sent by the second switching endpoint, sending the second response to the first virtual machine. The method may avoid the limitation on the quantity of created switching endpoints caused by the insufficient quantity of multicast groups of the switch in order to increase the quantity of created switching endpoints.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for acquiring a physical address of a virtual machine, wherein the method is used for a first virtual machine to acquire a physical address of a second virtual machine and comprises:
receiving, by a first switching endpoint to which the first virtual machine belongs, an address acquisition request sent by the first virtual machine, wherein the address acquisition request comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the second virtual machine; sending, by the first switching endpoint, the address acquisition request to a centralized controller of a virtual local area network, wherein the address acquisition request carries an identifier of the virtual local area network in which the first virtual machine is located; receiving, by the first switching endpoint, a first response sent by the centralized controller in response to the address acquisition request, wherein the first response comprises an address list of N switching endpoints that comprise a second switching endpoint, wherein N is a positive integer, and wherein the N switching endpoints are switching endpoints that belong to the virtual local area network; sending, by the first switching endpoint in a unicast manner according to the first response, the address acquisition request separately to the N switching endpoints that comprise the second switching endpoint; receiving, by the first switching endpoint, a second response in response to the address acquisition request, wherein the second response is sent by the second switching endpoint to which the second virtual machine belongs, and wherein the second response comprises the physical address of the second virtual machine; and sending, by the first switching endpoint, the second response to the first virtual machine.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein after the first switching endpoint receives the first response sent by the centralized controller in response to the address acquisition request, the method further comprises determining, that the first response indicates that the physical address of the second virtual machine is not stored in the centralized controller.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein receiving, by the first switching endpoint, the second response in response to the address acquisition request further comprises receiving, by the first switching endpoint, the second response from the second switching endpoint.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising sending, by the first switching endpoint, a correspondence between the physical address and the IP address of the second virtual machine to the centralized controller such that the centralized controller stores the correspondence.

5 . A method for acquiring a physical address of a virtual machine, wherein the method is used for a first virtual machine to acquire a physical address of a second virtual machine and comprises:
receiving, by a centralized controller of a virtual local area network, an address acquisition request sent by a first switching endpoint to which the first virtual machine belongs, wherein the address acquisition request is sent by the first virtual machine in a broadcast manner, wherein the address acquisition request is used to request to acquire the physical address of the second virtual machine, and wherein the address acquisition request carries an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the second virtual machine and an identifier of the virtual local area network in which the first virtual machine is located; determining, by the centralized controller according to the identifier of the virtual local area network, an address list of N switching endpoints that comprise a second switching endpoint, wherein N is a positive integer, and wherein the N switching endpoints are switching endpoints that belong to the virtual local area network; and sending, by the centralized controller, a first response in response to the address acquisition request to the first switching endpoint, wherein the first response comprises the address list, and wherein the first response is used to instruct the first switching endpoint to send, in a unicast manner, the address acquisition request separately to the N switching endpoints that comprise the second switching endpoint.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein before sending, by the centralized controller, the first response in response to the address acquisition request to the first switching endpoint, the method further comprises:
determining, by the centralized controller, whether the physical address of the second virtual machine is stored in the centralized controller; and sending, by the centralized controller, the first response in response to the address acquisition request to the first switching endpoint when the physical address of the second virtual machine is stored in the centralized controller.

7 . The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:
acquiring, by the centralized controller, a correspondence between the physical address of the second virtual machine and the IP address of the second virtual machine; and storing the correspondence.

8 . A switching endpoint for enabling a first virtual machine to acquire a physical address of a second virtual machine, comprising:
a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor and configured to store a plurality of instructions such that when executed by the processor, the instructions cause the processor to:
receive an address acquisition request sent by the first virtual machine, wherein the address acquisition request carries an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the second virtual machine;
send the address acquisition request to a centralized controller of a virtual local area network;
receive a first response sent by the centralized controller in response to the address acquisition request, wherein the first response comprises an address list of N switching endpoints that comprise a second switching endpoint, wherein N is a positive integer, and wherein the N switching endpoints are switching endpoints that belong to the virtual local area network;
send, in a unicast manner according to the first response, the address acquisition request separately to the N switching endpoints that comprise the second switching endpoint;
receive a second response in response to the address acquisition request, wherein the second response is sent by the second switching endpoint to which the second virtual machine belongs, and wherein the second response comprises the physical address of the second virtual machine; and
send the second response to the first virtual machine.

9 . The switching endpoint according to claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine that the first response indicates the physical address of the second virtual machine is not stored in the centralized controller.

10 . The switching endpoint according to claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to receive the second response from the second switching endpoint.

11 . The switching endpoint according to claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to send a correspondence between the physical address and the IP address of the second virtual machine to the centralized controller such that the centralized controller stores the correspondence.

12 . A centralized controller, comprising:
a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, and configured to store a plurality of instructions such that when executed by the processor, causes the processor to:
receive an address acquisition request sent by a first switching endpoint to which a first virtual ma

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Song Yu
• Xiong Zhiqiang

Classifications

• H04L12/4679

  Arrangements for the registration or de-registration of VLAN attribute values, e.g. VLAN identifiers, port VLAN membership · CPC title

• H04L49/70 Primary

  Virtual switches · CPC title

• H04L61/103

  across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP] · CPC title

• H04L45/42

  Centralised routing · CPC title

• H04W40/24

  Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update · CPC title