Methods for automatically configuring multiple chassis link aggregation group (mc-lag)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018367408-A1
Application number	US-201715787353-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 18, 2017
Priority date	Jun 19, 2017
Publication date	Dec 20, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a system and method for automatically configuring multiple chassis links in a multi-chassis system using a management controller. The management controller can request and receive switch port data from a plurality of server systems, and a plurality of switches of the multi-chassis system. Based upon received switch port data, the management controller can determine peer link ports for a first switch and a second switch of the plurality of switches; select suitable port groups from a plurality of ports of the first switch and the second switch based upon the received switch port data; and configure ports in each suitable port group as a MC-LAG member port for the corresponding suitable port group.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method for automatically configuring multiple chassis links in a multi-chassis system using a management controller, comprising:
requesting switch port data from a plurality of server systems and a plurality of switches of the multi-chassis system; receiving the switch port data, the switch port data including internal port addresses and neighbor port addresses of the plurality of server systems and the plurality of switches; determining a plurality of match ports and a plurality of match nodes, wherein each of the plurality of match ports has a port address matching one of the neighbor port addresses, and wherein each of the plurality of match nodes corresponds to one of the plurality of match ports; and determining peer link ports for a first switch and a second switch of the plurality of switches, wherein the peer link ports are a subset of the plurality of match ports, and wherein each peer link port of the peer link ports belongs to one of the first switch the second switch, and corresponds to a match node of the plurality of match nodes that is the other one of the first switch the second switch.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
grouping a plurality of ports of the first switch and the second switch into a plurality of port groups, based upon the switch port data and one or more predetermined criteria; determining that a first subset of port groups, a port group in the first subset of port groups having at least one port belonging to the first switch, and at least another port belonging to the second switch; and configuring all ports in each port group of the first subset of port groups as a same member port.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the same member port is a Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation Group (MC-LAG) member port.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprises: each port in the plurality of port groups has at least one neighbor port address; ports in each port group of the plurality of port groups have the same corresponding match node in the plurality of match nodes; and each port in the plurality of port groups corresponds to a match node in the plurality of match nodes that is neither the first switch nor the second switch.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the plurality of match ports and the plurality of match nodes further comprises:
going through the neighbor port addresses for each port of the first switch and the second switch; grouping a specific port into the plurality of match ports if the specific port's address matches any of the neighbor port addresses of the first switch and the second switch; and grouping a corresponding node that contains the specific port into the plurality of match nodes.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein requesting the switch port data from the plurality of server systems, and the plurality of switches of the multi-chassis system comprises:
requesting the switch port data from the plurality of server systems and the plurality of switches using Intel® Rack Scale Design (RSD), Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF), or Network Configuration Protocol (RESTCONF).

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the multi-chassis system is compatible with an IEEE 802.1AX™-2008 standard.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of server systems and the plurality of switches are configured to advertise corresponding identity, capacity, and neighbors on a network of the multi-chassis system using Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP), or Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP).

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the management controller can be a specific system, a baseboard management controller (BMC) or a rack management controller (RMC) in the multi-chassis system that is capable of configuring MC-LAG network switches.

10 . A system for automatically configuring multiple chassis links in a multi-chassis system, comprising:
a processor; and a computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
requesting switch port data from a plurality of server systems and a plurality of switches of the multi-chassis system;
receiving the switch port data, the switch port data including internal port addresses and neighbor port addresses corresponding to the plurality of server systems and the plurality of switches;
determining a plurality of match ports and a plurality of match nodes, wherein each of the plurality of match ports has a port address matching one of the neighbor port addresses, and wherein each of the plurality of match nodes corresponds to one of the plurality of match ports; and
determining peer link ports for a first switch and a second switch of the plurality of switches, wherein the peer link ports are a subset of the plurality of match ports, and wherein each peer link port of the peer link ports belongs to one of the first switch the second switch, and corresponds to a match node of the plurality of match nodes that is the other one of the first switch the second switch.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations further comprising:
grouping a plurality of ports of the first switch and the second switch into a plurality of port groups, based upon the switch port data and one or more predetermined criteria; determining that a first subset of port groups, a port group in the first subset of port groups having at least one port belonging to the first switch and at least another port belonging to the second switch; and configuring all ports in each port group of the first subset of port groups as a same member port.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the same member port is a Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation Group (MC-LAG) member port.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprises: each port in the plurality of port groups has at least one neighbor port address; ports in each port group of the plurality of port groups have the same corresponding match node in the plurality of match nodes; and each port in the plurality of port groups corresponds to a match node in the plurality of match nodes that is neither the first switch nor the second switch.

14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations of determining the plurality of match ports, and the plurality of match nodes further comprise:
going through the neighbor port addresses for each port of the first switch and the second switch; grouping a specific port into the plurality of match ports if the specific port's address matches any of the neighbor port addresses of the first switch and the second switch; and grouping a corresponding node that contains the specific port into the plurality of match nodes.

15 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations of requesting the switch port data from the plurality of server systems and the plurality of switches comprise:
requesting the switch port data from the plurality of server systems and the plurality of switches using Intel® Rack Scale Design(RSD), Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF), or Network Configuration Protocol (RESTCONF).

16 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of server systems and the plurality of switches are configured to advertise corresponding identity, capacity, and neig

Assignees

• Quanta Comp Inc

Inventors

• Li Cheng-Hsun
• Shih Ching-Chih

Classifications

• H04L49/552

  by ensuring the integrity of packets received through redundant connections · CPC title

• H04L41/0803 Primary

  Configuration setting · CPC title

• H04L45/245

  Link aggregation, e.g. trunking · CPC title

• H04L1/22

  using redundant apparatus to increase reliability · CPC title

• H04L41/0886 Primary

  Fully automatic configuration · CPC title