Techniques for managing software defined networking controller in-band communications in a data center network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019141010-A1
Application number	US-201816236757-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 31, 2018
Priority date	May 27, 2016
Publication date	May 9, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

According to one or more embodiments of this disclosure, a network controller in a data center network establishes a translation table for in-band traffic in a data center network, the translation table resolves ambiguous network addresses based on one or more of a virtual network identifier (VNID), a routable tenant address, or a unique loopback address. The network controller device receives packets originating from applications and/or an endpoints operating in a network segment associated with a VNID. The network controller device translates, using the translation table, unique loopback addresses and/or routable tenant addresses associated with the packets into routable tenant addresses and/or unique loopback addresses, respectively.

First claim

1 . A method comprising:
receiving, by a network controller device, a packet intended for an endpoint; translating, by the network controller device using a table, a first loopback address into a first routable tenant address; translating, by the network controller device using the table, a second loopback address into a second routable tenant address; encapsulating the packet as an encapsulated packet having a header field, an outer address field including an address for a proxy device, an inner source address field including the first routable tenant address, and an inner destination field including the second routable tenant address; forwarding, by the network controller device, the encapsulated packet to the proxy device; and updating a routing table based on migration of the endpoint.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
decapsulating, by the network controller device, a second packet originating from the endpoint to determine the second routable tenant address and the first routable tenant address; translating, by the network controller device using the table, the first routable tenant address into the first loopback address based on at least the first routable tenant address; translating, by the network controller device using the table, the second routable tenant address into the second loopback address based on at least the second routable tenant address; and forwarding, by the network controller device, the second packet to an application associated with a first unique loopback address.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein updating of the routing table based on the migration of the endpoint is performed via the proxy device.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein forwarding the encapsulated packet to the proxy device further causes the proxy device to decapsulate the encapsulated packet to determine a virtual network identifier (VNID) and the second routable tenant address.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
establishing, by the network controller device, the table for resolving network addresses for in-band traffic in a data center network based on one or more of a virtual network identifier (VNID), a routable tenant address, or a unique loopback address; and indexing, in the table, each loopback address of a plurality of loopback addresses according to one respective VNID and one respective tenant address.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the VNID is a virtual extensible LAN (VXLAN) identifier.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the endpoint is a virtual machine (VM) hosted by a leaf node in a data center network.

8 . A network controller device comprising:
one or more computer processors; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the network controller device to:
receive a packet intended for an endpoint,
translate, using a table, a first loopback address into a first routable tenant address,
translate, using the table, a second loopback address into a second routable tenant address,
encapsulate the packet as an encapsulated packet having a header field including an outer address field including an address for a proxy device, an inner source address field including the first routable tenant address, and an inner destination field including the second routable tenant address,
forward the encapsulated packet to the proxy device, and
update a routing table based on migration of the endpoint.

9 . The network controller device of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the network controller device to:
decapsulate a second packet originating from the endpoint in to determine the second routable tenant address and the first routable tenant address; translate, using the table, the first routable tenant address into the first loopback address based on at least the first routable tenant address; translate, using the table, the second routable tenant address into the second loopback address based on at least the second routable tenant address; and forward the second packet to an application associated with a first unique loopback address.

10 . The network controller device of claim 8 , wherein the proxy device updates the routing table based on the migration of the endpoint from a first host to a second host.

11 . The network controller device of claim 8 , wherein forwarding the encapsulated packet to the proxy device further causes the proxy device to decapsulate the encapsulated packet to determine a virtual network identifier (VNID) and the second routable tenant address.

12 . The network controller device of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the network controller device to:
establish the table for resolving network addresses for in-band traffic in a data center network based on one or more of a virtual network identifier (VNID), a routable tenant address, or a unique loopback address; and index, in the table, each loopback address of a plurality of loopback addresses according to one respective VNID and one respective tenant address.

13 . The network controller device of claim 12 , wherein the VNID is a virtual extensible LAN (VXLAN) identifier.

14 . The network controller device of claim 8 , wherein the endpoint is a virtual machine (VM) hosted by a leaf node in a data center network.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a network controller device, cause the network controller device to:
receive a packet intended for an endpoint; translate, using a table, a first loopback address into a first routable tenant address; translate, using the table, a second loopback address into a second routable tenant address; encapsulate the packet as an encapsulated packet having a header field including an outer address field including an address for a proxy device, an inner source address field including the first routable tenant address, and an inner destination field including the second routable tenant address; forward the encapsulated packet to the proxy device; and update a routing table is based on migration of the endpoint.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the network controller device to:
decapsulate a second packet originating from the endpoint to determine the second routable tenant address and the first routable tenant address; translate, using the table, the first routable tenant address into the first loopback address based on at least the first routable tenant address; translate, using the table, the second routable tenant address into the second loopback address based on at least the second routable tenant address; and forward the second packet to an application associated with a first unique loopback address.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the proxy device updates the routing table based on the migration of the endpoint from a first host to a second host.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein forwarding the encapsulated packet to the proxy device further causes the proxy device to decapsulate the encapsulated packet to determine a virtual network identifier (VNID) and the second routable tenant address.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the network controller device to:
establish a translation table for resolving network addresses for in-band traffic in a data center network based on one or

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Chander Vijay
• Yang Yibin
• Jain Praveen
• Mehta Munish

Classifications

• H04L61/2521

  Translation architectures other than single NAT servers · CPC title

• H04L12/4641

  Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] (LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272) · CPC title

• H04L61/2514

  between local and global IP addresses · CPC title

• H04L12/4645

  Details on frame tagging (routing of packets H04L45/00; support for virtual LAN H04L49/354) · CPC title

• H04L12/4633

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