Patent application number | Description | Published |
20130223277 | DISJOINT MULTI-PATHING FOR A DATA CENTER NETWORK - A method for determining disjoint multi-paths in a data center fabric network system, according to one embodiment, includes creating a topology of a data center fabric network system, wherein the system comprises a plurality of switches; determining paths between the plurality of switches; calculating one or more disjoint multi-paths from a source device to a destination device in the system; and writing the one or more disjoint multi-paths into a forwarding table of at least one of the source device and a nearest shared switch to the source device. | 08-29-2013 |
20130223440 | DISJOINT MULTI-PATHING FOR A DATA CENTER NETWORK - According to one embodiment, a data center fabric network system includes a controller, a plurality of switches connected to the controller via a plurality of communication links, a source device connected to at least a first switch of the plurality of switches, a destination device connected to at least a second switch of the plurality of switches, and wherein the controller is adapted for: creating a topology of the data center fabric network system, determining paths between the plurality of switches, calculating one or more disjoint multi-paths from the source device to the destination device based on the topology, and writing the one or more disjoint multi-paths into a forwarding table of at least one of: the source device, the first switch, and a nearest shared switch to the source device. | 08-29-2013 |
20130242999 | Scalable Virtual Appliance Cloud (SVAC) and Methods Usable in an SVAC - According to one embodiment, a method for providing scalable virtual appliance cloud (SVAC) services includes receiving incoming data traffic having multiple packets directed toward a SVAC using at least one switching distributed line card (DLC), determining that a packet satisfies a condition of an access control list (ACL), designating a destination port to send the packet based on the condition of the ACL being satisfied, fragmenting the packet into cells, wherein the designated destination port is stored in a cell header of the cells, sending the cells to the destination port via at least one switch fabric controller (SFC), receiving the cells at a fabric interface of an appliance DLC, reassembling the cells into a second packet, performing one or more services on the second packet using the appliance DLC, and sending the second packet to its intended port. | 09-19-2013 |
20130247168 | Scalable Virtual Appliance Cloud (SVAC) and Devices Usable in an SVAC - According to one embodiment, a system includes a scalable virtual appliance cloud (SVAC) comprising: at least one distributed line card (DLC); at least one switch fabric coupler (SFC) in communication with the at least one DLC; and at least one controller in communication with the at least one DLC, wherein one or more of the at least one DLC is an appliance DLC, wherein one or more of the at least one SFC is a central SFC, and wherein the SVAC appears to a device external of the SVAC as a single appliance device applying various services to a traffic flow. | 09-19-2013 |
20130258899 | LAYER 2 PACKET SWITCHING WITHOUT LOOK-UP TABLE FOR ETHERNET SWITCHES - In one embodiment, a system includes at least one processor which includes logic configured for receiving a request to assign a media access control (MAC) address to a device on a port, logic configured for determining the MAC address to assign to the device based at least partially on the port, and logic configured for sending a response to the request with the MAC address. In another embodiment, a computer program product for assigning a MAC address includes a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code including computer readable program code configured for determining, without using a look-up table, a MAC address to assign to a device and computer readable program code configured for sending the MAC address to the device. Other systems, methods, and computer program products are presented according to more embodiments. | 10-03-2013 |
20130259038 | COMMUNICATION TRANSPORT PROTOCOL FOR DISTRIBUTED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTURES - A communication protocol in a layer two (L2) network switch comprises, in response to a service request by a source node, registering the source node for packet communication service. The protocol further comprises forwarding one or more packets from the registered source node to one or more destination nodes. The protocol further comprises receiving packets from one or more destination nodes and forwarding each received packet to a corresponding registered node. | 10-03-2013 |
20130259040 | COMMUNICATION TRANSPORT PROTOCOL FOR DISTRIBUTED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTURES - A communication protocol in a layer two (L2) network switch comprises, in response to a service request by a source node, registering the source node for packet communication service. The protocol further comprises forwarding one or more packets from the registered source node to one or more destination nodes. The protocol further comprises receiving packets from one or more destination nodes and forwarding each received packet to a corresponding registered node. | 10-03-2013 |
20130259048 | LAYER 2 PACKET SWITCHING WITHOUT LOOK-UP TABLE FOR ETHERNET SWITCHES - In one embodiment, a method for assigning a media access control (MAC) address includes receiving a request from a device for a MAC address at a port of a switching device, determining a MAC address to assign to the device based at least partially on the port, and responding to the request with the MAC address. In another embodiment, a method for retrieving a media access control (MAC) address includes sending a request for a MAC address to a MAC allocation server (MAAS), waiting a predetermined amount of time to receive a response to the request, wherein the response comprises the MAC address, and using the MAC address when the response to the request is received within the predetermined amount of time. Other systems, methods, and computer program products are presented according to more embodiments. | 10-03-2013 |
20130268694 | PASS-THROUGH CONVERGED NETWORK ADAPTOR (CNA) USING EXISTING ETHERNET SWITCHING DEVICE - According to one embodiment, a switch system includes a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface block coupled to a plurality of PCIe ports, the plurality of PCIe ports being adapted for coupling to one or more external PCIe devices, wherein the PCIe interface block includes logic adapted for providing direct memory access (DMA) for each PCIe lane thereof, multiple switched Ethernet ports adapted for coupling to one or more external Ethernet devices, switching logic adapted for switching between the multiple switched Ethernet ports and the plurality of PCIe ports, and a local processor coupled to the PCIe interface block. The external host includes a pass-through PCIe adaptor coupled to the switch system via a PCIe port. Other systems, computer program products, and methods are described according to more embodiments. | 10-10-2013 |
20130272303 | PACKET SWITCHING WITHOUT LOOK-UP TABLE FOR ETHERNET SWITCHES - In one embodiment, a method for packet switching includes receiving a packet, wherein the packet comprises a header and a payload; determining, without using a look-up table, a destination port based on a destination address stored in the header; and sending the packet to the destination port. | 10-17-2013 |
20130272304 | PACKET SWITCHING WITHOUT LOOK-UP TABLE FOR ETHERNET SWITCHES - In one embodiment, a system includes a switching processor that includes logic configured for receiving a packet having a header and a payload, logic configured for determining, without using a look-up table, a destination port based on a destination address stored in the header, and logic configured for sending the packet to the destination port. In another embodiment, a system includes a processor adapted for executing logic, logic configured for creating an address allocation table having a plurality of values, each value being associated with a plurality of interne protocol (IP) addresses which, when an algorithm is applied thereto, result in the associated value, logic configured for receiving a request for an IP address from a device electrically connected to a switch, and logic configured for determining a port to which the device is electrically connected to the switch based on the port on which the request is received. | 10-17-2013 |
20130287022 | PROVIDING SERVICES TO VIRTUAL OVERLAY NETWORK TRAFFIC - According to one embodiment, a method for providing services to network traffic on a virtual overlay network includes receiving network traffic comprising a plurality of packets, determining whether the plurality of packets comprise an overlay header, terminating a tunnel and de-encapsulating inner packets of packets comprising an overlay header, performing services on the plurality of packets or the de-encapsulated inner packets, and originating a tunnel and encapsulating the serviced inner packets or the serviced packets with an overlay header to be switched to a destination address in a virtual network and sending the encapsulated packets, or sending the serviced packets without encapsulating the packets with an overlay header to be switched to a destination address in a non-virtual network. | 10-31-2013 |
20130287036 | PROVIDING SERVICES TO VIRTUAL OVERLAY NETWORK TRAFFIC - According to one embodiment, a system includes an overlay network device which includes an interface adapted for electrically communicating with a virtual overlay network (VON) gateway, logic adapted for receiving a plurality of packets from the VON gateway, logic adapted for determining whether the plurality of packets comprise an overlay header, logic adapted for de-encapsulating inner packets of packets comprising an overlay header, logic adapted for performing services on the plurality of packets or the de-encapsulated inner packets, and logic adapted for encapsulating the serviced inner packets or the serviced packets with an overlay header to be switched to a destination address in a virtual network and sending the encapsulated packets to the VON gateway or logic adapted for sending the serviced packets to the VON gateway without encapsulating the packets with an overlay header to be switched to a destination address in a non-virtual network. | 10-31-2013 |
20130311637 | OVERLAY TUNNEL INFORMATION EXCHANGE PROTOCOL - In one embodiment, a system includes logic adapted for receiving, at a first end point station, an information exchange packet from each end point station in a virtual network having a specified virtual network identifier (VNID) and logic adapted for processing each received information exchange packet to retrieve information about connections at each end point station in the virtual network having the specified VNID, wherein each end point station either terminates or originates a tunnel shared by the first end point station in an overlay network. In this way, the information may be used to respond to address resolution protocol (ARP) requests sent locally in lieu of flooding the ARP request. Other systems, methods, and computer program products are also presented regarding the overlay tunnel information exchange protocol, according to various embodiments. | 11-21-2013 |
20130311663 | OVERLAY TUNNEL INFORMATION EXCHANGE PROTOCOL - In one embodiment, a method for exchanging overlay tunnel information includes receiving an information exchange packet, at a first end point station, from each end point station in a virtual network having a specified virtual network identifier (VNID); and processing each received information exchange packet to retrieve information about connections at each end point station in the virtual network having the specified VNID, wherein each end point station either terminates or originates a tunnel shared by the first end point station in an overlay network. In this way, the information may be used to respond to address resolution protocol (ARP) requests sent locally in lieu of flooding the ARP request. Other systems, methods, and computer program products are also presented regarding the overlay tunnel information exchange protocol, according to various embodiments. | 11-21-2013 |
20130315233 | LARGE DISTRIBUTED FABRIC-BASED SWITCH USING VIRTUAL SWITCHES AND VIRTUAL CONTROLLERS - In one embodiment, a system includes at least one distributed line card (DLC) in electrical communication with at least one switch fabric coupler (SFC) and a meta-controller in electrical communication with the at least one DLC, the meta-controller including a processor for executing logic, logic configured for creating more than one virtual switch and a corresponding virtual control domain (VCD) associated with each virtual switch, wherein each virtual switch includes a plurality of physical ports of one or more of the at least one DLC, and logic configured for autonomously controlling the virtual switches, wherein the system appears to a device external of the system as a single cell switched domain. Other systems are described according to more embodiments. | 11-28-2013 |
20130315234 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING LARGE DISTRIBUTED FABRIC-BASED SWITCH USING VIRTUAL SWITCHES AND VIRTUAL CONTROLLERS - In one embodiment, a method includes splitting a plurality of physical ports distributed across multiple distributed line cards (DLCs) into a plurality of virtual switches, wherein each virtual switch comprises ports of one or more DLC, creating a virtual control domain (VCD) associated with each virtual switch, and autonomously controlling the virtual switches, wherein each DLC is in electrical communication with at least one switch fabric coupler (SFC), and wherein the plurality of physical ports appear to external devices as being part of a single cell switched domain. Other systems and methods are described according to more embodiments. | 11-28-2013 |
20130322264 | PROVIDING REAL-TIME INTERRUPTS OVER ETHERNET - In one embodiment, a method includes sending a request to one or more distributed fabric protocol (DFP) system members in order to retrieve one or more events from the one or more DFP system members, wherein the one or more events are received as data encapsulated in a packet(s), receiving one or more acknowledgements to the request from the one or more DFP system members at a local network switch of the DFP system master, upon receipt of the at least one packet: decoding the at least one packet to retrieve details of the one or more events using a dedicated processor of the DFP system master, creating and sending a message signaled interrupt (MSI) comprising the details of the one or more events to a local processor of the DFP system master using the dedicated processor, and reading the MSI using the local processor of the DFP system master. | 12-05-2013 |
20130322290 | PROVIDING I2C BUS OVER ETHERNET - In one embodiment, a system includes a local processor, a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) switch electrically coupled to the local processor, one or more local I | 12-05-2013 |
20130322292 | Multipath effectuation within singly contiguous network fabric via switching device routing logic programming - Each of a network fabric controller device and a network fabric forwarder devices includes network connecting hardware and network managing logic. The network connecting hardware of the devices connects them to a singly contiguous network fabric including switching devices that route data between initiator nodes and target nodes and that have routing logic programmable by the controller device. The controller device does not directly route the data themselves. The network managing logic of the devices effects multipaths for transmission of the data through the singly contiguous network fabric from the initiator node to the target nodes via programming of the routing logic of the switching devices. | 12-05-2013 |
20130322447 | End-to-end multipathing through network having switching devices compatible with different protocols - A first cluster includes first switching devices that are compatible with a software-defined networking (SDN) protocol. A second cluster includes second switching devices within or partially overlapping the first cluster. Each second switching device is compatible with a protocol for an open systems interconnection (OSI) model layer. The first switching devices include one or more border switching devices located at a boundary between the first cluster and the second cluster. Each border switching device is also compatible with the protocol for the OSI model layer. The first switching devices effect first multipathing through the network except through the second cluster, and the second switching devices effect second multipathing just through the second cluster of the network. As such, the first switching devices and the second switching devices together effect end-to-end multipathing through both the first cluster and the second cluster of the network. | 12-05-2013 |
20130322454 | Multipath effectuation within singly contiguous network fabric via switching device routing logic programming - Each of a network fabric controller device and a network fabric forwarder devices includes network connecting hardware and network managing logic. The network connecting hardware of the devices connects them to a singly contiguous network fabric including switching devices that route data between initiator nodes and target nodes and that have routing logic programmable by the controller device. The controller device does not directly route the data themselves. The network managing logic of the devices effects multipaths for transmission of the data through the singly contiguous network fabric from the initiator node to the target nodes via programming of the routing logic of the switching devices. | 12-05-2013 |
20130322460 | End-to-end multipathing through network having switching devices compatible with different protocols - A first cluster includes first switching devices that are compatible with a software-defined networking (SDN) protocol. A second cluster includes second switching devices within or partially overlapping the first cluster. Each second switching device is compatible with a protocol for an open systems interconnection (OSI) model layer. The first switching devices include one or more border switching devices located at a boundary between the first cluster and the second cluster. Each border switching device is also compatible with the protocol for the OSI model layer. The first switching devices effect first multipathing through the network except through the second cluster, and the second switching devices effect second multipathing just through the second cluster of the network. As such, the first switching devices and the second switching devices together effect end-to-end multipathing through both the first cluster and the second cluster of the network. | 12-05-2013 |
20130343395 | DISTRIBUTED ROUTING MECHANISMS FOR A VIRTUAL SWITCH ENABLED BY A TRILL-BASED FABRIC - In one embodiment, a system includes a routing protocol engine (RPE) RBridge which includes a local uplink port adapted to be coupled to a router, a local processor for executing logic, logic adapted for receiving a data frame at the local uplink port, logic adapted for running routing protocols to enable L3 processing of the data frame, and logic adapted for configuring learned routes and routes passed from another RPE RBridge in the local processor. In more embodiments, methods for providing L3 processing in a TRILL-enabled network include receiving a data frame at a local uplink port of a RBridge enabled with a RPE to enable L3 processing, running routing protocols to provide L3 processing of the data frame, and configuring learned routes and routes passed from any other RPE RBridges. The RPE RBridge may be connected to a router or to a first server and a second server. | 12-26-2013 |
20130346592 | SWITCH MONITORING STATISTICS GATHERING AT SERVERS AND GATEWAYS FOR OVERLAY NETWORKS - In one embodiment, a system includes a plurality of overlay-capable devices, each overlay-capable device having an interface adapted for terminating and/or originating tunnels in an overlay network with other overlay-capable devices, logic adapted for creating statistics about overlay-encapsulated packets which are received by or sent by the overlay-capable device, logic adapted for accumulating the statistics, and logic adapted for storing the statistics in an accessible memory of the overlay-capable device. In another embodiment, a method for generating statistics about encapsulated packets within a virtual overlay network includes creating statistics about overlay-encapsulated packets which are received by or sent by each overlay-capable device in an overlay network, accumulating the statistics for each overlay-capable device through which the overlay-encapsulated packets passed, and storing the statistics in an accessible manner. | 12-26-2013 |
20140016501 | FLOW BASED OVERLAY NETWORK - In one embodiment, a system for classifying traffic in an overlay network includes a processor adapted for executing logic, logic adapted for receiving an overlay packet, logic adapted for determining at least one characteristic of the overlay packet and/or one or more inner packets of the overlay packet in order to classify the overlay packet, logic adapted for associating a flow identifier to the overlay packet, logic adapted for determining one or more policies to associate with the flow identifier, wherein the one or more policies are based on the at least one characteristic of the overlay packet and/or the one or more inner packets of the overlay packet, and logic adapted for storing the flow identifier in a header of the overlay packet. More systems, methods, and computer program products for classifying traffic in an overlay network are presented in accordance with other embodiments. | 01-16-2014 |
20140022937 | INTEGRATED DEVICE MANAGEMENT OVER ETHERNET NETWORK - A clustered network may include a plurality of switch boxes where a master switch box may communicate and control hardware devices in remote switch boxes. The switch boxes in the network may each include a multiplexer, for example, a field programmable array (FPGA) that may process message requests related to hardware devices of a switch box. If the hardware device is in a remote switch box, then the FPGA of the master switch box may process the status data from the remote switch box so that a local processor in the master switch box can read the status data. | 01-23-2014 |
20140044130 | AVOIDING UNKNOWN UNICAST FLOODS RESULTING FROM MAC ADDRESS TABLE OVERFLOWS - In one embodiment, a system includes a processor adapted for running a switch controller application, logic configured for detecting a switch in a network, logic configured for determining that the switch is capable of communicating via the switch controller application, and logic configured for overwriting a default rule for handling unknown unicast packets in the switch such that the switch sends any unknown unicast packet received by the switch to the system instead of flooding when an unknown unicast packet is received. In another embodiment, a method includes detecting a switch in a network, determining that the switch is capable of communicating via a switch controller application, and overwriting a default rule for handling unknown unicast packets in the switch such that the switch sends any unknown unicast packet received by the switch to the switch controller instead of flooding when an unknown unicast packet is received. | 02-13-2014 |
20140050218 | NETWORK INTERFACE CARD HAVING OVERLAY GATEWAY FUNCTIONALITY - In one embodiment, a system includes a network interface card (NIC) having a plurality of network ports including multiple Peripheral Component Interconnect express (PCIe) ports, a multi-lane PCIe interface adapted for communicating with a server, an Ethernet controller adapted for communicating with a network, and logic adapted for providing overlay network gateway functionality. In another embodiment, a NIC includes a plurality of network ports including multiple PCIe ports, a multi-lane PCIe interface adapted for communicating with a server, an Ethernet controller adapted for communicating with a network, and logic adapted for providing overlay network gateway functionality to traffic that passes through the NIC. In yet another embodiment, a method for providing overlay network gateway functionality in a network includes providing overlay network gateway functionality for network traffic received by a NIC implemented in a server, wherein the NIC provides an interface between a server and a network. | 02-20-2014 |
20140056152 | PORT MIRRORING IN DISTRIBUTED SWITCHING SYSTEMS - Port mirroring in a clustered network may be performed between a local switch and a remote switch. A port in the remote switch may be designated a mirrored port where data traffic passing there through can be copied and sent to a mirror-to-port on the local switch. In a virtual local area network (VLAN) environment, data frames of the copied traffic may include a VLAN header identifying the local switch so that routing of the data frames through the network may direct the data frames for monitoring at the local switch. | 02-27-2014 |
20140056175 | INTEGRATED DEVICE MANAGMENT OVER ETHERNET NETWORK - A clustered network may include a plurality of switch boxes where a master switch box may communicate and control hardware devices in remote switch boxes. The switch boxes in the network may each include a multiplexer, for example, a field programmable array (FPGA) that may process message requests related to hardware devices of a switch box. If the hardware device is in a remote switch box, then the FPGA of the master switch box may process the status data from the remote switch box so that a local processor in the master switch box can read the status data. | 02-27-2014 |
20140059537 | PROCESSING OF OVERLAY NETWORKS USING AN ACCELERATED NETWORK INTERFACE CARD - According to one embodiment, a server includes an accelerated network interface card (NIC), the accelerated NIC including a plurality of network ports including multiple Peripheral Component Interconnect express (PCIe) ports, an Overlay Network Offload System (ONOS), the ONOS including logic adapted for providing overlay functionality to network traffic received by the accelerated NIC, a first receiving/transmitting (RX/TX) packet buffer adapted for caching network traffic sent to or received from a network, a second RX/TX packet buffer adapted for caching the network traffic received from or sent to the server, and an Ethernet controller adapted for interfacing with the network. The server also includes a hypervisor coupled to one or more virtual machines (VMs) and a NIC driver adapted for interfacing with and supporting the accelerated NIC, wherein the NIC driver includes logic adapted for managing operations of the accelerated NIC. | 02-27-2014 |
20140071983 | OVERLAY NETWORK CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING STORAGE AREA NETWORK (SAN) TRAFFIC - In one embodiment, a system includes a server having a hypervisor layer that includes an overlay-capable virtual switch and a Fibre Channel (FC) virtual switch; at least one processor adapted for executing logic; and a converge network adapter (CNA) coupled to the hypervisor, the CNA being adapted for communicating with the overlay-capable virtual switch and the FC virtual switch, wherein the CNA is adapted for communicating with a FC forwarder (FCF), and the overlay-capable virtual switch includes logic adapted for communicating with a central controller | 03-13-2014 |
20140071990 | OVERLAY NETWORK CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING STORAGE AREA NETWORK (SAN) TRAFFIC - In one embodiment, a method for sending FCoE traffic over an overlay network includes receiving a block of media access control (MAC) addresses for use in local fabric initialization protocol (FIP) operations and advertising to all local FCoE initiators to route FCoE traffic to a server by asserting an overlay-capable virtual switch within the server as a FCF for any requesting FCoE initiators. | 03-13-2014 |
20140079075 | SEGMENTATION AND REASSEMBLY OF NETWORK PACKETS FOR SWITCHED FABRIC NETWORKS - Reassembly of member cells into a packet comprises receiving an incoming member cell of a packet from a switching fabric wherein each member cell comprises a segment of the packet and a header, generating a reassembly key using selected information from the incoming member cell header wherein the selected information is the same for all member cells of the packet, checking a reassembly table in a content addressable memory to find an entry that includes a logic key matching the reassembly key, and using a content index in the found entry and a sequence number of the incoming member cell within the packet, to determine a location offset in a reassembly buffer area for storing the incoming member cell at said location offset in the reassembly buffer area for the packet for reassembly. | 03-20-2014 |
20140079076 | SEGMENTATION AND REASSEMBLY OF NETWORK PACKETS - Reassembly of fragments into a packet comprises receiving an incoming fragment of a packet from a network wherein each fragment comprises a segment of the packet and a header, generating a reassembly key using selected information from the incoming fragment header wherein the selected information is the same for all fragments of the packet, checking a reassembly table in a content addressable memory to find an entry that includes a logic key matching the reassembly key, and using a content index in the found entry and a sequence number of the incoming fragment within the packet, to determine a location offset in a reassembly buffer area for storing the incoming fragment at said location offset in the reassembly buffer area for the packet for reassembly. | 03-20-2014 |
20140086065 | DISJOINT MULTI-PATHS WITH SERVICE GUARANTEE EXTENSION - In one embodiment, a system includes a network manager including logic configured for determining at least one pair of disjoint paths between an ingress node and an egress node from the plurality of nodes in the network, each disjoint path having an ingress node, an egress node, and a number of nodes and connecting links therebetween, wherein each pair of disjoint paths shares no common nodes or links except for the ingress node and the egress node, and logic configured for determining characteristics of each of the at least one pair of disjoint paths based on an assigned cost of each link in the at least one pair of disjoint paths. In other embodiments, methods are described for providing disjoint multi-paths in a network. | 03-27-2014 |
20140098820 | CENTRALIZED CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT PLANES FOR DIFFERENT INDEPENDENT SWITCHING DOMAINS - A network includes a first switching domain having a distributed fabric comprised of interconnected standalone switches. The standalone switches communicate with each other in accordance with a packet-based distributed fabric protocol. A second switching domain has a plurality of cell-based switches in communication with a cell-based switch fabric. The cell-based switches communicate with each other through the cell-based switch fabric in accordance with a cell-based distributed fabric protocol. One of the cell-based switches is coupled by a communication link to one of the standalone switches of the first switching domain. The second switching domain includes a server device coupled to one of the cell-based switches. The server device is configured with logic to process control packets for the standalone switches in accordance with the packet-based distributed fabric protocol and control packets for the cell-based switches in accordance with a protocol that is different from the packet-based distributed fabric protocol. | 04-10-2014 |
20140101649 | VIRTUAL MACHINE BASED CONTROLLER AND UPGRADE MECHANISM - High availability for a network may be achieved, for example, during a hitless upgrade by creating a replica controller virtual machine of an operating controller virtual machine (source controller). The replica controller virtual machine may be on a same or different server as the source controller virtual machine. The replica controller virtual machine may be copied with processes present in the source controller virtual machine and synchronized for runtime state. Upgrades or changes to software applications run in the source controller virtual machine may be provided to the replica controller virtual machine. Once enabled, the replica controller virtual machine may be operated without suspension of the source controller virtual machine. | 04-10-2014 |
20140101652 | VIRTUAL MACHINE BASED CONTROLLER AND UPGRADE MECHANISM - High availability for a network may be achieved, for example, during a hitless upgrade by creating a replica controller virtual machine of an operating controller virtual machine (source controller). The replica controller virtual machine may be on a same or different server as the source controller virtual machine. The replica controller virtual machine may be copied with processes present in the source controller virtual machine and synchronized for runtime state. Upgrades or changes to software applications run in the source controller virtual machine may be provided to the replica controller virtual machine. Once enabled, the replica controller virtual machine may be operated without suspension of the source controller virtual machine. | 04-10-2014 |
20140198638 | LOW-LATENCY LOSSLESS SWITCH FABRIC FOR USE IN A DATA CENTER - In one embodiment, a system includes a switch configured for communicating with a low-latency switch and a buffered switch, the switch having a processor adapted for executing logic, logic adapted for receiving a packet at an ingress port of a switch, logic adapted for receiving congestion information, logic adapted for determining that at least one congestion condition is net based on at least the congestion information, logic adapted for applying a packet forwarding policy to the packet when the at least one congestion condition is met, logic adapted for forwarding the packet to a buffered switch when the packet satisfies the packet forwarding policy, and logic adapted for forwarding the packet to a low-latency switch when the at least one congestion condition is not met. | 07-17-2014 |
20140198647 | LINK AGGREGATION (LAG) INFORMATION EXCHANGE PROTOCOL - In one embodiment, a switch includes a processor adapted for executing logic, logic adapted for receiving link aggregation (LAG) information about a first peer switch, logic adapted for storing the LAG information about the first peer switch, and logic adapted for using the LAG information about the first peer switch and LAG information about the switch to determine load balancing across one or more connections between the switch and the first peer switch. In another embodiment, a method for exchanging LAG information between peer switches includes receiving LAG information about a first peer switch at a second peer switch, storing the LAG information about the first peer switch, and using the LAG information about the first peer switch and LAG information about the second peer switch to determine load balancing across one or more connections between the first and second peer switches. | 07-17-2014 |
20140198686 | MANAGEMENT OF DISTRIBUTED NETWORK SWITCHING CLUSTER - Management of a network may be provided by moving management functions from each switch in a network cluster into a locally controlled server. The management functions may be organized into an Ethernet distributed fabric switching protocol (E-DFP) based management plane. Control functions of each switch may also be organized into a control plane. The management plane and control plane of the network may be moved from each switch and integrated into the server. Efficiency in network switching may be provided by releasing the switches of their management and control responsibilities and centralizing these responsibilities to the server. In some embodiments, the server may be outside the cluster. | 07-17-2014 |
20140201307 | CACHING OF LOOK-UP RULES BASED ON FLOW HEURISTICS TO ENABLE HIGH SPEED LOOK-UP - According to one embodiment, a system includes a plurality of ports adapted for connecting to external devices and a switching processor. The switching processor includes a packet processor which includes a look-up interface, fetch and refresh logic (LIFRL) module and a packet processor logic (PPL) module adapted to operate in parallel, an internal look-up table cache including a plurality of look-up entries, each relating to a traffic flow which has been or is anticipated to be received by the switching processor, and a traffic manager module including a buffer memory which is connected to the plurality of ports. The LIFRL module is adapted for accessing the internal look-up table cache, the PPL module is adapted for communicating with the traffic manager module and the buffer memory, and the LIFRL module is adapted for communicating with one or more external look-up tables. | 07-17-2014 |
20140201346 | APPLYING A CLIENT POLICY TO A GROUP OF CHANNELS - Management and provisioning of networking traffic may be provided by bundling virtual channels into a group. A global policy may be applied to the bundle so that virtual ports providing services to a client may be managed by referring to the global policy of the bundle. The channels comprising the bundle may span multiple physical ports and in some cases, multiple physical switches. Thus, policy management may be avoided at the port level and instead, be handled as groups of channels implementing a client service. | 07-17-2014 |
20140201349 | APPLYING A CLIENT POLICY TO A GROUP OF CHANNELS - Management and provisioning of networking traffic may be provided by bundling virtual channels into a group. A global policy may be applied to the bundle so that virtual ports providing services to a client may be managed by referring to the global policy of the bundle. The channels comprising the bundle may span multiple physical ports and in some cases, multiple physical switches. Thus, policy management may be avoided at the port level and instead, be handled as groups of channels implementing a client service. | 07-17-2014 |
20140201845 | SECURE CLOUD IMPLEMENTATION - Implementation of a secure network may be provided by analyzing packet traffic for sensitive information. Network processing elements found to be processing sensitive information may be classified as needing higher security. The classified network processing elements may be moved into a group of secure network processing elements. | 07-17-2014 |
20140201846 | SECURE CLOUD IMPLEMENTATION - Implementation of a secure network may be provided by analyzing packet traffic for sensitive information. Network processing elements found to be processing sensitive information may be classified as needing higher security. The classified network processing elements may be moved into a group of secure network processing elements. | 07-17-2014 |
20140204748 | ARBITRATION OF MULTIPLE-THOUSANDS OF FLOWS FOR CONVERGENCE ENHANCED ETHERNET - In one embodiment, a system includes a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being adapted to: receive a plurality of flows, each flow comprising packets of data, assign a service credit to each of the plurality of flows, assign a weight parameter to each of the plurality of flows, select a flow from a head of a first control queue unless the first control queue is empty or there is indication that the first control queue should be avoided, wherein a flow is selected from a head of a second control queue when the first control queue is empty or there is indication that the first control queue should be avoided, provide a number of units of service to the selected flow, and decrease the selected flow's service credit by an amount corresponding to the number of units of service provided thereto. | 07-24-2014 |
20140207942 | NETWORK ELEMENT DIAGNOSTIC EVALUATION - A process of diagnosing and debugging a network element remotely may employ sending of performance data to a third party evaluator for processing of the data. A mobile device may interface with the network element and request evaluation of the performance by the third party evaluator. Large memory loads may be sent to the third party evaluator where intensive processing may be performed. The results of the processing by the third party evaluator may be sent to the mobile device for viewing by a user. | 07-24-2014 |
20140241345 | SOURCE ROUTING WITH FABRIC SWITCHES IN AN ETHERNET FABRIC NETWORK - In one embodiment, a system includes a network fabric having a plurality of fabric switches interconnected in the network fabric and a switch controller having logic adapted to configure the network fabric, determine one or more paths through the network fabric between any two hosts connected thereto, and create a source-routing table to store the one or more paths through the network fabric between any two hosts connected thereto. In another embodiment, a method includes receiving or creating a packet using a NIC of a host connected to a network fabric having a plurality of fabric switches interconnected therein, determining a path through the network fabric by consulting a source-routing table stored to the host, storing source-routing information to a packet header for the packet, the source-routing information including the path, and sending the packet to a first device or hop indicated by the path in the source-routing information. | 08-28-2014 |
20140269274 | CREDIT-BASED FLOW CONTROL IN LOSSLESS ETHERNET NETWORKS - In one embodiment, a system includes a hardware processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor or media access control (MAC) functionality of a network port, the logic being adapted to initialize a link between a receiving endpoint and a sending endpoint, the receiving and sending endpoints being connected in a network fabric, wherein at least one virtual link is created within the link, receive an amount of available flow credits from the receiving endpoint, wherein the amount of available flow credits are used to determine a capacity to process packets at the receiving endpoint, and transmit one or more packets to the receiving endpoint until all packets are sent or the amount of available flow credits is insufficient to process additional packets, wherein exchange of flow credits is performed on a per virtual link basis. | 09-18-2014 |
20140269321 | QUANTIZED CONGESTION NOTIFICATION IN A VIRTUAL NETWORKING SYSTEM - Embodiments of the invention provide a method for quantized congestion notification in a virtual networking system comprising multiple virtual networks (VNs). Each VN comprises at least one virtual machine (VM) configured to generate one or more packet flows. Each packet of each packet flow is tagged with a congestion notification (CN) tag. Each packet flow is mapped to a corresponding virtual tunnel end point (TEP) that distributes each packet of the packet flow. A congestion notification message (CNM) is generated for each congestion point (CP) associated with each packet flow. Each CP is mapped to a corresponding TEP that distributes each CNM for the CP, wherein the corresponding VTEP forwards the CNM to a VM contributing to packet congestion at the CP. | 09-18-2014 |
20140269415 | CREDIT-BASED FLOW CONTROL FOR MULTICAST PACKETS IN LOSSLESS ETHERNET NETWORKS - Methods, systems, and computer program products presented herein provide for self-routing multicast. In one embodiment, a system includes a switch controller including a hardware processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being adapted to receive a multicast data stream join request from a source device in a network, create a multipath identifier (ID) for the multipath data stream, create a series of path identifiers (IDs) for each intermediate switch in the network based on a local network topology database, each path ID being associated with a desired output port bitmap, and transmit the multipath ID and a path ID to a source of the multicast data stream, the path ID corresponding to the source of the multicast data stream join request. | 09-18-2014 |
20140269705 | HETEROGENEOUS OVERLAY NETWORK TRANSLATION FOR DOMAIN UNIFICATION - In one embodiment, a method for providing multi-protocol overlay handling includes receiving first traffic via an input overlay tunnel at a multi-protocol virtual tunnel end point (VTEP)-enabled device, the first traffic including a plurality of overlay-encapsulated packets which adhere to a first overlay network protocol, and wherein the input overlay tunnel adheres to the first overlay network protocol; routing the first traffic to a second overlay network tunnel which adheres to a second overlay network protocol when a destination of the first traffic is specified as the second overlay network tunnel, the second overlay network tunnel being terminated at the multi-protocol VTEP-enabled device; and bridging the first traffic to a destination overlay network tunnel terminated at the multi-protocol VTEP-enabled device when the destination of the first traffic is specified as the destination overlay network tunnel, the destination overlay network tunnel being terminated at the multi-protocol VTEP-enabled device. | 09-18-2014 |
20140280827 | SCALABLE DISTRIBUTED CONTROL PLANE FOR NETWORK SWITCHING SYSTEMS - In one embodiment, a networking system includes a physical switch and a scalable and distributed virtual control plane. The switch is adapted to receive a first packet, classify the first packet to produce a packet classification, generate a second packet based on the first packet, and forward the second packet. The scalable and distributed virtual control plane has a physical host server adapted to host a plurality of virtual machines (VMs), each VM providing a control plane for a particular protocol, and a network connecting the switch to the server. In addition, the plurality of VMs are adapted to receive the second packet, retrieve information about the first packet, handle processing of the first packet using the information to obtain forwarding information, encapsulate the first packet into a third packet including the forwarding information, and forward the third packet according to the forwarding information. | 09-18-2014 |
20140280841 | SCALABLE DISTRIBUTED CONTROL PLANE FOR NETWORK SWITCHING SYSTEMS - Various aspects relate to processing a first networking packet within a networking system. In one embodiment, a first networking packet is received and classified to produce a packet classification. A second networking packet is generated based on the first networking packet, and forwarded. The second networking packet is received using a physical host server, where the physical host server is adapted to host a plurality of virtual machines (VMs), each VM being configured to provide a control plane for a particular protocol. The second networking packet is received and decapsulated using a VM hosted by the physical host server to retrieve information about the first networking packet. Using the VM, the first networking packet is processed using the information about the first networking packet to obtain forwarding information. Using the VM, the first networking packet is encapsulated into a third networking packet comprising the forwarding information; and forwarded. | 09-18-2014 |
20140282611 | DISTRIBUTED AND SCALED-OUT NETWORK SWITCH AND PACKET PROCESSING - Embodiments of the invention relate to scaled-out and distributed network packet processors and switch central cores. One embodiment relates to a system including multiple central core processing devices, wherein each central core processing device includes: a virtual central core interface for establishing scaled-out and distributed virtual communication connections with the central core processing devices and a packet processor interface manager connected with multiple packet processing interfaces. Multiple packet processors each include: a packet processor thread manager for managing and processing packets received by central core processing devices and multiple central core processing interfaces for providing connectivity between the packet processors and the plurality of central core processing devices. The packet processing interfaces and the central core processing interfaces provide scaled-out and distributed connectivity of the packet processors to one or more central core processing devices. | 09-18-2014 |
20140286340 | Multipath effectuation within singly contiguous network fabric via switching device routing logic programming - Each of a network fabric controller device and a network fabric forwarder devices includes network connecting hardware and network managing logic. The network connecting hardware of the devices connects them to a singly contiguous network fabric including switching devices that route data between initiator nodes and target nodes and that have routing logic programmable by the controller device. The controller device does not directly route the data themselves. The network managing logic of the devices effects multipaths for transmission of the data through the singly contiguous network fabric from the initiator node to the target nodes via programming of the routing logic of the switching devices. | 09-25-2014 |
20140301187 | CREDIT-BASED LINK LEVEL FLOW CONTROL AND CREDIT EXCHANGE USING DCBX - In one embodiment, a system includes a network having one or more devices interconnected therebetween, the network including a first device having a first port and logic integrated with and/or executable by a first processor, the logic being adapted to exchange credit exchange (CE) capabilities between the first port and a second port of a second device in the network, receive a credit grant packet from the second port, the credit grant packet indicating credits granted to the first port, and send one or more packets of data from the first port to the second port, the one or more packets corresponding with the granted credits. Other systems and methods for providing credit-based flow control are described according to more embodiments. | 10-09-2014 |
20140301197 | VIRTUAL QUANTIZED CONGESTION NOTIFICATION - Congestion management for data traffic in a virtual domain identifies a congestion source and sends a message to the source to adjust data traffic rates. The source may be a virtual machine hosted by a physical server with one or more virtual servers incorporated. A congestion manager may identify the source and send the message to the source without affecting other data sources hosted by the physical server or the virtual servers. In some embodiments, information about the congestion source may be encapsulated in a packet payload readable only by the congestion source so only the congestion source receives the instruction to adjust the transmission rate. | 10-09-2014 |
20140304543 | FABRIC MULTIPATHING BASED ON DYNAMIC LATENCY-BASED CALCULATIONS - In one embodiment, a system for determining latency in paths includes logic integrated with and/or executable by a processor, the logic being adapted to synchronize clocks of two devices connected via two or more link aggregation (LAG) ports and/or multiple devices within paths through a network fabric, determine a transit delay for each LAG port and/or path, store the transit delay for each LAG port to a LAG structure along with an identifier for the LAG port and/or for each path to an equal cost multi-path (ECMP) structure along with an identifier of the path, sort the LAG ports according to each LAG port's transit delay and mark a LAG port having the lowest latency, and sort the paths according to each path's transit delay and mark a path having the lowest latency, wherein each path has an equal path cost factor. | 10-09-2014 |
20140307554 | VIRTUAL ENHANCED TRANSMISSION SELECTION (VETS) FOR LOSSLESS ETHERNET - In one embodiment, a system includes a hardware processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being adapted to receive a traffic flow having a plurality of packets, classify the traffic flow into a traffic class based on a characteristic of the traffic flow, the traffic class being selected from a plurality of traffic classes, store an identifier of the selected traffic class to one or more of the packets, and transmit the traffic flow according to its destination based on a priority of its selected traffic class. In more embodiments, additional systems, methods, and computer program products for prioritizing traffic flow handling are described. | 10-16-2014 |
20140307555 | FLOW CONTROL CREDITS FOR PRIORITY IN LOSSLESS ETHERNET - In one embodiment, a system includes an initiator port adapted to receive a traffic flow having a plurality of packets and a hardware processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being adapted to classify the traffic flow into a traffic class based on at least one criteria related to the traffic flow, the traffic class being selected from a plurality of traffic classes and transmit one or more packets of the traffic flow to a target port designated by the one or more packets of the traffic flow until an amount of flow credits allocated to the target port is insufficient to service additional packets. Other systems, methods, and computer program products for providing credit-based flow control are described in more embodiments. | 10-16-2014 |
20140313892 | OVERLAY NETWORK PRIORITY INHERITANCE - In one embodiment, a system includes logic adapted for receiving an overlay-encapsulated packet including one or more underlay packets, logic adapted for decapsulating the one or more underlay packets from the overlay-encapsulated packet, logic adapted for deriving a priority for each of the one or more underlay packets based on at least one of: a priority of the overlay-encapsulated packet, a transport header of the overlay-encapsulated packet, and an application designation of the one or more underlay packets, and logic adapted for setting the priority of the one or more underlay packets. In another embodiment, a method includes receiving an overlay-encapsulated packet, decapsulating underlay packets therefrom, deriving a priority for the underlay packets, and setting the priority of the underlay packets, the priority being based on any of: a priority of the overlay-encapsulated packet, a transport header of the overlay-encapsulated packet, and/or an application designation of the underlay packets. | 10-23-2014 |
20140328340 | VIRTUAL DATA CENTER BRIDGING EXCHANGE (VDCBX) PROTOCOL - In one embodiment, a system includes processor; and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being adapted to: assign a VLAN type to each of a plurality of VLANs of an architecture; generate a VLAN list type-length-value (vTLV) message; and transmit information to resources based at least in part on the vTLV message, wherein the resources comprise at least one virtual switch and one or more of: at least one physical switch; at least one virtual port; at least one physical port; at least one virtual machine; at least one converged network adapter (CNA); and at least one fibre channel forwarder (FCF). | 11-06-2014 |
20140334498 | LAYER 2 PACKET SWITCHING WITHOUT LOOK-UP TABLE FOR ETHERNET SWITCHES - In one embodiment, a system includes at least one processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the at least one processor, the logic being configured to receive, by the at least one processor, a request to assign a media access control (MAC) address to a device on a port, determine, by the at least one processor, the MAC address to assign to the device based at least partially on the port, and send, by the at least one processor, a response to the request with the MAC address. According to a further embodiment, the logic may be configured to create a MAC address allocation table that includes a plurality of hash values, each hash value being associated with one port and a plurality of MAC addresses, wherein the assigned MAC address is one of the MAC addresses associated with the port in the MAC address allocation table. | 11-13-2014 |
20140337453 | SNMP request processing within distributed device architecture - A distributed device architecture includes a master device and one or more member devices. A simple network management protocol (SNMP) agent of a master device receives an SNMP request from a managing device. Where the SNMP request pertains to a given member device, and where the SNMP request requires involvement of the given member device to fulfill the SNMP request, the master device generates a non-SNMP request corresponding to the SNMP request and transmits the non-SNMP request to the given member device. A non-SNMP agent of the given member device processes the non-SNMP request and transmits processing results back to the master device. The master device generates an SNMP response corresponding to the processing results, and the SNMP agent of the master device transmits the SNMP response back to the managing device. | 11-13-2014 |
20140337559 | PASS-THROUGH CONVERGED NETWORK ADAPTOR (CNA) USING EXISTING ETHERNET SWITCHING DEVICE - According to one embodiment, a switch system includes an external host connected via a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) port to a switch system, the external host being configured to perform functionality of a management plane and a control plane for the switch system, the external host having a processor. In another embodiment, a computer program product includes a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code including computer readable program code configured to perform functionality of a management plane and a control plane for a switch system using a processor of an external host. Other systems, computer program products, and methods are described according to more embodiments. | 11-13-2014 |
20140348162 | OVERLAY NETWORK CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING STORAGE AREA NETWORK (SAN) TRAFFIC - In one embodiment, a system includes a server having a hypervisor layer that includes an overlay-capable virtual switch and a Fibre Channel (FC) virtual switch; at least one processor configured to execute logic; and a converge network adapter (CNA) coupled to the hypervisor, the CNA being configured to communicate with the overlay-capable virtual switch and the FC virtual switch, wherein the CNA is configured to communicate with a FC forwarder (FCF), and the overlay-capable virtual switch includes logic configured to communicate with a central controller. In another embodiment, a method for sending FCoE traffic over an overlay network includes receiving a block of media access control (MAC) addresses for use in local fabric initialization protocol (FIP) operations and advertising to all local FCoE initiators to route FCoE traffic to a server by asserting an overlay-capable virtual switch within the server as a FCF for any requesting FCoE initiators. | 11-27-2014 |
20140362862 | PACKET SWITCHING WITHOUT LOOK-UP TABLE FOR ETHERNET SWITCHES - In one embodiment, a system includes a switching processor and logic integrated with the switching processor, the logic being configured to receive a packet, wherein the packet comprises a header and a payload, determine, without using a look-up table, a destination port based on a destination address stored in the header, and send the packet to the destination port. In another embodiment, a system includes logic integrated with and/or executable by a processor, the logic being configured to create an address allocation table comprising a plurality of values, each value being associated with a plurality of IP addresses which, when an algorithm is applied thereto, result in the associated value, receive a request for an IP address from a device electrically connected to a switch, and determine a port to which the device is electrically connected to the switch based on the port on which the request is received. | 12-11-2014 |
20150023172 | CONGESTION PROFILING OF COMPUTER NETWORK DEVICES - A method may include transmitting data frames from a reaction point of a source device. The method may also include receiving, at the reaction point, congestion notification messages corresponding to the transmitted data frames and containing congestion feedback data regarding a particular network switching device and an identifier of the particular network switching device. The method may also include modifying a congestion profile for the particular network switching device by correlating the identifier of the particular network switching device to a profile entry, and updating the profile entry with the congestion feedback data | 01-22-2015 |
20150074276 | WORKLOAD DEPLOYMENT WITH REAL-TIME CONSIDERATION OF GLOBAL NETWORK CONGESTION - In one embodiment, a system includes a switch controller configured to communicate with each of a plurality of network devices in a network, the switch controller including a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being configured to: receive a request to instantiate a new workload or to move a current workload in the network, determine a throughput associated with the new or current workload, and select an optimum location to place the new workload or to move the current workload in the network based on the throughput associated with the new or current workload. According to another embodiment, a method includes receiving a request at a switch controller to instantiate or move a workload, determining a throughput associated with the workload, and selecting an optimum location to place or move the workload based on the throughput associated with the workload. | 03-12-2015 |
20150078389 | SEGMENTATION AND REASSEMBLY OF NETWORK PACKETS FOR SWITCHED FABRIC NETWORKS - Reassembly of member cells into a packet comprises receiving an incoming member cell of a packet from a switching fabric wherein each member cell comprises a segment of the packet and a header, generating a reassembly key using selected information from the incoming member cell header wherein the selected information is the same for all member cells of the packet, checking a reassembly table in a content addressable memory to find an entry that includes a logic key matching the reassembly key, and using a content index in the found entry and a sequence number of the incoming member cell within the packet, to determine a location offset in a reassembly buffer area for storing the incoming member cell at said location offset in the reassembly buffer area for the packet for reassembly. | 03-19-2015 |
20150085704 | VIRTUAL STACKING OF SWITCHES - A first processor assigns switches and/or switch ports to a virtual stack according to configuration information and stores the virtual topography of the virtual stack in a mapping table. The mapping table correlates switches, switch ports, computer processors, and virtual stacks. The first processor receives a data unit from a first switch that includes a source address and a destination address. The destination address identifies a switch and switch port. The first processor compares the destination address to the mapping table to determine a second computer processor and sends the data unit to the second computer processor, the second computer processor corresponding to a switch and/or switch port identified in the destination address of the data unit. | 03-26-2015 |
20150139229 | PROCESSING OF OVERLAY NETWORKS USING AN ACCELERATED NETWORK INTERFACE CARD - According to one embodiment, a system includes an accelerated network interface card (NIC), the accelerated NIC including a plurality of network ports including multiple Peripheral Component Interconnect express (PCIe) ports, an Overlay Network Offload System (ONOS), the ONOS including logic configured to provide overlay functionality to network traffic received by the accelerated NIC, and logic configured to cause network traffic that has overlay functionality provided by a hypervisor to bypass the ONOS. In another embodiment, a method for accelerating overlay functionality in a server includes providing overlay functionality for at least some network traffic received by an accelerated NIC implemented in a server, wherein the accelerated NIC provides an interface between the server and a network, and causing network traffic that has overlay functionality provided by a hypervisor of the server to bypass the accelerated NIC. | 05-21-2015 |
20150139246 | PROVIDING REAL-TIME INTERRUPTS OVER ETHERNET - In one embodiment, a method includes sending a request to one or more distributed fabric protocol (DFP) system members in order to retrieve one or more events from the one or more DFP system members, receiving one or more acknowledgements to the request from the one or more DFP system members at a local network switch of a DFP system master, upon receipt of at least one packet in which the one or more events are encapsulated as data: decoding the at least one packet to retrieve details of the one or more events using a dedicated processor of the DFP system master, creating and sending a message signaled interrupt (MSI) comprising the details of the one or more events to a local processor of the DFP system master using the dedicated processor, and reading the MSI using the local processor of the DFP system master. | 05-21-2015 |
20150142911 | NETWORK INTERFACE CARD HAVING OVERLAY GATEWAY FUNCTIONALITY - In one embodiment, a server includes a virtualization platform providing one or more virtual machines (VMs), the virtualization platform including: logic configured to provide support for the one or more VMs, and logic configured to provide a virtual switch, the virtual switch being configured to provide switching functionality across a network to network traffic received from and/or sent to the one or more VMs, a network interface card (NIC) including a plurality of network ports including multiple Peripheral Component Interconnect express (PCIe) ports, a multi-lane PCIe interface configured to communicate with the server, an Ethernet controller configured to communicate with the network, logic configured to provide overlay network gateway functionality to network traffic received from and/or sent to the network, and logic configured to provide overlay network functionality to network traffic received from and/or sent to the one or more VMs, and a NIC driver configured to interface/support the NIC. | 05-21-2015 |
20150146738 | PROVIDING I2C BUS OVER ETHERNET - In one embodiment, a method includes accessing every local I | 05-28-2015 |
20150163137 | OVERLAY CAPABILITIES EXCHANGE USING DCBX - A method for overlay network capabilities exchange for reserving high priority handling of packets, for example, FCoE and other sensitive packets in an overlay network is achieved by determining a transport protocol port map, wherein the port map creates a correlation between one or more inner protocols and one or more outer transport protocol port numbers. The method includes determining a priority bit re-map table, wherein the priority bit re-map table creates a correlation between one or more outer transport protocol port numbers and one or more levels of priority. A combined table, may be determined wherein the combined table creates a correlation between one or more inner packet protocols, one or more outer transport protocol port numbers, and one or more levels of priority. The combined table is advertised to the other computing devices in a network and connected to the network. | 06-11-2015 |
20150180773 | VIRTUAL MACHINE NETWORK CONTROLLER - Embodiments relate to virtual networks. An aspect includes a method for controlling a virtual network including analyzing header content of packet traffic, where the packet traffic corresponds to one or more virtual machines run on a computer. The method includes performing flow routing of the packet traffic through a virtual network based on the analyzing overlay virtual network identifiers or virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) identifiers in the header content. | 06-25-2015 |
20150180776 | VIRTUAL MACHINE NETWORK CONTROLLER - Embodiments relate to virtual networks. An aspect includes a method for controlling a virtual network including analyzing header content of packet traffic, where the packet traffic corresponds to one or more virtual machines run on a computer. The method includes performing flow routing of the packet traffic through a virtual network based on the analyzing overlay virtual network identifiers or virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) identifiers in the header content. | 06-25-2015 |
20150188773 | OVERLAY NETWORK MOVEMENT OPERATIONS - Embodiments of the invention relate to providing virtual network domain movement operations for overlay networks. One embodiment includes a method that includes determining one or more overlay network attributes (ONAs) for a plurality of virtual networks. The one or more ONAs are associated with the virtual networks. The one or more ONAs are managed as one or more portable entities by one or more of creating ONAs, deleting ONAs, moving ONAs, combining ONAs and dividing ONAs. A movement operation is performed on the one or more virtual networks among one or more servers of one or more overlay networks based on the management of the one or more ONAs. | 07-02-2015 |
20150188820 | QUANTIZED CONGESTION NOTIFICATION (QCN) EXTENSION TO EXPLICIT CONGESTION NOTIFICATION (ECN) FOR TRANSPORT-BASED END-TO-END CONGESTION NOTIFICATION - According to one embodiment, a method for handling congestion in a network includes determining that there is congestion on a first device in a network, setting a congestion indicator in a header of a packet to indicate an amount of congestion at the first device, sending the packet to all devices that send traffic to the first device, receiving the packet having the multi-bit indicator in a header thereof at a device that sends traffic to the first device, and reducing a congestion window by a factor of between about 5% and about 50% based on a severity of the congestion indicated by the multi-bit indicator, wherein the congestion window is reduced by a greater factor when the congestion is indicated as being more severe. Other systems and methods for handling congestion in a network are described according to more embodiments. | 07-02-2015 |
20150188821 | LOW-LATENCY LOSSLESS SWITCH FABRIC FOR USE IN A DATA CENTER - In one embodiment, a switch includes a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being configured to cause the processor to receive a packet at an ingress port of the switch, forward the packet to a buffered switch when at least one congestion condition is met, where the buffered switch is configured to evaluate congestion conditions of a fabric network, and forward the packet to a low-latency switch when the at least one congestion condition is not met, where the low-latency switch includes an additional policy table provided with forwarding decisions based on the congestion conditions of the fabric network. Other switches, systems, methods, and computer program products for providing low latency packet forwarding with guaranteed delivery are described according to more embodiments. | 07-02-2015 |
20150188824 | LINK AGGREGATION (LAG) INFORMATION EXCHANGE PROTOCOL - In one embodiment, a switch includes a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor to receive details about which link aggregation (LAG) information about a first peer switch will be exchanged with the switch, send to the first peer switch, prior to receiving the LAG information about the first peer switch, details about which LAG information about the switch will be exchanged with the first peer switch, receive the LAG information about the first peer switch, store the LAG information about the first peer switch, and use the LAG information about the first peer switch and the LAG information about the switch to determine load balancing across one or more connections between the switch and the first peer switch. | 07-02-2015 |
20150195293 | SECURITY LEVEL AND STATUS EXCHANGE BETWEEN TCP/UDP CLIENT(S) AND SERVER(S) FOR SECURE TRANSACTIONS - According to one embodiment, a system includes a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being configured to identify a security issue affecting a first peer in one or more secure transmission control protocol/user datagram protocol (TCR/UDP) sessions, inform a second peer about the security issue using the first peer of the one or more TCP/UDP sessions, and perform at least one action in response to identifying and/or being informed about the security issue. In another embodiment, a method for providing a secure TCP/UDP session includes identifying a security issue affecting a first peer in one or more TCP/UDP sessions, informing a second peer about the security issue using the first peer of the one or more TCP/UDP sessions, and performing at least one action in response to identifying and/or being informed about the security issue. | 07-09-2015 |
20150200951 | SCALABLE VIRTUAL APPLIANCE CLOUD (SVAC) AND METHODS USABLE IN AN SVAC - According to one embodiment, a system includes at least one switching distributed line card (DLC) configured to apply Access Control Lists (ACLs) on each switching interface of the at least one switching DLC to direct certain received packets to at least one appliance DLC to have deep packet inspection services performed on the certain received packets, and at least one central switch fabric coupler (SFC) in communication with the at least one switching DLC, where the at least one appliance DLC and the at least one switching DLC are connected to the at least one central SFC. Other systems, methods and computer program products for providing scalable virtual appliance cloud (SVAC) services are described in more embodiments. | 07-16-2015 |
20150222448 | AVOIDING UNKNOWN UNICAST FLOODS RESULTING FROM MAC ADDRESS TABLE OVERFLOWS - In one embodiment, a system includes a system includes a hardware processor and logic implemented with and/or executable by the processor to determine that expiration of a timer has occurred, and in response to expiration of the timer, import entries from a media access control (MAC) address table stored by a switch controller into a MAC address table stored by a switch until the MAC address table stored by the switch is full, where the logic to import entries includes logic to import entries in the MAC address table stored by the switch controller determined to be more often used into the MAC address table stored by the switch before entries determined to be less often used. | 08-06-2015 |
20150236950 | END-TO-END MULTIPATHING THROUGH NETWORK HAVING SWITCHING DEVICES COMPATIBLE WITH DIFFERENT PROTOCOLS - A first cluster includes first switching devices that are compatible with a software-defined networking (SDN) protocol. A second cluster includes second switching devices within or partially overlapping the first cluster. Each second switching device is compatible with a protocol for an open systems interconnection (OSI) model layer. The first switching devices include one or more border switching devices located at a boundary between the first cluster and the second cluster. Each border switching device is also compatible with the protocol for the OSI model layer. The first switching devices effect first multipathing through the network except through the second cluster, and the second switching devices effect second multipathing just through the second cluster of the network. As such, the first switching devices and the second switching devices together effect end-to-end multipathing through both the first cluster and the second cluster of the network. | 08-20-2015 |
20150288787 | PROVIDING SERVICES TO VIRTUAL OVERLAY NETWORK TRAFFIC - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving network traffic, determining whether packets have an overlay header, terminating a tunnel and de-encapsulating inner packets of packets having an overlay header, performing services on the inner packets in response to a determination that services are to be performed on the inner packets, originating a tunnel, encapsulating a first packet of the serviced inner packets with an overlay header, and switching the encapsulated serviced inner packets to a destination address in a virtual network in response to determining that the first packet is to be switched to the destination address in the virtual network, and switching a second packet of the serviced inner packets to a destination address in a non-virtual network without encapsulating the serviced inner packets with the overlay header in response to a determination that the second packet is to be switched to the destination address in the non-virtual network. | 10-08-2015 |
20150295819 | FLOW BASED OVERLAY NETWORK - In one embodiment, a system includes a hardware processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being configured to receive an overlay packet, determine at least one characteristic of the overlay packet and/or inner packets of the overlay packet in order to classify the overlay packet into a classification, associate a flow identifier to the overlay packet, determine one or more policies to associate with the flow identifier, where the one or more policies are based on the at least one characteristic of the overlay packet and/or the inner packets of the overlay packet, and store the flow identifier in a header of the overlay packet, where the flow identifier is a string of characters of a predetermined length, the flow identifier being unique from all other flow identifiers in a particular overlay network and associated with an identified flow of the overlay packet. | 10-15-2015 |
20150295839 | VIRTUAL QUANTIZED CONGESTION NOTIFICATION - Congestion management for data traffic in a virtual domain identifies a congestion source and sends a message to the source to adjust data traffic rates. The source may be a virtual machine hosted by a physical server with one or more virtual servers incorporated. A congestion manager may identify the source and send the message to the source without affecting other data sources hosted by the physical server or the virtual servers. In some embodiments, information about the congestion source may be encapsulated in a packet payload readable only by the congestion source so only the congestion source receives the instruction to adjust the transmission rate. | 10-15-2015 |
20150324238 | LOAD DISTRIBUTION OF LOGICAL SWITCH ROUTERS IN A DISTRIBUTED SYSTEM - A tool for supporting load distribution across one or more logical switch routers in a distributed system. The tool includes a first software module configurable to launch and monitor one or more application processes within the one or more logical switch routers in the distributed system. The tool includes a second software module configurable to manage a plurality of system information for the one or more logical switch routers in the distributed system. The tool includes a third software module configurable to control and manage a plurality of system resources in the distributed system. The tool includes a fourth software module configurable to control and manage a plurality of physical ports and a plurality of virtual ports in the distributed system. The tool includes a fifth software module configurable to manage a plurality of load distribution policies for the one or more logical switch routers in the distributed system. | 11-12-2015 |
20150331801 | CACHING OF LOOK-UP RULES BASED ON FLOW HEURISTICS TO ENABLE HIGH SPEED LOOK-UP - In one embodiment, a computer program product includes a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code including computer readable program code configured to initialize an internal look-up table cache provided internally to a switching processor, the internal look-up table cache being configured to store a plurality of look-up entries and being organized into at least three segments: a persistent flows entries segment, a non-persistent flows entries segment, and an access control list (ACL) segment. Each look-up entry relates to a traffic flow which has been or is anticipated to be received by a switching processor configured to access the internal look-up table cache. The computer readable program code is also configured to manage the internal look-up table cache to store entries relating to a particular segment type into a corresponding segment of the internal look-up table cache. | 11-19-2015 |
20150350081 | VIRTUAL NETWORK DATA CONTROL WITH NETWORK INTERFACE CARD - Embodiments relate to managing data flows through a virtual network. An aspect includes receiving, by a network interface card (NIC) connected to a hypervisor of a source computer, flows of data packets from one or more virtual machines managed by the hypervisor. The aspect includes running, by the NIC, an overlay network protocol to encapsulate the data packets, and to manage the flow of data through tunnels for the virtual network to a destination computer based on the overlay protocol, the tunnels transmitting the data packets through an underlying physical network underlying the virtual network. | 12-03-2015 |
20150350084 | VIRTUAL NETWORK DATA CONTROL WITH NETWORK INTERFACE CARD - Embodiments relate to managing data flows through a virtual network. An aspect includes receiving, by a network interface card (NIC) connected to a hypervisor of a source computer, flows of data packets from one or more virtual machines managed by the hypervisor. The aspect includes running, by the NIC, an overlay network protocol to encapsulate the data packets, and to manage the flow of data through tunnels for the virtual network to a destination computer based on the overlay protocol, the tunnels transmitting the data packets through an underlying physical network underlying the virtual network. | 12-03-2015 |
20150381492 | DUAL PURPOSE ON-CHIP BUFFER MEMORY FOR LOW LATENCY SWITCHING - In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a buffer memory, at least one ingress port, at least one egress port, at least one processor, and logic integrated with and/or executable by the at least one processor, the logic being configured to communicate with a software-defined network (SDN) controller, store one or more look-up tables in a first portion of the buffer memory, receive a packet using an ingress port, and determine an egress port for the packet. In another embodiment, a method for switching packets in a SDN includes storing one or more took-up tables in a first portion of a buffer memory of a SDN-capable switching device, receiving a packet using an ingress port of the switching device, and determining an egress port for the packet. | 12-31-2015 |
20150381510 | FLOW CONTROL CREDITS FOR PRIORITY IN LOSSLESS ETHERNET - In one embodiment, a system includes a hardware processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor. The logic is configured to classify a traffic flow into a traffic class based on at least one criteria related to the traffic flow and request that a credit manager remap flow credits corresponding to a first traffic class to flow credits corresponding to a second traffic class. In another embodiment, a method for providing credit-based flow control includes classifying a traffic flow into a traffic class based on at least one criteria related to the traffic flow, the traffic class being selected from a plurality of traffic classes. The method also includes storing an identifier indicating the traffic class of packets of the traffic flow according to a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier in a three bit VLAN tag portion of a header of one or more of the packets. | 12-31-2015 |
20160028611 | DISJOINT MULTI-PATHING FOR A DATA CENTER NETWORK - According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor. The logic is configured to determine paths between a plurality of switches connected together in a system by performing path calculations based on a topology of the system. The logic is also configured to calculate one or more disjoint multi-paths from among the paths, the one or more disjoint multi-paths connecting a source device to a destination device. The source device is connected to a first switch of the plurality of switches, and the destination device is connected to a second switch of the plurality of switches. Moreover, the logic is configured to write the one or more disjoint multi-paths into a forwarding table of at least one device. Other systems and computer program products are presented according to more embodiments. | 01-28-2016 |
20160028643 | ARBITRATION OF MULTIPLE-THOUSANDS OF FLOWS FOR CONVERGENCE ENHANCED ETHERNET - In one embodiment, a method includes selecting a flow from a head of a first control queue or a second control queue. The method also includes providing service to the selected flow. Moreover, the method includes decreasing a service credit of the selected flow by an amount corresponding to an amount of service provided to the selected flow. In another embodiment, a computer program product includes a computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith. The embodied program code is readable/executable by a device to select, by the device, a flow from a head of a first control queue or a second control queue. The embodied program code is also readable/executable to provide, by the device, service to the selected flow, and decrease, by the device, a service credit of the selected flow by an amount corresponding to an amount of service provided to the selected flow. | 01-28-2016 |
20160036697 | HETEROGENEOUS OVERLAY NETWORK TRANSLATION FOR DOMAIN UNIFICATION - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving first overlay network traffic via a first input overlay tunnel at a multi-protocol virtual tunnel end point (VTEP) implemented in an accelerated network interface card (NIC) of a server. The method also includes routing the first overlay network traffic to a second overlay network tunnel which adheres to a second overlay network protocol in response to a determination that a destination of the first overlay network traffic is specified as the second overlay network tunnel. Moreover, the method includes receiving second overlay network traffic via the first input overlay tunnel at the multi-protocol VTEP. The method also includes bridging the second overlay network traffic to a first destination overlay network tunnel terminated at the multi-protocol VTEP in response to a determination that a destination of the second overlay network traffic is specified as the first destination overlay network tunnel. | 02-04-2016 |
20160043961 | CREDIT-BASED FLOW CONTROL IN LOSSLESS ETHERNET NETWORKS - In one embodiment, a system includes a hardware processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor or media access control (MAC) functionality of a network port. The logic is configured to negotiate a credit aging duration during initialization of a link between a receiving endpoint and a sending endpoint, the receiving and sending endpoints being connected in a network fabric. The link includes at least one virtual link. The logic is also configured to receive an a Count of available flow credits from the receiving endpoint. The amount of available flow credits are used to determine a capacity to process packets at the receiving endpoint. The exchange of flow credits is performed on a per virtual link basis. Other systems, methods, and computer program products are presented according to more embodiments. | 02-11-2016 |
20160065426 | QUANTIZED CONGESTION NOTIFICATION (QCN) PROXY FUNCTION IN DATA CENTER BRIDGING CAPABILITIES EXCHANGE (DCBX) PROTOCOL - In one embodiment, an apparatus for providing quantized congestion notification (QCN) proxy functionality to a network device control plane includes a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being configured to enable QCN proxy functionality for a particular congestion notification priority value (CNPV) on each edge port of a QCN edge switch, wherein the QCN edge switch includes one or more edge ports connected to devices outside of a congestion notification domain (CND) that operates on the particular CNPV, and forward congestion notification packets received at the QCN edge switch using the QCN proxy functionality when the packets are destined for one of the devices connected outside of the CND that is not QCN-enabled. Other systems, methods, and computer program products for providing QCN proxy functionality to a network device control plane are described in more embodiments. | 03-03-2016 |
20160087867 | SWITCH MONITORING STATISTICS GATHERING AT SERVERS AND GATEWAYS FOR OVERLAY NETWORKS - In one embodiment, a system includes a hardware processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the hardware processor. The logic is configured to create statistics about overlay-encapsulated packets which are received by or sent by the hardware processor across an overlay network. The logic is also configured to record the statistics with a virtual network identifier and a tunnel identifier associated with at least one overlay-encapsulated packet for which the statistics are created. Moreover, the logic is configured to maintain a table indexed for the virtual network identifier and the tunnel identifier. The table includes the virtual network identifier, the tunnel identifier, and statistic bucket identifiers pointing to locations where statistics associated with the virtual network identifier and the tunnel identifier are stored. Other systems, methods, and computer program products are disclosed according to more embodiments. | 03-24-2016 |