Patent application number | Description | Published |
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 |
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 |
20140059529 | NON-DISRUPTIVE SOFTWARE UPDATES FOR SERVERS PROCESSING NETWORK TRAFFIC - Updating software on first and second network controller entities (NCEs), without disrupting traffic processing, comprises resetting the second NCE after it receives a proposed software version from the first NCE. The second NCE runs the proposed software version in a standby role. While the second NCE runs the proposed software version in the standby role, databases of the NCEs stay synchronized. Resetting the first NCE induces the second NCE to assume the master role, and the first NCE to assume the standby role. The second NCE in the master role tests the proposed software version for a predetermined period. If validation succeeds, the second NCE instructs the first NCE to reboot and run the proposed software version in the standby role. Otherwise, the second NCE reverts to running the current software version in the standby role; and the first NCE, running the current software version, reverts to the master role. | 02-27-2014 |
20140059530 | NON-DISRUPTIVE SOFTWARE UPDATES FOR SERVERS PROCESSING NETWORK TRAFFIC - Updating software on first and second network controller entities (NCEs), without disrupting traffic processing, comprises resetting the second NCE after it receives a proposed software version from the first NCE. The second NCE runs the proposed software version in a standby role. While the second NCE runs the proposed software version in the standby role, databases of the NCEs stay synchronized. Resetting the first NCE induces the second NCE to assume the master role, and the first NCE to assume the standby role. The second NCE in the master role tests the proposed software version for a predetermined period. If validation succeeds, the second NCE instructs the first NCE to reboot and run the proposed software version in the standby role. Otherwise, the second NCE reverts to running the current software version in the standby role; and the first NCE, running the current software version, reverts to the master role. | 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 |
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 |
20140254603 | INTEROPERABILITY FOR DISTRIBUTED OVERLAY VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS - Embodiments of the invention relate to providing interoperability between hosts supporting multiple encapsulation. One embodiment includes a method that includes mapping packet encapsulation protocol type information for virtual switches. Each virtual switch is associated with one or more virtual machines (VMs). It is determined whether one or more common encapsulation protocol types exist for a first VM associated with a first virtual switch and a second VM associated with a second virtual switch based on the mapping. A common encapsulation protocol type is selected if it is determined that one or more common encapsulation protocol types exist for the first virtual switch and the second virtual switch. A packet is encapsulated for communication between the first VM and the second VM using the selected common encapsulation protocol type. | 09-11-2014 |
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 |
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 |
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 |