Vmware, Inc.

Chen Dar

Israel Cidon

Eyal Zohar

Aran Bergman

Prashanth Venugopal

Alex Markuze

Igor Golikov

The method of some embodiment provides DNS service for an SD-WAN. The method receives a DNS request for a domain name (e.g., a FQDN) from one of the compute nodes connected to the SD-WAN (e.g., from a branch site or datacenter site, or a machine of a remote user). The method selects a particular network address (e.g., a particular IP address) from several network addresses (e.g., several IP addresses) of several different sets of servers that are associated with the domain name based on measurements taken by agents deployed in the SD-WAN and based on SD-WAN DNS-resolution selection criteria. The method provides the particular network address in response to the DNS request to the machine that sent the DNS request (e.g., to the branch site or datacenter that sent the DNS request, or to the machine of the remote user that sent the request).

Providing DNS service in an SD-WAN

In a novel tunnel-less SD-WAN, when an ingress node of the SD-WAN receives a new packet flow, it identifies the path of the flow through the SD-WAN, and sends an initial prepended set of SD-WAN header values before the first packet for the flow to the next hop along this identified path, rather than encapsulating each packet of the flow with encapsulating tunnel headers that store SD-WAN next hop data for the flow. The prepended set of SD-WAN header values are then used to not only forward the first packet through the SD-WAN, but also to create records at each subsequent hop, which are then used to forward subsequent packets of the flow through the SD-WAN.

Tunnel-less SD-WAN

Some embodiments provide a method of reducing network congestion in a virtual network. The method, at a first CFE of the virtual network, receives multiple encapsulated data packets of a data stream. The encapsulated data packets having been encapsulated by a second CFE, operating on a server of the virtual network. The second CFE identifies a load percentage of the server, sets explicit congestion notification (ECN) bits on a percentage of the data packets based on the load percentage of the server, and encapsulates each data packet. The first CFE determines whether to forward a new connection to the second CFE based at least on the percentage of data packets from the first CFE with the ECN bits set.

Explicit congestion notification in a virtual environment

Some embodiments provide a novel method for deploying different virtual networks over several public cloud datacenters for different entities. For each entity, the method (1) identifies a set of public cloud datacenters of one or more public cloud providers to connect a set of machines of the entity, (2) deploys managed forwarding nodes (MFNs) for the entity in the identified set of public cloud datacenters, and then (3) configures the MFNs to implement a virtual network that connects the entity's set of machines across its identified set of public cloud datacenters. In some embodiments, the method identifies the set of public cloud datacenters for an entity by receiving input from the entity's network administrator. In some embodiments, this input specifies the public cloud providers to use and/or the public cloud regions in which the virtual network should be defined. Conjunctively, or alternatively, this input in some embodiments specifies actual public cloud datacenters to use.

Providing recommendations for implementing virtual networks

Some embodiments provide a method for providing a resource to a particular virtual private cloud that is deployed in a set of datacenters that host multiple virtual private clouds. At a resource issuer, the method receives a resource request from a particular machine deployed in the particular virtual private cloud, the resource request including a first set of cloud-specific data. The method obtains a cloud identifier for the particular machine from a registry service of the particular virtual private cloud that interacts with a datacenter-set cloud service that deploys machines in the datacenter set for different virtual private clouds. The method uses the obtained cloud identifier to obtain a second set of cloud-specific data for the particular machine from the datacenter-set cloud service. Upon determining that the first and second sets of cloud-specific data match, the method authenticates the particular machine and issues the resource for the particular machine.

Method of distributing client certificates to machines with shared cloud account access

Some embodiments establish for an entity a virtual network over several public clouds of several public cloud providers and/or in several regions. In some embodiments, the virtual network is an overlay network that spans across several public clouds to interconnect one or more private networks (e.g., networks within branches, divisions, departments of the entity or their associated datacenters), mobile users, and SaaS (Software as a Service) provider machines, and other web applications of the entity. The virtual network in some embodiments can be configured to optimize the routing of the entity's data messages to their destinations for best end-to-end performance, reliability and security, while trying to minimize the routing of this traffic through the Internet. Also, the virtual network in some embodiments can be configured to optimize the layer 4 processing of the data message flows passing through the network.

Identifying multiple nodes in a virtual network defined over a set of public clouds to connect to an external SaaS provider

Layer four optimization for a virtual network defined over public cloud

Deploying firewall for virtual network defined over public cloud infrastructure

Some embodiments provide a novel method for sharing data between user-space processes and kernel-space processes without copying the data. The method dedicates, by a driver of a network interface controller (NIC), a memory address space for a user-space process. The method allocates a virtual region of the memory address space for zero-copy operations. The method maps the virtual region to a memory address space of the kernel. The method allows access to the virtual region by both the user-space process and a kernel-space process.

Memory allocator for I/O operations

Identifying multiple nodes in a virtual network defined over a set of public clouds to connect to an external SAAS provider

In a novel tunnel-less SD-WAN, when an ingress node of the SD-WAN receives a new packet flow, it identifies the path of the flow through the SD-WAN, and sends an initial prepended set of SD-WAN header values before the first packet for the flow to the next hop along this identified path, rather than encapsulating each packet of the flow with encapsulating tunnel headers that store SD-WAN next hop data for the flow. The prepended set of SD-WAN header values are then used to not only forward the first packet through the SD-WAN, but also to create records at each subsequent hop, which are then used to forward subsequent packets of the flow through the SD-WAN. Instead of identifying the entire packet flow, the first hop in the SD-WAN does not identify the entire path for the packet flow in some embodiments, but just identifies the next hop, as each subsequent hop in the SD-WAN has the task of identifying the next hop through the SD-WAN for the packet flow. Also, in some embodiments, each hop also creates records for the reverse flow in order to automatically forward reply packets along a reverse route.

Overlay network encapsulation to forward data message flows through multiple public cloud datacenters

Some embodiments provide a novel method for splicing Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) sockets on a computing device that processes a kernel of an operating system. The method receives a set of packets at a first TCP socket of the kernel. The method stores the set of packets at a kernel memory location sends the set of packets directly from the kernel memory location out through a second TCP socket of the kernel.

Growing community of inventors

Magshimim, Israel

Chen Dar