Dell Products Inc.

Karthik Krishnamurthy

Ramasubramani Mahadevan

Damodharan Sreenivasagaperumal

Ravikumar Sivasankar

Anbalagan Natchimuthu

Shree N Murthy

Balaji Rajagopalan

Pawan Kumar Singal

Avinash Natarajan

Sudharsan Dhamal Gopalarathnam

Karthi Kaliyamoorthy

Avinash Jayakumar

Mihai Lazar

Dhanunjayareddy Madhana

Kannan Narayanan

Sathish Kumar Thanneerkulam Ravichandran

Noufal Kp

Ashwin Kumar Jayaraman

Systems and methods provide automated, lightweight, and centralized implementations for distributing and securely managing the lifecycle of containerized third-party applications on a cluster of network switches that typically have relatively limited computing resources. The deployed containerized applications may be seamlessly updated and expanded separately from the host network operating system without the complexities involved in a registry infrastructure, such as Kubernetes, Docker, or similar container orchestration platform, without compromising security, and without interfering with the common switching functions and switching protocols of switches in the cluster.

Systems and methods for deploying third-party applications on a cluster of network switches

Hash collision in a highly scaled configuration cannot be prevented. However, the impact of the hash collision may be reduced based on a priority. Currently, there are no priorities assigned to virtual ports (VP) in a VXLAN environment. Thus, any VP may be impacted by not being added to a hash table that facilitates network data traffic processing. The probability of not being added to a hash table for network VPs is higher given that they tend to be programmed at a later stage than access VP. With priority-based hash table programming embodiments, hash table programming is better controlled, and the impact to higher priority VPs is reduced.

Prioritized hash table

An asymmetric/symmetric IRB migration system includes an aggregated networking device subsystem with a first and second networking device that are both configured to operate according to an asymmetric IRB model. A migration system coupled to the aggregated networking device subsystem retrieves first and second asymmetric IRB attributes from the first and second networking devices, uses the first asymmetric IRB attributes to generate first symmetric IRB attributes for the first networking device, and uses the second asymmetric IRB attributes to generate second symmetric IRB attributes for the second networking device. The migration system then causes data destined for end host device(s) coupled to the aggregated networking device subsystem to be transmitted only to the first networking device, configures the first networking device using the first symmetric IRB attributes, and then configures the second networking device using the second symmetric IRB attributes.

Asymmetric to symmetric IRB migration system

A VXLAN multi-tenant inter-networking device packet forwarding system includes a first aggregated networking device coupled to a first host device and a second aggregated networking device that is coupled to second host devices. The first aggregated networking device receives a data packet from the first host device and, in response, identifies a virtual network associated with the first host device. Based on a first and second portion of a virtual network identifier that identifies the virtual network, the first aggregated networking device generates respective first and second packet forwarding identifiers. The first aggregated networking device then provides the first and second packet forwarding identifiers in the data packet, and forwards the data packet to the second aggregated networking device. The second aggregated networking device may then forward the data packet to one of the second host devices based on the first and second packet forwarding identifiers in the data packet.

VXLAN multi-tenant inter-networking device packet forwarding system

A multi-homed edge device VxLAN data traffic forwarding system includes a first VTEP device that receives an Ethernet packet from a first edge device, encapsulates the Ethernet packet in a VxLAN packet, generates a source port value, and provides the source port value in a field in the VxLAN packet. The first VTEP device transmits multiple copies of the VxLAN packet to second VTEP devices that each determine whether the source port value in their respective copy of the VxLAN packet is included in a forwarding range for that second VTEP device that is different than forwarding range(s) for each of the other second VTEP device(s). If not, that second VTEP device prevents information in that copy of the VxLAN packet from being transmitted to the second edge device. If so, that second VTEP device transmits information in that copy of the VxLAN packet to the second edge device.

Multi-homed edge device VxLAN data traffic forwarding system

A feedback-based ECMP packet routing system includes a first node having a first node ECMP link group with first node ECMP links. The first node provides, in data packets forwarded through the first node ECMP links, first node ECMP feedback tag information including a first node identifier, a first node ECMP link group identifier, and a first node ECMP link identifier identifying the first node ECMP link used to forward the data packet. A second node receives a data packet from the first node via the first node ECMP link, stores its first node ECMP feedback tag information, and forwards the data packet through the second node link to the third node. When the link utilization of the second node link reaches a threshold, the ECMP feedback tag information is used to generate and send a feedback packet that causes the first node to adjust its ECMP routing parameters.

Feedback-based packet routing system

A port monitoring system includes a first extending device. The first extending device includes a monitored port and a networking port. The first extending device is configured to detect a first packet at the monitored port and, in response, generate a mirrored packet. Then the first extending device adds a monitoring identifier to the mirrored packet and forwards the mirrored packet through the networking port. The port monitoring system also includes a networking device that is coupled to the first extending device. The networking device is configured to receive the mirrored packet from the first extending device and determine that the mirrored packet is associated with a monitoring port using the monitoring identifier provided by the mirrored packet. The networking device then forwards the mirrored packet to the monitoring port.

Port monitoring system

A layer 3 routing loop prevention system includes a port extender coupled to a first and second control bridges by a Link Aggregation Group (LAG). The first and second control bridges are coupled by an interchassis link. When the first control bridge receives a packet and determines that its LAG link to the port extender is unavailable, it provides a control bridge failover identifier in the packet and performs layer 3 forwarding to send the packet to the second control bridge over the interchassis link. When the second control bridge receives the packet though the interchassis link and determines that its LAG link to the port extender is unavailable, that the packet includes the first control bridge failover identifier, and that layer 3 forwarding will result in the packet being sent back to the first control bridge device, the packet is dropped to prevent layer 3 routing loops.

Layer 3 routing loop prevention system

A congestion notification system includes a networking device coupling a sender device to a receiver device. The networking device is configured to detect a congestion situation. When the networking device will provide a first congestion notification in a first packet received from the sender device in response to detecting the congestion situation, as well as retrieve sender device information from the first packet and store that sender device information in a database. Following the sending of the first packet to the receiver device, the networking device receives a second packet that was sent from the receiver device prior to the receiver device receiving the first packet. In response to determining that the second packet includes the sender device information that is stored in the database, the networking device provides a second congestion notification in the second packet. The networking device then sends the second packet to the sender device.

Congestion notification system

Aspects of the present invention include a port extender environment using the port extenders to dynamically select a data path. In embodiments of the present invention, each port extender can communicate data traffic to another port extender or to a host receiver. The communication path is selected in the port extender using a hashing system.

Systems and methods for non-unicast/destination lookup fail (DLF) load balancing

Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods for providing more efficient switching of data traffic in networks that include a link aggregation domain. In embodiments, when packets arrive at one virtual link trunking (VLT) unit via an inter-node link (INL) from a peer VLT unit in the VLT domain, the first VLT unit checks whether the Media Access Control source address (MAC SA) was learned on a VLT LAG. If the MAC SA was learned on a VLT LAG, then, in embodiments, a special packet is sent to a VLT termination unit to have it learn the MAC destination address of the original packet on a sub-LAG from which the special packet was received. Learning the MAC destination address on the sub-LAG rather than the parent LAG allows for more direct switching of future packets.

Switching layer 2 (L2) flows to a correct node in a link aggregation domain

Systems, devices, and methods for routing information from one network to a load balancing network are provided. The provided system includes a server, and at least one switch in communication with the server over a physical port. The switch includes a network interface component configured to receive information from the server on the physical port, a memory configured to store the address of the server and a virtual port in an address table, the virtual port pointing to the physical port, and one or more processors coupled to the network interface component and the memory. The one or more processors are configured to identify the physical port on which the information arrives and assign the identified physical port to the virtual port and route information from a different network to the server over the physical port pointed to by the virtual port stored in the address table.

Systems and methods for preventing source suppression of routed information in a load-balanced network

A system and method for ingress port identification in aggregate switches includes a network switching device including a controller, a first port coupling the network switching device to another network device, and one or more forwarding information tables being maintained by the controller. The network switching device is configured to receive a first packet at the first port, replicate the first packet, insert a first reserved ingress ID associated with the first port into the replicated first packet, and forward the replicated first packet to a first peer switch. The network switching device is part of an aggregate switch.

Growing community of inventors

Chennai, India

Karthik Krishnamurthy