Google Inc.

Min Zhu

Amin Vahdat

Junlan Zhou

Subhasree Mandal

Fei Ye

Amit Gupta

Rajiv Ramanathan

Leon Poutievski

Joon Suan Ong

James Wanderer

Subbaiah Venkata

Barath Raghavan

Wei Sun

Aravind Ravisankar

John Mccullough

Mohammad Alfares

James M Wanderer

Subhasree Madal

Exemplary embodiments allocate network traffic among multiple paths in a network, which may include one or more preferred paths (e.g. shortest paths) and one or more alternative paths (e.g., non-shortest paths). In one embodiment, network traffic in form of flows may be allocated to the preferred paths until the allocation of additional network traffic would exceed a predetermined data rate. Additional flows may then be sent over the alternative paths, which may be longer than the preferred path. The paths to which each flow is assigned may be dynamically updated, and in some embodiments the path assignment for a particular flow may time out after a predetermined time. Accordingly, the flow traffic of each path may be balanced based on real-time traffic information.

Flow level dynamic load balancing

A technique includes determining a first set of intra-node port weights for a first switch of a first routing node, determining a set of inter-node port weights including a first inter-node port weight for routing traffic to a second routing node, determining a first inter-node weighted port group for the first switch for traffic directed to the second routing node, the first inter-node weighted port group including a first total port weight based on a first intra-node port weight and the first inter-node port weight and which is applied to a first port of the first switch, and a second total port weight based on a second intra-node port weight and the first inter-node port weight and which is applied to the second port of the first switch, and routing traffic to an output port of the first switch based on the first inter-node weighted port group.

Weighted cost multipath routing with intra-node port weights and inter-node port weights

A technique for load balancing in a multi-topology network selects a network path having a favorable bandwidth*hop count product. Accordingly, shorter paths are prioritized while longer paths are used for traffic load balancing when appropriate. For example, a telecommunications network may employ a Clos-style topology in which hosts are connected to each other through multiple hierarchical levels of forwarding devices. One or more high level switches may be removed, creating isolated blocks of forwarding devices. The blocks may be connected by the remaining original high level Clos-style topology switch(es) and a second type of network topology. In an exemplary embodiment, traffic may be scheduled over routes with the following decreasing priorities: (1) the shortest path, using either or both network topologies; (2) a path using only a single network topology type; (3) non-shortest paths between directly-connected blocks; and (4) non-shortest paths between indirectly-connected blocks.

Traffic load balancing in a multi-connect topology

Aspects and implementations of the present disclosure generally relate to use of a multi-chassis link aggregation for high performance and resilience in wide-area networking. In one aspect, the disclosure relates to a system that includes a switch fabric. The fabric includes at least a plurality of edge network devices, a set of internal switch devices, and a plurality of internal network links coupling each edge network device to at least a subset of the set of internal switch devices. The system includes a network controller coupled to the switch fabric, configured to maintain at least one link aggregation comprising a logical grouping of externally facing network interfaces of at least two of the plurality of edge devices. The network controller is configured to monitor internal link performance characteristics and determine throughput characteristics for each link aggregation over time based at least in part on current internal link performance characteristics.

High performance and resilience in wide area networking

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for semi-centralized routing. In one aspect, a computer-implemented method receives a network protocol packet at a router adapted for routing data packets to one or more additional routers. The network protocol packet conforms to a routing protocol that provides distributed routing computation. The method also sends the network protocol packet, through a controller, to a selected one of a plurality of route control servers. The method also processes the network control packet at the selected route control server to generate a routing computation result that conforms to the routing protocol. The method also generates routing information based on the routing computation. The routing information conforms to a control protocol that provides centralized routing computation. The method also sends the routing information to the router for routing of data packets based on the control protocol.

Semi-centralized routing

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Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Min Zhu