Nicira, Inc.

Vmware, Inc.

Minjal Agarwal

Uday Suresh Masurekar

Abhishek Goliya

Jayant Jain

Ronghua Zhang

Mani Kancherla

Anirban Sengupta

Sami Boutros

Serge Maskalik

Kaushal Bansal

Aravind Srinivasan

Shadab Shah

ChiHsiang Su

Ganesan Chandrashekhar

Dileep Kumar Devireddy

Sachin Mohan Vaidya

Rajiv Krishnamurthy

Tejas Sanjeev Panse

Naveen Ramaswamy

Xiaohu Wang

Hitesh Patel

Yogesh Gaikwad

Vinith Podduturi

Sonam Sinha

Some embodiments provide a method for providing dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) services to different data compute nodes (e.g., virtual machines) that belong to different logical networks (e.g., for different tenants in a datacenter). In some embodiments, the method inserts a logical network identifier (LNI) value to each DHCP packet and forwards the packet to a DHCP server module for processing the DHCP request. Based on the LNI value, the DHCP server of some embodiments identifies the logical network from which the DHCP packet is received. The DHCP server then provides the requested DHCP service (e.g., assigning an IP address to a data compute node that has originated the DHCP packet, assigning a domain name, etc.) according to a DHCP service configuration for the identified logical network.

Implementing logical DHCP servers in logical networks

Some embodiments provide a novel method for monitoring health of an SMN that includes multiple networking components. A health analytics manager identifies a set of one or more metrics associated with the network components of the SMN. The health analytics manager uses the set of metrics to compute a first health score for the SMN. Then, the health analytics manager presents the first health score in a UI along with (1) data regarding how the first health score was computed, and (2) a set of one or more parameters for a user to modify how the health for the SMN is computed. After receiving from the user one or more modifications to at least one of the parameters, the health analytics manager computes a second health score for the SMN based on the modified set of parameters.

Modifying health monitoring through user interface

A method for a hypervisor to implement flow-based local egress in a multisite datacenter is disclosed. The method comprises: determining whether a first data packet of a first data flow has been received. If the first data packet has been received, then the hypervisor determines a MAC address of a first local gateway in a first site of a multisite datacenter that communicated the first data packet, and stores the MAC address of the first local gateway and a 5-tuple for the first data flow. Upon determining that a response for the first data flow has been received, the hypervisor determines whether the response includes the MAC address of the first local gateway. If the response includes a MAC address of another local gateway, then the hypervisor replaces, in the response, the MAC address of another local gateway with the MAC address of the first local gateway.

Flow-based local egress in a multisite datacenter

Some embodiments provide a method or tool for automatically configuring a logical router on one or more edge nodes of an edge cluster (e.g., in a hosting system such as a datacenter). The method of some embodiments configures the logical router on the edge nodes based on a configuration policy that dictates the selection method of the edge nodes. In some embodiments, an edge cluster includes several edge nodes (e.g., gateway machines), through which one or more logical networks connect to external networks (e.g., external logical and/or physical networks). In some embodiments, the configured logical router connects a logical network to an external network through the edge nodes.

Automatic configuration of logical routers on edge nodes

Some embodiments provide a method for configuring a set of logical routers in a logical network. The method receives a configuration of an advertised route for a first logical router and a set of allowable routes for a second logical router to which the first logical router connects. The method determines whether the set of allowable routes for the second logical router includes the advertised route as an allowed route from the first logical router. Only when the advertised route is an allowed route from the first logical router, the method adds the advertised route to a routing table for at least one component of the second logical router.

Authorization for advertised routes among logical routers

Techniques are disclosed herein for providing an agent for implementing layer 2 (L2) communication on a layer 3 (L3) underlay network. In one embodiment, an agent in virtualization software determines a newly available network address of a VM, configures a network interface of the L3 network to be associated with the network address such that network traffic for the network address is directed to the network interface, adds a route to a virtual router in the virtualization software indicating the VM is local, and adds a router to an address resolution table to associate the network address with a MAC address. This permits a packet sent from one VM to another VM to be processed by the virtual router based on routes therein and forwarded to the other VM either internally or using the L3 underlay network.

Agent for implementing layer 2 communication on layer 3 underlay network

Some embodiments provide a central firewall management system that can be used to manage different firewall devices from a single management interface. This management interface provides a uniform interface for defining different firewall rule sets and deploying these rules sets on different firewall devices (e.g., port-linked firewall engines, firewall service VMs, network-perimeter firewall devices, etc.). Also, this interface allows the location and/or behavior of the firewall rule sets to be dynamically modified. The management interface in some embodiments also provides controls for filtering and debugging firewall rules.

Firewall rule management

Some embodiments provide a method for providing metadata proxy services to different data compute nodes that are associated with different logical networks (e.g., for different tenants of a datacenter). When a data compute node (DCN) is instantiated (i.e., starts executing) in a host machine, the DCN requests for metadata associated with the DCN from a metadata server. The requested metadata includes identification and configuration data (e.g., name and description, amount of virtual memory, number of allocated virtual CPUs, etc.) for the DCN. Each DCN generates and sends out a metadata request packet after an IP address is assigned to the DCN (e.g., by a DHCP server). In some embodiments, a metadata proxy server (1) receives the metadata request packets that are sent by different DCNs associated with different logical networks, (2) adds logical network identification data to the packets, and (3) forwards the packets to a metadata server.

Implementing logical metadata proxy servers in logical networks

A method of defining policy for a network virtualization platform of a data center is provided. The method receives a registration of one or more actions provided by each of a plurality of data center services. The method defines a policy template by receiving the identification of a set of data center resources and a set of actions registered by a set of data center services to be applied to each identified resource. The method instantiates the template into a set of policy instances that each includes an identification of one or more resources and identification of one or more actions identified in the policy template. The policy is then enforced by the set of data center services by applying the actions identified in each policy instance to the resources identified in the policy instance.

Policy definition and enforcement for a network virtualization platform

Some embodiments provide a method for configuring a logical router to exchange routing data with a neighboring router through a dynamic routing protocol. The logical router is implemented as multiple routing components. The method receives identification data for the neighboring router with which to peer the logical router. Based on the identification data, the method identifies a subset of the routing components to peer with the neighboring router. The method generates configuration data for each routing component in the identified subset. Each identified routing component uses the configuration data to exchange routing data with the neighboring router through the dynamic routing protocol.

Growing community of inventors

Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Minjal Agarwal