Juniper Networks, Inc.

Sriram Raghunathan

Umesh Krishnaswamy

Rajagopalan Sivaramakrishnan

David Delano Ward

Mu Lin

Zi Zhou

Anurag P Gupta

Manoj Apte

Sameer Seth

Bharani Chadalavada

Wing Eng

Karthikeyan Ramasamy

Surinder Singh

Raj Tuplur

Yong Luo

Abbas Y Sakarwala

Wai Leung Chan

Jian Cui

Kaushik Das

Steve W Turner

Jeffrey M DiNapoli

Harmeet Sahni

Techniques are described for separating control plane functions in a network device using virtual machines. The techniques include initializing multiple virtual machine instances in a control unit of a standalone router, and running different control processes for the router in each of the virtual machines. For example, in a root system domain (RSD)-protected system domain (PSD) system, a control unit of the standalone router may support a RSD virtual machine (VM) and one or more PSD VMs configured to form logical devices and execute logically separate control processes without requiring physically separate, hardware-independent routing engines to form the PSDs. Each of the RSD VM and PSD VMs includes a separate kernel, an operating system, and control processes for the logical device. When a software failure occurs in the PSD VM, the PSD VM may perform a software failover without affecting the operation of the RSD VM.

Separation of control plane functions using virtual machines in network device

A multi-router system is described in which hardware and software components of one or more standalone routers can be partitioned into multiple logical routers. The multiple logical routers are isolated from each other in terms of routing and forwarding functions yet allow network interfaces to be shared between the logical routers. Moreover, different logical routers can share network interfaces without impacting the ability of any of the logical routers to be independently scaled to meet the bandwidth demands of the customers serviced by the logical router.

Multi-router system having shared network interfaces

A system includes a first device connected to a second device The first device includes a second node connected to a first node and the second device via a link, and includes a backup second node connected to the first node and the second device via another link. The first node is configured to receive, via the link or the other link, a group of packets (i.e., 'packets'), from the second device; display a first notification that the second node can be removed when the packets are received via only the other link; display a second notification indicating that the backup second node can be removed when the packets are received via only the link; and display a third notification indicating that neither the second node nor the backup second node can be removed when the packets are not received via only the link and via only the other link.

Detection of active nodes, safe node removal conditions, and cross-cabling conditions for maintenance operations within a multi-chassis routing matrix

State information is synchronized between a plurality of routing engines in a multi-chassis router according to a synchronization gradient. An example multi-chassis router is described that includes a primary routing engine and a standby routing engine in each chassis. According to the synchronization gradient, the primary routing engine of a control node updates state information on the standby routing engine of the control node prior to updating the primary routing engines of the other chassis. The primary routing engines of the other chassis update state information in respective standby routing engines prior to updating state information in consumers. If a primary routing engine fails, the corresponding standby routing engine assumes control of the primary routing engine's duties. Upon assuming control, a standby routing engine resumes updating state information without having to resend state information or interrupt packet forwarding.

Non-stop forwarding in a multi-chassis router

A multi-chassis router allows an administrator to deliver commands from a single interface. Additionally, the multi-chassis router presents a software image consistent with that of a standalone router and uses commands and configurations consistent with those used by a standalone router. The multi-chassis router automatically distributes, processes and responds to administrator commands a single unit, minimizing time required to administer the multi-chassis router. In effect, an administrator does not need to account for the multiple chassis configuration, and an administrator familiar with the control and commands for a standalone router can use that knowledge to effectively control the operation of the multi-chassis router.

Extending standalone router syntax to multi-chassis routers

A standalone router is integrated into a multi-chassis router. Integrating the standalone router into a multi-chassis router requires replacing switch cards in the standalone router with multi-chassis switch cards. The multi-chassis switch cards forward packets to a central switch card chassis for routing within the multi-chassis router. By incrementally replacing standalone switch cards with multi-chassis switch cards in the standalone router, packet forwarding performance is maintained during the integration.

Integration of an operative standalone router into a multi-chassis router

Growing community of inventors

Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Sriram Raghunathan