Virtual cluster switching

a virtual cluster and switching technology, applied in the field of network design, can solve the problems of inability to grow the size of the switch infinitely, limited by physical space, power consumption, design complexity, etc., and achieve the effect of reducing the cost of switching

Inactive Publication Date: 2017-06-01
AVAGO TECH INT SALES PTE LTD
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a switching system that allows multiple switches to communicate with each other using different protocols. The switches can be connected in various ways, and the system appears to be a single switch from an external perspective. The switch system includes a control mechanism that automatically assigns identifiers to the switches and allows them to communicate with each other without requiring manual configuration. The system can also use a virtual cluster switch formed by combining physical switches in an arbitrary topology. The switch system also includes a MAC learning mechanism and a name service for managing MAC addresses and VLAN information. Overall, this invention provides improved flexibility, efficiency, and redundancy in network switching.

Problems solved by technology

However, the size of a switch cannot grow infinitely.
It is limited by physical space, power consumption, and design complexity, to name a few factors.
More importantly, because an overly large system often does not provide economy of scale due to its complexity, simply increasing the size and throughput of a switch may prove economically unavailable due to the increased per-port cost.
However, switch stacking requires careful configuration of the ports and inter-switch links.
The amount of required manual configuration becomes prohibitively complex and tedious when the stack reaches a certain size, which precludes switch stacking from being a practical option in building a large-scale switching system.
Furthermore, a system based on stacked switches often has topology limitations which restrict the scalability of the system due to fabric bandwidth considerations.

Method used

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Embodiment Construction

[0092]The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims.

Overview

[0093]In embodiments of the present invention, the problem of building a versatile, cost-effective, and scalable switching system is solved by running a control plane with automatic configuration capabilities (such as the Fibre Channel control plane) over a conventional transport protocol, thereby allowing a number of switches to be inter-connected to form a single, scalable logical s...

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Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch system. The switch includes one or more ports on the switch configured to transmit packets encapsulated based on a first protocol. The switch further includes a control mechanism. During operation, the control mechanism forms a logical switch based on a second protocol, receives an automatically assigned identifier for the logical switch without requiring manual configuration of the identifier, and joins a virtual cluster switch.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is national-phase application based on PCT international application PCT / US2011 / 034917, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Applications:[0002]61 / 330,678, filed 3 May 2010;[0003]61 / 333,666, filed 11 May 2010;[0004]61 / 334,945, filed 14 May 2010;[0005]61 / 345,953, filed 18 May 2010;[0006]61 / 349,603, filed 28 May 2010;[0007]61 / 350,838, filed 2 Jun. 2010;[0008]61 / 352,264, filed 7 Jun. 2010;[0009]61 / 352,255, filed 7 Jun. 2010;[0010]61 / 352,819, filed 8 Jun. 2010;[0011]61 / 352,776, filed 8 Jun. 2010;[0012]61 / 380,807; filed 8 Sep. 2010;[0013]61 / 380,803, filed 8 Sep. 2010;[0014]61 / 380,819, filed 8 Sep. 2010;[0015]61 / 380,818, filed 8 Sep. 2010;[0016]and U.S. Non-provisional Patent Applications;[0017]Ser. No. 13 / 042,259, filed 7 Mar. 2011; Ser. No.[0018]Ser. No. 13 / 087,239, filed 14 Apr. 2011; Ser. No.[0019]Ser. No. 13 / 092,752, filed 22 Apr. 2011; Ser. No.[0020]Ser. No. 13 / 092,460, filed 22 Apr. 2011; Ser. No.[0021]Ser. No. 13 / 092,724, f...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & AuthorityApplications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): H04L12/947H04L12/24H04L12/46H04L12/931H04L49/111
CPCH04L49/25H04L49/357H04L12/4633H04L49/70H04L41/0816H04L12/4641H04L49/30H04L49/65H04L12/4625
InventorVOBBILISETTY, SURESHCHATWANI, DILIPHARIS, SHIVKOGANTI, PHANIDHARGUNTAKA, VIDYASAGARA R.WILLEKE, JESSE B.NARAYANASAMY, SENTHILKUMAR
OwnerAVAGO TECH INT SALES PTE LTD