A control apparatus and method for cross-device link aggregation

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of control device and method of cross-device link aggregation, control method includes: after local switch and opposite end switch establish TCP connection, hello message is sent to opposite end switch;Local switch receives the hello message of opposite end switch, checks opposite end switch information legal and with the MC-LAG information of local switch itself match after, enter MDS_READY state;Port-Group is configured on local switch and opposite end switch respectively, and Port-Group is added to MC-LAG group, and MC-LAG group id is same with Port-Group id;Local switch sends MC-LAG group info message to opposite end switch and advertises new MC-LAG group information, confirms that local switch and opposite end switch MC-LAG group all contain effective member port, and after the rate of both sides group port, duplex, self-negotiation nature are same, notify LACP module to re-use MC-LAG group information and establish port-channel by negotiation;Confirm LACP module to notify negotiation establishment success and local switch and opposite end switch have up group member port after, enter MGS_ACTIVE state, and issue drive rule and information synchronization.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of cross-device link aggregation technology, and specifically relates to a control device and method for cross-device link aggregation. Background Technology

[0002] MC-LAG (Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation Group) refers to a link aggregation group between multiple devices. It is a mechanism for implementing cross-device link aggregation, enabling link aggregation between multiple devices. In dual-homed access scenarios, it logically virtualizes two devices as a single device. The problems that MC-LAG solves include:

[0003] 1. Increase bandwidth; the bandwidth of the link aggregation interface is the sum of the bandwidths of all member interfaces.

[0004] 2. Improve reliability by forming a dual-active system, thereby improving link reliability to the device level;

[0005] 3. Load sharing: Within a link aggregation group, traffic load sharing can be achieved on the active links of multiple devices.

[0006] ICCP (Inter-Chassis Control Protocol) is a simple control protocol that runs between two neighboring devices in an MC-LAG system. It is based on the TCP / IP protocol and is used to ensure configuration matching, status maintenance, and information synchronization between the two devices.

[0007] MC-LAG is an extension of LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol). Currently, MC-LAG depends on the specific implementations of each manufacturer, and ICCP is usually used as the control protocol between devices.

[0008] The ICCP protocol relies on the reliable transmission of the underlying TCP protocol. RFC7275 defines several message formats (Multi-Chassis LACP (mLACP) Application TLVs) used by the MC-LAG control channel, but does not provide specific methods for the management and maintenance of the control channel. Summary of the Invention

[0009] The purpose of this invention is to provide a control device for cross-device link aggregation. Based on the ICCP protocol, a state-controllable MC-LAG control channel is designed and implemented. By adding an MC-LAG domain state machine and an MC-LAG group state machine in the two stages of MC-LAG formation, the problem of difficult management and maintenance of the MC-LAG control channel is solved.

[0010] The present invention also provides a control method for cross-device link aggregation.

[0011] The technical solution provided by this invention is as follows:

[0012] A control device for cross-device link aggregation, comprising:

[0013] An MC-LAG domain consists of two MC-LAG switches, which have the same MC-LAG domain ID.

[0014] An MC-LAG group consists of two Port-Groups with the same MC-LAG group ID on two switches within an MC-LAG domain.

[0015] The MC-LAG control link is used for MC-LAG protocol interaction and information synchronization.

[0016] The MC-LAG data link provides a trunk link for interconnecting two switches in the MC-LAG domain, used for forwarding service packets.

[0017] Preferably, the MC-LAG control link uses the extended ICCP protocol as the control link protocol.

[0018] A control method for cross-device link aggregation includes the following steps:

[0019] Step 1: After establishing a TCP connection with the peer switch, the local switch sends a hello message to the peer switch.

[0020] When the local switch receives a hello message from the peer switch, it checks that the peer switch information is valid and matches the local switch's own MC-LAG information, and then enters the MDS_READY state.

[0021] Step 2: Configure Port-Group on both the local switch and the peer switch, and add the Port-Group to the MC-LAG group. The MC-LAG group ID is the same as the Port-Group ID. The local switch sends an MC-LAG group info message to the peer switch to announce the new MC-LAG group information. After confirming that both the local switch and the peer switch have valid member ports in their MC-LAG groups, and that the port speed, duplex, and auto-negotiation properties of both groups are the same, the LACP module is notified to re-negotiate and establish the port-channel using the MC-LAG group information.

[0022] After confirming that the LACP module notification indicates successful negotiation and that both the local switch and the peer switch have up group member ports, the system enters the MGS_ACTIVE state and issues driver rules and information synchronization.

[0023] Preferably, the hello message carries information such as the local MC-LAG protocol version, MC-LAG domainid, MC-LAG domain priority, system id, and node id.

[0024] Preferably, in step one, the matching conditions for the MC-LAG information between the peer switch and the local switch include:

[0025] The Protocol Version and Domain ID must be the same.

[0026] Preferably, in step one, after checking that the peer switch information matches the local switch's own MC-LAG information, the method further includes: sequentially comparing MC-LAG domain priority and system id to elect the MC-LAG domain master and slave.

[0027] Preferably, in step two, the information synchronization process is as follows:

[0028] The local switch sends an MC-LAG sync message to the peer switch to synchronize MAC / ARP / ND table entries.

[0029] The beneficial effects described in this invention are:

[0030] This invention allows for real-time monitoring of the control channel's current status via the MC-LAG domain state machine and MC-LAG group state machine, providing a technical means for MC-LAG-related fault detection and troubleshooting, and effectively solving the problem of difficult management and maintenance of MC-LAG control channels. Attached Figure Description

[0031] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the basic components of the cross-device link aggregation control device described in this invention.

[0032] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the workflow of the MC-LAG domain state machine described in this invention.

[0033] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the workflow of the MC-LAG group state machine described in this invention. Detailed Implementation

[0034] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, so that those skilled in the art can implement it based on the description.

[0035] like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a control device for cross-device link aggregation, comprising:

[0036] Port-Group: A physical port group at the configuration level. Physical ports added to a Port-Group are aggregated and become a member port in a Port-Channel.

[0037] An MC-LAG domain consists of exactly two MC-LAG switches, and both switches have the same MC-LAG domain ID.

[0038] MC-LAG group: Within the same MC-LAG domain, two Port-Groups on different switches that have the same MC-LAG group ID form an MC-LAG group. The Port-Groups that make up an MC-LAG group elect a master and slave based on MC-LAG domain priority and system ID.

[0039] MC-LAG control-link: The MC-LAG control-link is used for MC-LAG protocol interaction and information synchronization. An extended ICCP protocol is used as the control link protocol.

[0040] MC-LAG data-link: The two switches in the MC-LAG domain are logically independent. The MC-LAG data-link provides an interconnecting trunk link between the two switches for forwarding service packets.

[0041] The formation of MC-LAG occurs in two stages:

[0042] 1. Establish an MC-LAG domain using two MC-LAG switches.

[0043] 2. Establish an MC-LAG group using two MC-LAG switches.

[0044] like Figure 2 As shown, the process of establishing the MC-LAG domain is as follows:

[0045] Enable the MC-LAG function on the switch and configure the domain ID, domain priority, and control link interface IP address.

[0046] As shown in Table 1, the local end attempts to establish a TCP connection with the peer. If the connection is successfully established, it begins sending hello messages to the peer. Upon receiving the peer's hello message, it checks whether the peer's information is valid and whether it matches its own MC-LAG information (Protocol Version and Domain ID must be consistent). If the peer's information is invalid or does not match, it sends a disconnect message to close the connection. If the checks pass, it compares the MC-LAG domain priority and system ID sequentially to elect the MC-LAG domain master and slave.

[0047] The MC-LAG hello message carries information such as the local MC-LAG protocol version, MC-LAG domain id (an extended field used to match MC-LAG information), MC-LAG domain priority (an extended field used for primary / standby election), system id, and node id. It includes the "mLACP Connect TLV" and "mLACP SystemConfig TLV" defined in RFC7275. The message format is defined as follows:

[0048] mLACP Connect TLV: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

[0050]

[0051] mLACP System Config TLV: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

[0053]

[0054] Table 1. Procedure for establishing the MC-LAG domain

[0055]

[0056]

[0057] like Figure 3As shown, the process of creating an MC-LAG group is as follows:

[0058] Configure a Port-Group on the switch, add the Port-Group to the MC-LAG group, with the MC-LAG group ID being the same as the Port-Group ID, send an MC-LAG group info message to the peer switch to announce the new MC-LAG group information, check the MC-LAG group information on both the local and peer ends, and enter the corresponding state according to the MC-LAG group state machine.

[0059] The MC-LAG group info message contains "mLACP Aggregator Config TLV", "mLACP Port Config TLV", and "mLACPPort State TLV" as defined in RFC7275. The message format is defined as follows:

[0060] mLACP Aggregator Config TLV: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

[0062]

[0063] mLACP Port Config TLV: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

[0065]

[0066] mLACP Port State TLV: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

[0068]

[0069] Table 2. Procedure for establishing an MC-LAG group

[0070]

[0071]

[0072] The MC-LAG sync message is used to synchronize MAC / ARP / ND table entries with the peer switch. This message is not defined in RFC7275; it is a custom proprietary message, and its message format is defined as follows: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

[0074]

[0075] This invention adds an MC-LAG domain state machine and an MC-LAG group state machine to the two stages of MC-LAG formation, respectively; expands the Domain ID and Domain Priority fields in the mLACP Connect TLV for MC-LAG information matching and primary / standby election, respectively; and adds an MC-LAG sync message for synchronizing MAC / ARP / ND table entries with the peer switch. The MC-LAG domain state machine and MC-LAG group state machine allow real-time monitoring of the control channel's current status, providing a technical means for MC-LAG-related fault detection and troubleshooting, and effectively solving the problem of difficult management and maintenance of MC-LAG control channels.

[0076] Although embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed above, they are not limited to the applications listed in the specification and embodiments. They can be applied to various fields suitable for the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other modifications can be easily made. Therefore, without departing from the general concept defined by the claims and their equivalents, the present invention is not limited to the specific details and illustrations shown and described herein.

Claims

1. A control method for cross-device link aggregation, characterized in that, The control devices used for cross-device link aggregation include: An MC-LAG domain consists of two MC-LAG switches, which have the same MC-LAG domain ID. An MC-LAG group consists of two Port-Groups with the same MC-LAG group ID on two switches within an MC-LAG domain. The MC-LAG control link is used for MC-LAG protocol interaction and information synchronization. The MC-LAG data link provides a trunk link for interconnecting two switches in the MC-LAG domain, used for forwarding service packets; The control method for cross-device link aggregation includes the following steps: Step 1: After establishing a TCP connection with the peer switch, the local switch sends a hello message to the peer switch. When the local switch receives a hello message from the peer switch, it checks that the peer switch information is valid and matches the local switch's own MC-LAG information, and then enters the MDS_READY state. Among them, the MDS_READY state is the MC-LAG domain state; Step 2: Configure Port-Group on both the local switch and the peer switch, and add the Port-Group to the MC-LAG group. The MC-LAG group ID is the same as the Port-Group ID. The local switch sends an MC-LAG group info message to the peer switch to announce the new MC-LAG group information. After confirming that both the local switch and the peer switch have valid member ports in their MC-LAG groups, and that the port speed, duplex, and auto-negotiation properties of both groups are the same, the LACP module is notified to use the MC-LAG group information to negotiate and establish a port-channel. After confirming that the LACP module has successfully established the negotiation and that both the local switch and the peer switch have up group member ports, the system enters the MGS_ACTIVE state and issues driver rules and information synchronization. Among them, the MGS_ACTIVE state is the MC-LAG group state, and the current state of the control channel can be viewed in real time through the MC-LAG domain state machine and the MC-LAG group state machine.

2. The control method for cross-device link aggregation according to claim 1, characterized in that, The hello message carries information such as the local MC-LAG protocol version, MC-LAG domain id, MC-LAG domain priority, system id, and node id.

3. The control method for cross-device link aggregation according to claim 2, characterized in that, In step one, the matching conditions for the MC-LAG information of the peer switch and the local switch include: The Protocol Version and Domain ID must be the same.

4. The control method for cross-device link aggregation according to claim 3, characterized in that, In step one, after checking that the peer switch information matches the local switch's own MC-LAG information, the process further includes: sequentially comparing MC-LAG domain priority and system id to elect the MC-LAG domain master and slave.

5. The control method for cross-device link aggregation according to claim 4, characterized in that, In step two, the information synchronization process is as follows: The local switch sends an MC-LAG sync message to the peer switch to synchronize MAC / ARP / ND table entries.

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