941 results about "Link aggregation" patented technology

A system and method for virtual link aggregation for combining network links of various types and speeds to increase throughput and reliability for packetized transport. In contrast with physical port trunking, the system does not require direct control over ports or network interfaces. Instead, the system rewrites packet addresses and works through existing networking equipment, without requiring any new or special protocols, processing, or equipment within the network. The system works through low-level rerouting by rewriting hardware addresses and / or high-level routing by rewriting logical addresses. Thus packets are redirected through multiple routes to a common destination via alternate gateways and links. Different algorithms may be employed to balance the load on each link and determine an optimal route for each packet. Embodiments may also employ packet flow or stream identification and thereby only provide link aggregation for a specified set of packet flows.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch. The switch includes a link aggregation module and a link management module. The link aggregation module establishes a virtual link aggregation group comprising a plurality of links coupled to the switch and one or more other switches. The plurality of links includes a first and a second sets of links coupling a first and a second end devices, respectively. The link management module determines a current mode which indicates which of the sets of links is currently active, and operates the first and the second sets of links as active and standby links, respectively, for the virtual link aggregation group based on the current mode and a port role for a port participating in the virtual link aggregation group. The port role indicates whether the port is coupled to an active link or a backup link.

Methods, apparatus, and products for routing frames in a shortest path computer network for a multi-homed legacy bridge, wherein the network includes a plurality of bridges. At least two of the plurality of bridges operate as edge bridges through which the frames ingress and egress the network. A first edge bridge identifies a legacy bridge nickname for a legacy bridge connected to the network through the first edge bridge and a second edge bridge using active-active link aggregation. The first bridge receives a frame from the legacy bridge and determines, in dependence upon the frame's destination node address, an egress bridge nickname for a third bridge through which a destination node connects to the network. The first bridge then adds the legacy bridge nickname and the egress bridge nickname to the frame and routes the frame to the third bridge in dependence upon the egress bridge nickname.

A maintenance entity for an Ethernet Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) domain. The maintenance entity comprises a port definer module and a connection which is connected to a group of aggregated link. The port definer module examines a designated link of the group by forwarding CFM messages via the designated link.

A data transmission device 10 serving as a traffic distribution control device is a device which, in order to distribute traffic across a plurality of physical ports composing a logical port for link aggregation, uses a hash function to calculate a hash value from a destination address and a source address of a receive packet, and determines a destination physical port. The traffic distribution control device includes a measuring unit 13 that measures an output flow rate of a packet outputted from each of the plurality of physical ports; a calculating unit 14 that calculates a flow rate ratio between the plurality of physical ports with respect to the measured output flow rates; and a first control unit 12 that feeds the calculated flow rate ratio back to a bandwidth distribution ratio between the plurality of physical ports to change numerical allocation of hash values for determining the destination physical port.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch capable of processing software-defined data flows. The switch includes an identifier management module and a flow definition management module. During operation, the identifier management module allocates a logical identifier to a link aggregation port group which includes a plurality of ports associated with different links. The flow definition management module processes a flow definition corresponding to the logical identifier, applies the flow definition to ports in the link aggregation port group, and update lookup information for the link aggregation port group based on the flow definition.

Aggregation Switches connected to an edge node by a multi-chassis link aggregation group, wherein the Aggregation Switches are connected by a virtual fabric link that provides a connection for exchange of information between the Aggregation Switches regarding MAC addressing to synchronize MAC address tables.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch. The switch includes a forwarding mechanism and a control mechanism. During operation, the forwarding mechanism forwards frames based on their Ethernet headers. The control mechanism operates the switch in conjunction with a separate physical switch as a single logical switch and assigns a virtual switch identifier to the logical switch, wherein the virtual switch identifier is associated with a link aggregation group.

Aggregation Switches connected via a virtual fabric link (VFL) are each active and each coupled to a multi-chassis link aggregate group (MC-LAG), which is assigned to a multi-chassis link aggregate group virtual local area network (MC-LAG VLAN). A virtual Internet Protocol (IP) interface is allocated to the MC-LAG VLAN and configured on both Aggregation Switches

Aggregating links across multiple chassis is disclosed. An indication that one or more local links are to be aggregated with one or more links on another chassis is received. Coordination with the other chassis is performed, via an inter-chassis control path, to present to a downstream equipment as an aggregated group of links the one or more local links and the one or more links on the other chassis.

The present application is directed towards systems and methods for providing link management in a multi-core system. In some embodiments, the present application describes solutions for managing address resolution in IPv4 networks in a multi-core system. In other embodiments, the present application describes solutions for managing neighbor discovery in IPv6 networks in a multi-core system. In still other embodiments, the present application describes solutions for managing network bridging in a multi-core system. In yet other embodiments, the present application describes solutions for managing link aggregation in a multi-core system. And in still other embodiments, the present application describes solutions for managing virtual routers in a multi-core system.

A network node or corresponding method of performing link aggregation reduces a number of Content Addressable Memory (CAM) entries required to make a forwarding decision for a given ingress flow, reducing cost, size, and power consumption of the CAM and accompanying static RAM. In one embodiment, an ingress flow is mapped to an egress flow identifier. Subsequently, the egress flow identifier is mapped to a member of an aggregated group associated with an egress interface based on information available in a given ingress flow. Finally, the given ingress flow is forwarded to the member of the aggregated group associated with the egress interface. A hashing technique or two lookups may be used alone or in combination in mapping the ingress flow to the egress flow identifier to reduce CAM memory usage.

Aggregation Switches connected via a virtual fabric link (VFL) are each active and able to perform at least limited IP multicast snooping. The resulting IP multicast snooping information is maintained internally within each Aggregation Switch and shared substantially in real-time therebetween via the VFL.

A system and method detects and responds to failures occurring in a virtual switch. The virtual switch is formed from two or more physical switches interconnected by a Virtual Switch Link (VSL). One physical switch is elected the Master, and it executes a link aggregation protocol for the virtual switch. If the VSL fails, one of the other physical switches assumes that it should become the Master for the virtual switch, and it begins executing the link aggregation protocol. By adding information unique to the physical switches in the control packets of the link aggregation protocol, remote switches can identify when the VSL fails, and report this condition to the original Master. In response, the original Master or the new Master takes corrective action.

Various embodiments are described herein that provide a network system comprising a first network element coupled to a network and a second network element directly coupled to the first network element. The first network element and the second network element are to connect to form a link aggregation group. The system additionally includes a network management device including a control agent, where the control agent is configured to configure the link aggregation group as a logical virtual tunnel end point (VTEP) of a virtual local area network (VLAN).

A method is implemented by a network element to improve load sharing for a link aggregation group by redistributing data flows to less congested ports in a set of ports associated with the link aggregation group. The network element receives a data packet in a data flow at an ingress port of the network element. A load sharing process is performed to select an egress port of the network element. A check is whether the selected egress port is congested. A check is made whether a time since a previous data packet in the data flow was received exceeds a threshold value. A less congested egress port is identified in the set of ports. A flow table is updated to bind the data flow to the less congested egress port and the data packet is forwarded to the less congested egress port.

The present invention provides network interface monitoring and management that may be employed with link aggregation technologies. Multiple network interfaces may be aggregated into a single bond and data may be transferred to and from a backbone network via this aggregated bond. A link aggregation monitor employs a heartbeat generator, sniffer and data store to keep track of health and availability of network interfaces. The heartbeat generator sends heartbeats to the network interfaces, which pass the heartbeats around in a token ring configuration. If a network interface fails or otherwise goes offline, detection of this condition causes the monitor and heartbeat generator to prepare new or modified heartbeats so that data may be efficiently and accurately routed around the token ring and health of all remaining alive interfaces can be monitored properly. If a network interface re-enters or is added to the aggregate bond, new / modified heartbeats are then employed.

A pair of aggregation switches is connected to an edge node by a multi-chassis link aggregation group, wherein the aggregation switches are connected by a virtual fabric link (VFL) for exchange of information between the Aggregation Switches. The VFL includes a plurality of subsets of VFL physical links, wherein each subset is connected to a different pair of network interface modules on the Aggregation Switches. Traffic distribution across the plurality of subsets of VFL physical links is based on destination hardware device information in a pre-pended header of packets and / or based on a load balancing identifier in the pre-pended header.

An extension of a Link Aggregation Protocol (LAP) over the network allows current Ethernet point-to-point LAPs to operate across a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). A maximum disjoint path algorithm allows selection of a plurality of alternative end-to-end physical routes between two data terminals. These physical routes share a minimum number of nodes and physical links. End-to-end logical links are then formed by a plurality of successive physical links between nodes containing protocol compatible devices, the physical links being selected based on their physical characteristics such as bandwidth and delay. Multiple logical links can be provisioned, without dedicating, between any two data terminals over the network. The logical links provide the virtual point-to-point links that the edge LAP devices require. The extension of LAP / s over the network provides increased availability because a network failure can now be propagated to the edge of the network to allow the edge LAP devices to quickly react to the failure.

Each of first and second bridges of a data network having respective links to an external node implement a network bridge component that forwards traffic inside the data network and a virtual bridge component that forwards traffic outside of the data network. A virtual bridge is formed including the virtual bridge components of the first and second bridges and an interswitch link (ISL) between the virtual bridge components of the first and second bridges. Data frames are communicated with each of multiple external network nodes outside the data network via a respective one of multiple link aggregation groups all commonly supported by the virtual bridge.

A data packet is received at a network switch. The packet has a destination address that is reached via a Link Aggregation group on a virtual local area network (VLAN). A forwarding database lookup is performed to determine a Link Aggregation port reference number for the data packet on the VLAN. A Link Aggregation port table is then searched to determine the primary Link Aggregation port and a backup Link Aggregation port for forwarding the packet. A port array for ports in the Link Aggregation group is searched to determine if the primary Link Aggregation port is valid. If the primary port is valid, then the packet is forwarded on the primary Link Aggregation port. If the primary port is not valid, then the packet is forwarded on the backup Link Aggregation port.

A method for processing data packets in a communication network includes establishing a path for a flow of the data packets through the communication network. At a node along the path having a plurality of aggregated ports, a port is selected from among the plurality to serve as part of the path. A label is chosen responsively to the selected port. The label is attached to the data packets in the flow at a point on the path upstream from the node. Upon receiving the data packets at the node, the data packets are switched through the selected port responsively to the label.

A system and method of transmitting data across a link aggregation group, the method comprises: receiving a packet sourced from a client having a MAC header and an IP header at an input port of a first upstream switch for transmission from the first upstream switch along a link aggregation and at least two down stream switches to a server, said MAC header having a Destination MAC address and a Source MAC address, and the IP header having a Source IP address and a Destination IP address; changing the destination MAC address from a down stream destination to another down stream destination; sending the packet through a first link aggregation to a first down stream switch; using a hash calculation for changing the Source MAC address of the packet in the first down stream switch to a new address; sending the packet through a second link aggregation to a second down stream switch having an address; and sending the packet from the second down stream switch to a server having a server address.

Various embodiments are described herein that provide a network system comprising a set of peers within a link aggregation group (LAG), the first set of peers including a first network element and a second network element and a status resolution server to connect to the set of peers within the link aggregation group, wherein one or more peers within the LAG is to query the status resolution server to determine an operational status of a peer in the set of peers in response to detection of an apparent failure of the peer.

The present disclosure describes systems and methods for propagating port state to intermediary devices of a cluster in a static link aggregation environment. The methods and systems include a cluster comprising a plurality of intermediary devices in communication with a network device via a static link aggregation comprising aggregated ports from different intermediary devices of the cluster. A first device of the static link aggregation is configured to detect that a health of the first device is below a predetermined threshold and, responsive to the detection, identify one or more ports in the aggregated ports as down. A second device of the link aggregation is configured to, responsive to the identification, remove the ports from a distribution list for the static link aggregation. Upon detection that a health of a device is above a predetermined threshold, the first device may identify the ports as up.

A switch of a data network implements both a bridge and a virtual bridge. In response to receipt of a data frame by the switch from an external link, the switch performs a lookup in a data structure using a source media access control (SMAC) address specified by the data frame. The switch determines if the external link is configured in a link aggregation group (LAG) and if the SMAC address is newly learned. In response to a determination that the external link is configured in a LAG and the SMAC address is newly learned, the switch associates the SMAC with the virtual bridge and communicates the association to a plurality of bridges in the data network.

Traffic engineering using a label-switching protocol is enhanced for label-switched paths that traverse a logical link that is an aggregation of component links. In one embodiment, a label edge router is provided with information regarding the bandwidth capabilities and loading of the component links of a LAG. The label edge router is then allowed to set up paths that traverse a specific component link of a LAG, and reserve bandwidth on such a component link. Other traffic may continue to be distributed across the LAG membership.

Aggregation switches are connected to an edge node by a multi-chassis link aggregation group and a virtual fiber link provides a connection for exchange of information between the aggregation switches regarding MAC addressing to synchronize MAC address tables across the aggregation switches. When failure of the virtual fiber link is detected, the multi-chassis link aggregation group is reconfigured into two or more link aggregates with each link aggregate connecting the edge node to one of the aggregation switches. A spanning tree protocol is initiated over the link aggregates to prevent loops in the network. MAC address tables are flushed and relearned with the two or more link aggregates.