Cloud Bridge VLAN Tagging for VM Migration
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in seamlessly transitioning virtual machines between data centers, particularly from traditional premise data centers to cloud-based data centers while maintaining configuration settings and ensuring seamless communication across the public Internet, as existing solutions struggle with maintaining VLAN configurations and efficient data transfer.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of network appliances that create a bridge or tunnel between data centers, enabling communication by detecting new MAC addresses, encapsulating and decapsulating Ethernet frames, and tagging VLAN information, allowing for the seamless integration of multiple virtual LANs across cloud bridges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If virtual machines are moved between data centers, then flexibility and resource utilization improve, but maintaining configuration settings and communication becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces cloud bridges as intermediary devices that facilitate communication between data centers. These bridges automatically detect new MAC addresses, encapsulate Ethernet frames, and manage VLAN tagging to maintain network connectivity and configuration consistency during virtual machine migration between premise and cloud data centers
2Reliability
If VLAN tagging is implemented across cloud bridges, then network segmentation and security improve, but packet processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements nested VLAN tagging where multiple VLAN identifiers are encapsulated within each other across cloud bridges. The outermost VLAN tag is processed first, allowing hierarchical network segmentation while managing complexity through structured encapsulation rather than flat multi-tag processing
3Productivity
If multiple VLANs are multiplexed over a single tunnel, then bandwidth efficiency improves, but packet routing decisions become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments packet routing decisions by processing VLAN tags in reverse order of nesting, with the outermost tag determining the primary routing path. This allows multiple VLANs to be multiplexed over a single tunnel while maintaining simple, hierarchical routing logic that doesn't require complex multi-dimensional routing tables
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for supporting multiple virtual LANs (VLANs) via a single tunnel between intermediary devices. A first intermediary device of a first data center on a first network receives, from a second intermediary device of a second data center on a second network, an encapsulated packet via a tunnel established between the first intermediary device and the second intermediary device, the first intermediary device comprising a plurality of network interfaces, each network interface of the plurality of network interfaces interfacing to a corresponding virtual LAN (VLAN) network of a plurality of VLAN networks. The first intermediary device detects that the encapsulated packet has been tagged with virtual LAN (VLAN) information by the second intermediary device. The first intermediary device identifies, from the VLAN information, a VLAN network of the plurality of VLAN networks. The first intermediary device transmits a packet of the encapsulated packet via the network interface corresponding to the identified VLAN network.