Controller Link Aggregation Failover for Multi-Vendor Switches
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Solution Overview
Problem
Network switches from different vendors can be difficult to manage centrally due to incompatibilities in their operating systems and control protocols, and handling port failures across switches is inefficient, leading to suboptimal network resource utilization.
Innovation Solution
A centralized controller, such as a controller server or distributed controller, identifies port failures and updates link aggregation group mappings across switches to reroute traffic, ensuring that functioning ports are utilized effectively by modifying link aggregation tables and forwarding tables.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If switches are controlled using vendor-specific equipment and operating systems, then each switch can be configured and monitored, but centralized control across multi-vendor networks becomes difficult or impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized controller as an intermediary device that mediates between network administrators and multi-vendor switches. The controller communicates with switches from different vendors through standardized protocols, enabling centralized configuration, monitoring, and failure management without requiring vendor-specific equipment at each switch
Solution Approach 2:
The controller is designed with universal functionality to manage switches from multiple vendors simultaneously. It implements adaptability to work with different switch platforms and protocols while providing unified control capabilities, making the system versatile across heterogeneous network environments
2Reliability
If switches independently monitor their own ports and update their own link aggregation groups, then each switch can respond to local failures, but handling port failures at other switches leads to inefficient network resource utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The controller implements a feedback mechanism where switches report port status changes to the controller, which then analyzes the impact across the entire network and coordinates appropriate responses. This centralized feedback loop enables the controller to identify when ports at one switch fail and systematically update link aggregation groups at other switches to maintain optimal resource utilization
Solution Approach 2:
The controller pre-configures link aggregation group mappings and forwarding rules across switches before failures occur. When a port failure is detected, the controller can rapidly apply pre-planned failover configurations to other switches, minimizing disruption and maintaining efficient resource utilization without requiring complex real-time calculations at each switch
Data Source
AI summary
A network of switches having ports coupled to other switches or end hosts may be controlled by a controller. The controller may identify whether any switch ports have failed. In response to identifying that a port has failed at a first switch, the controller may modify link aggregation group mappings of the other switches to handle failover. The controller may modify the link aggregation group mapping of each other switch to include a first mapping that includes ports coupled to the first switch and a second mapping that does not include any ports coupled to the first switch. The controller may configure forwarding tables at the switches to forward network packets using the first or second mappings based on network topology information maintained by the controller.