Converged Network Extension for Data Center Interconnect
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current solutions for interconnecting data centers to facilitate virtual machine mobility and storage-service transport require separate network equipment, leading to increased capital and operational expenditures for service providers, and do not efficiently manage traffic between data centers.
Innovation Solution
A converged network extension (CNE) device that treats a remote data center as a logical routing bridge, forwarding both Ethernet and Fibre Channel traffic via a lossless long-haul protocol, allowing for transparent transport of both traffic types between data centers and enabling VM mobility and SAN data transport with a single device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate network equipment is used for VM mobility and storage-service transport between data centers, then each traffic type can be handled with dedicated infrastructure, but capital expenditure and operational expenditure increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple network functions (VM mobility traffic and storage-service transport) into a single converged network infrastructure. The network switch handles both Ethernet-based VM traffic and Fibre Channel-based storage traffic through a unified architecture, eliminating the need for separate dedicated equipment for each traffic type while maintaining reliable transport for both.
Solution Approach 2:
The network switch is designed with multi-functionality to handle diverse traffic types simultaneously. It provides universal connectivity for both virtual machine mobility and storage service transport through a single device, reducing overall network equipment complexity while ensuring reliable dedicated paths for each traffic type.
2Device complexity
If a single converged device is used for both VM mobility and storage-service transport, then capital expenditure and operational expenditure are reduced, but the device must handle multiple traffic types simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The network switch implements universal functionality by integrating both Ethernet switching for VM mobility and Fibre Channel switching for storage services within a single device. This multi-functional design reduces equipment quantity while maintaining the ability to handle multiple traffic types with appropriate QoS and isolation mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The converged switch internally segments different traffic types into separate forwarding planes or virtual switching instances. This allows the single device to handle multiple traffic types simultaneously with dedicated resource allocation, ensuring that VM mobility traffic and storage-service transport are processed independently despite sharing the same physical infrastructure.
3Productivity
If switch size is increased to provide more bandwidth and versatility, then traffic capacity between data centers improves, but per-port cost increases due to loss of economy of scale
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple smaller switching functions into a single converged platform that achieves high throughput capacity. By consolidating VM mobility and storage service traffic handling in one device, the system achieves economies of scale while maintaining high bandwidth capacity for inter-data-center traffic.
Data Source
AI summary
One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch. The switch includes a first port configured to receive Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) traffic; a second port configured to receive Fiber Channel (FC) traffic; and a third port configured to transmit received TRILL or FC traffic based on a Fiber Channel over IP (FCIP) protocol.