Distributed Storage Card for Network Session Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Intermediate network devices face significant memory demands when monitoring packet flow state information due to the increasing number of network sessions, leading to processing resource diversion and potential scalability issues as they need to store and manage large amounts of data for tens of millions of packet flows.
Innovation Solution
A distributed storage system is implemented, where a storage card stores network session state information for all sessions, both current and previous, and each service processing card (SPC) has a cache for recently used data, with a switch fabric facilitating efficient access, reducing the need for increased local memory in SPCs and allowing for scalable storage upgrades at lower costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If intermediate network devices store packet flow state information for all monitored packet flows in local memory, then complete session monitoring capability is achieved, but memory consumption increases tremendously and processing resources are diverted to memory management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage system into two parts: a distributed storage system for long-term session state information and local cache memory in service processing cards for recently accessed information. This segmentation allows the network device to maintain complete monitoring capability while reducing the memory burden on individual processing units by distributing storage across multiple components.
2Productivity
If intermediate network devices increase local memory capacity to monitor more packet flows, then monitoring capacity increases, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a distributed storage system as an intermediary between service processing cards and packet flows. This intermediary handles the storage and retrieval of session state information, allowing service processing cards to focus on processing tasks while the distributed storage system manages the complexity of storing and retrieving information for tens of millions of packet flows.
3Speed
If service processing cards store session data locally for quick access, then processing speed improves, but local memory demand increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing each service processing card with a cache that stores session data for recently accessed packet flows. This local cache enables fast processing for active sessions while the distributed storage system handles less frequently accessed data, creating a hierarchy that optimizes both speed and memory efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
In one example, a network device includes a network interface that receives a packet, a storage card that stores session data for monitored network sessions, a plurality of service processing cards that process packets of respective subsets of the network sessions, wherein each of the service processing cards comprises a respective memory to store session data for the respective subset of the network sessions processed by the corresponding service processing card, and a switch fabric coupled to the network interface, the storage card, and the plurality of service processing cards. One or more of the plurality of service cards process the received packet based on the session data stored by the storage card. The one or more of the plurality of service cards retrieve the session data for the network session to which the packet corresponds from the storage card and store the retrieved session data in the respective memory.