Gateway Pool Tunneling for Cross-Cluster Network Connectivity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes primarily focus on intra-cluster communication, lacking an efficient and streamlined approach for cross-cluster network connections, which limits the accessibility of applications and services across multiple clusters.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method for cross-cluster network connectivity by configuring gateway pools within each cluster, establishing tunnels between active gateway nodes using protocols like GENEVE, VXLAN, GRE, or L2TP, and utilizing a centralized storage for network information exchange to facilitate communication across clusters, with automated failure detection and replacement of failed gateways.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If container orchestration platforms focus on intra-cluster communication, then cluster internal communication efficiency is improved, but cross-cluster network connectivity and service accessibility are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network architecture by introducing dedicated gateway nodes in each cluster that are responsible for cross-cluster communication. These gateway nodes are separated from the regular worker nodes and handle all inter-cluster traffic, allowing the rest of the cluster to maintain efficient intra-cluster communication without being burdened by cross-cluster routing responsibilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces gateway nodes as intermediary components between clusters. These gateways act as mediators that establish connections (such as VXLAN tunnels) between different clusters, enabling service discovery and communication across clusters without requiring direct peer-to-peer connections between all nodes in different clusters.
2Reliability
If manual cross-cluster connection configuration is used, then network connectivity is established, but operational complexity and configuration time are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service automation where the container orchestration system automatically discovers services across clusters and configures gateway connections without manual intervention. The system uses service discovery mechanisms to automatically establish routing rules and tunnel configurations, eliminating the need for administrators to manually configure cross-cluster network connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring gateway nodes with necessary network interfaces, tunneling capabilities, and discovery protocols before cross-cluster communication is needed. This preparation allows the system to rapidly establish cross-cluster connections when services are deployed across multiple clusters, reducing configuration time.
3Reliability
If gateway failure detection and replacement is manual, then system reliability is maintained, but downtime and operational overhead are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous health monitoring of gateway nodes through feedback mechanisms that detect gateway failures in real-time. When a gateway becomes unresponsive or fails, the system receives feedback about the failure condition and automatically triggers replacement procedures by selecting alternative gateway nodes and reconfiguring routing tables, thereby maintaining system availability with minimal downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic gateway selection and failover capabilities where the system can dynamically switch between active and standby gateway nodes. This dynamic behavior allows the system to adapt to gateway failures by automatically redistributing traffic to healthy gateways, ensuring continuous operation without manual intervention or significant downtime.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for exchanging network information between member clusters include configuring a gateway pool of a member cluster, the gateway pool comprising a plurality of gateway nodes, the member cluster comprising the plurality of gateway nodes and one or more nodes, configuring a gateway node of the plurality of gateway nodes as an active gateway node for the member cluster, writing member cluster information to a storage, the member cluster information indicating address information of the gateway node, reading second member cluster information from the storage, the second member cluster information indicating address information of a gateway node of a second member cluster, establishing a tunnel between the gateway node and the second gateway node based on the second member cluster information, and communicating network traffic from at least one node of the member cluster to at least one node of the second member cluster via the tunnel.