Inter-Cloud Communication via Gateway Tunneling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing inter-cloud communication solutions face challenges in achieving high availability and low communication costs, as they often require Layer 3 interworking and public IP addresses, leading to increased costs and inefficiencies due to the need for multiple tunnels and frequent re-establishment of connections.
Innovation Solution
An inter-cloud communication method that uses a tunneling mechanism between gateway nodes and computing nodes across clouds, allowing data packets to pass through only two hops – a gateway node in the destination cloud and the computing node where the virtual machine resides, thereby reducing communication overhead and eliminating the need for public IP addresses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If Layer 3 interworking and public IP addresses are used for inter-cloud communication, then communication between clouds is achieved, but communication costs increase and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway node as an intermediary between clouds. The gateway node receives data packets from source clouds, encapsulates them in tunnels, and forwards them to destination clouds. This intermediary mechanism enables Layer 2 communication without requiring public IP addresses, thereby reducing costs while maintaining reliability through the gateway's routing and encapsulation functions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements tunneling where data packets are encapsulated within tunnel structures. The tunnel contains the original packet along with additional header information for routing and identification. This nesting approach allows multiple communication layers to coexist, enabling efficient inter-cloud communication without requiring separate public IP address infrastructure for each cloud
2Reliability
If multiple tunnels are established for inter-cloud communication, then connectivity between clouds is ensured, but communication overhead increases and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway node serves multiple functions: it acts as a router for data packet forwarding, an encapsulator for tunnel creation, and a decoder for receiving packets. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated tunnel establishment mechanisms, reducing the number of tunnels required while maintaining reliable connectivity across clouds through a single unified gateway infrastructure
3Adaptability or versatility
If frequent re-establishment of connections is required, then adaptability to network changes is achieved, but communication time increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway node pre-establishes tunnel endpoints and routing information before actual data transmission occurs. The tunnel infrastructure is set up in advance with predetermined endpoints and paths, so when data needs to be transmitted, the gateway can immediately begin encapsulation and forwarding without requiring frequent re-establishment. This preliminary configuration maintains network adaptability while minimizing connection establishment time
Data Source
AI summary
An inter-cloud communication method, used to implement communication between two clouds, where virtual machines belonging to a same virtual network are created in the two clouds. A receive end cloud uses a gateway node as an entrance to external communication, and all data packets to be sent to a virtual machine in the receive end cloud are sent to the gateway node, thereby preventing a location change of the virtual machine from affecting a transmit end cloud. In addition, the data packet only needs to pass through the gateway node in the receive end cloud and a computing node on which the virtual machine that receives the data packet is located, that is, the data packet only needs two hops to reach a destination, thereby shortening a communication path, and improving inter-cloud communication efficiency.