NVO3 Multicast Forwarding via Designated Forwarder Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In all-active or active-active TES access scenarios, existing NVO3 networks face issues of IP address wasting and reduced forwarding efficiency due to the need for extensive IP address allocation and determination across multiple multihoming NVEs, particularly when handling multicast packets.
Innovation Solution
The method involves receiving a multicast packet, determining if the ingress port is the designated forwarder for the virtual overlay network ID, and encapsulating the packet with an extended NVO3 header carrying the VN ID and LAG ID, thereby avoiding unnecessary forwarding to local ports and reducing IP address usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If extensive IP address allocation is performed across multiple multihoming NVEs to ensure reliable multicast delivery, then TES reliability is improved, but IP address wasting increases and forwarding efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the multicast forwarding function by introducing a designated forwarder (DF) mechanism among multihoming NVEs. Instead of all NVEs performing full multicast forwarding, only the DF is responsible for forwarding multicast packets, while other NVEs discard received multicast packets. This segmentation eliminates redundant IP address allocation and reduces IP address wasting while maintaining reliable delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the multicast forwarding function from all multihoming NVEs and concentrates it in a single designated forwarder. By taking out the forwarding responsibility from non-DF NVEs, the system avoids the need for extensive IP address allocation across multiple NVEs, thereby reducing IP address wasting while preserving TES reliability through the centralized DF mechanism.
2Reliability
If multiple multihoming NVEs forward multicast packets to ensure reliability, then TES reliability is improved, but forwarding efficiency deteriorates due to redundant processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the multicast forwarding workload by designating a single DF among multihoming NVEs. Only the DF performs packet replication and forwarding operations, while other NVEs simply discard received multicast packets. This segmentation eliminates redundant forwarding processing across multiple NVEs, significantly improving forwarding efficiency while maintaining reliability through the DF's responsible forwarding to all TESs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the complex multicast forwarding processing from all multihoming NVEs and concentrates it in the designated forwarder. Non-DF NVEs are relieved of forwarding responsibilities and only perform simple packet reception and discarding. This extraction eliminates redundant processing operations across the network, thereby improving forwarding efficiency while the DF ensures reliable delivery to all TESs.
3Reliability
If all multihoming NVEs replicate and forward multicast packets, then multicast delivery completeness is improved, but device complexity increases due to split horizon mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the multicast delivery function by designating a single DF among multihoming NVEs. The DF is responsible for replicating and forwarding multicast packets to all TESs, while other NVEs simply discard received packets without complex forwarding logic. This segmentation eliminates the need for complex split horizon mechanisms at each NVE, reducing device complexity while maintaining complete multicast delivery through the DF's centralized forwarding.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the complex split horizon forwarding logic from all multihoming NVEs and concentrates it in the designated forwarder. Non-DF NVEs are relieved of complex forwarding decision-making and only perform simple packet discarding. The DF assumes responsibility for complete multicast delivery to all TESs. This extraction significantly reduces device complexity across the network while maintaining delivery completeness through the DF's responsible forwarding.
Data Source
AI summary
A first multihoming network virtualization edge (NVE) configured to receive a first multicast packet sent by a multihomed tenant end system (TES), acquire an ingress port of the first multicast packet and a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier (ID) of the first multicast packet, acquire a virtual overlay network (VN) ID of the first multicast packet according to the ingress port and the VLAN ID, determine whether the ingress port is a designated forwarder (DF) of the VN ID, encapsulate the first multicast packet with an extended NVO3 header when the ingress port is not the DF of the VN ID, and send the first multicast packet that is encapsulated with the extended NVO3 header to another NVE that includes a second multihoming NVE, where the extended NVO3 header carries the VN ID and a link aggregation group (LAG) ID that corresponds to the ingress port.