Overlay Network BUM Flooding via Pruned Tunnel Lists
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing overlay network technologies face inefficiencies in broadcast, unknown unicast, multicast packet (BUM) flooding, leading to unnecessary traffic and hardware overhead limitations, which restrict scalability and network performance due to the broadcasting of packets to all Network Virtualization Edge (NVE) structures regardless of intended targets.
Innovation Solution
A method is implemented where a first network virtualization edge structure in a data center underlay network generates an overlay encapsulated packet and sends it only to tunnel interfaces listed in a flooding interface list, reducing unnecessary BUM packet distribution to NVEs without virtual machines initialized for the overlay network, dynamically updating and pruning the list based on virtual machine presence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If BUM packets are flooded to all Network Virtualization Edge structures in the overlay network, then packet delivery coverage is ensured, but network bandwidth consumption increases and scalability is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the overlay network into multiple Virtual Machine Component (VMC) groups, where each NVE maintains a flooding interface list containing only the tunnel interfaces relevant to its local VMC group. This segmentation allows BUM packets to be flooded only within the local group rather than across the entire overlay network, reducing bandwidth consumption while maintaining reliable delivery within each segment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by making each NVE's flooding behavior adaptive to its local conditions. Each NVE dynamically maintains a flooding interface list that reflects the actual VMC groups present in its local network segment. This allows the flooding scope to be customized locally rather than applying a uniform global flooding approach, optimizing bandwidth usage while ensuring reliable delivery to all relevant destinations.
2Reliability
If BUM packets are flooded to all Network Virtualization Edge structures, then complete network coverage is achieved, but hardware overhead increases and scalability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the overlay network into local VMC groups and maintaining separate flooding interface lists at each NVE, the patent reduces the hardware overhead at individual devices. Each NVE only needs to track and forward BUM packets to interfaces relevant to its local group, rather than maintaining state for the entire network, thereby reducing memory and processing requirements while achieving complete coverage within each segment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic adaptation by allowing each NVE to dynamically update its flooding interface list based on the presence and absence of local VMC groups. When VMC groups are added or removed from the network, the flooding interface lists are automatically updated, enabling the system to adapt to changing network conditions without manual intervention, thus reducing hardware overhead while maintaining complete coverage.
3Productivity
If BUM packets are sent to all tunnel interfaces, then all virtual machines receive the packets, but unnecessary traffic is generated to NVEs without virtual machines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the packet delivery process by creating distinct flooding interface lists for different VMC groups. Each NVE determines which tunnel interfaces to forward BUM packets to based on its local VMC group membership. This segmentation ensures that packets are delivered completely to all relevant VMs while avoiding unnecessary traffic to NVEs that don't have VMs in the corresponding VMC group, as those interfaces are simply not included in the flooding list.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where NVEs monitor the presence of local VMC groups and dynamically adjust their flooding interface lists accordingly. This feedback loop ensures that flooding behavior reflects the actual network state, delivering packets completely to all VMs that need them while eliminating unnecessary traffic to NVEs without relevant VMs, thus optimizing both delivery completeness and traffic efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects provide optimized broadcast, unknown unicast, multicast packet (BUM) flooding. A flooding interface list is built for a network virtualization edge structure for an overlay network first virtual machine that includes one or more tunnel interfaces, one for each of a subset of the underlay network virtualization edge structures. In response to receiving a BUM packet from the first virtual machine at the first network virtualization edge structure, an overlay encapsulated packet is generated from the BUM packet and sent out to only those tunnel interfaces listed within the flooding interface list built for the virtual machine, thereby without sending to other network virtualization edge structures that do not have tunnel interfaces listed within the built flooding interface list.