Overlay Tunnel State Detection via Encapsulation Header Heartbeats
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for detecting tunnel health in overlay networks introduce significant network traffic due to the need for heartbeat messages between all hypervisor pairs, which can lead to inefficiencies and increased traffic.
Innovation Solution
The system inserts heartbeat messages into the encapsulation headers of packets already being sent through the tunnel, allowing for tunnel state detection without adding extra packets, thereby minimizing network traffic and using timers to ensure timely response messages are sent without increasing packet transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If heartbeat messages are sent between all hypervisor pairs to check tunnel health, then tunnel state detection reliability is improved, but network traffic increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the heartbeat message with the existing data packet by inserting the heartbeat indicator and sequence number into the encapsulation header of the data packet. This combines the tunnel health check function with the data transmission function, so that a single packet serves both purposes without requiring separate heartbeat messages between all hypervisor pairs
Solution Approach 2:
The encapsulation header is designed to serve multiple functions: it carries the original data packet information, includes the heartbeat indicator for health check, and contains the sequence number for ordering. This multi-functional design allows the same packet structure to perform both data transmission and tunnel state detection
2Adaptability or versatility
If individual sessions are created for each hypervisor pair to enable communication, then communication capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tunnel state detection into per-packet operations rather than per-session operations. By processing heartbeat indicators individually at the packet level using sequence numbers, the system avoids the complexity of managing individual sessions for each hypervisor pair while maintaining the ability to detect tunnel health
Data Source
AI summary
A method inserts a request message in a first encapsulation header that encapsulates a first packet from a data compute node of a first host to form a first encapsulated packet. The first encapsulation header identifies a first address of a first tunnel endpoint in the first host and a second address of a second tunnel endpoint in the second host. The method then sends the first encapsulated packet through a tunnel via the first address of the first tunnel endpoint to the second address of the second tunnel endpoint. If a second encapsulated packet is received at the first tunnel endpoint in the first host from the second tunnel endpoint in the second host and includes a response message, the method records information for the tunnel based on the sending of the request message and the receiving of the response message.