SRV6 Service Chain Failover Using Secondary SID Bypass
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Solution Overview
Problem
In service chain technologies, traffic interruption occurs when a link between a service function forwarder (SFF) and a service function (SF) is faulty, particularly in scenarios where the SF is unaware of segment routing (SR), leading to unreliable service delivery.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a secondary segment identifier (SID) to update the destination address field of a packet, allowing it to be bypassed to another service function forwarder (SFF) in a protection group, thereby preventing traffic interruption due to link faults and enhancing service chain reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a service function forwarder (SFF) uses a single link to connect to a service function (SF), then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability of service delivery deteriorates due to traffic interruption when the link is faulty
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-configures multiple SFFs in a protection group and establishes backup forwarding paths before any fault occurs. When a link fault is detected, the system can immediately switch to the pre-established backup path without complex real-time decision-making, thus maintaining reliability while keeping device complexity low.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a protection group mechanism that acts as an intermediary layer between the SFF and SF. This protection group manages the backup paths and fault detection, shielding the core forwarding logic from complex reliability management while ensuring service continuity through coordinated failover.
2Reliability
If a secondary SID mechanism is implemented for fault protection, then the reliability of service chain is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional SIDs and protection groups
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the secondary SID mechanism to serve multiple purposes: it identifies backup SFFs, indicates protection group membership, and enables fast failover. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate mechanisms for each purpose, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving comprehensive reliability improvement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses parameter changes in the SID structure (adding secondary SID values) to encode protection group information and backup path identifiers. By leveraging existing routing parameters rather than introducing entirely new signaling mechanisms, the patent achieves reliability enhancement with minimal impact on device complexity.
3Reliability
If multiple SFFs are configured in a protection group, then the service chain reliability is improved through alternative paths, but the device complexity increases due to additional configuration and management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the management of multiple SFFs into a unified protection group structure. All SFFs in the protection group share common configuration parameters and management policies, allowing the system to handle multiple backup paths through a single management interface rather than individually configuring each path, thus limiting the increase in device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
This application provides a service chain fault protection method, an apparatus, a device, a service chain fault protection system, and a storage medium, and relates to the field of communications technologies. In this application, in an SRV6 static service chain scenario, when a link between an SF network element and an SFF accessed by the SF network element is faulty, a secondary SID is introduced to update a destination address field of a packet header of a packet to the secondary SID, so that the packet is bypassed, based on the secondary SID, to another SFF accessed by the SF network element, thereby implementing fault protection in the link between the SFF and the SF network element.