Service Virtual Machine Source Location Identification via VTEP Label
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Solution Overview
Problem
In service chaining topology, determining the location of a source host that hosts a source Guest Virtual Machine (GVM) is challenging for Service Virtual Machines (SVMs), as existing methods like periodic broadcasts are inefficient and bandwidth-demanding.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves using a source-VTEP-label approach, where SVMs learn and carry a unique label assigned to the Virtual Tunnel Endpoint (VTEP) of the source GVM, allowing them to encapsulate packets with this label, enabling the last SVM in the chain to determine the source host's location and return the packet effectively without generating periodic broadcasts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If periodic broadcasts or RARP messages are used to learn the source GVM location, then the SVMs can determine the source host location, but the network bandwidth is excessively consumed and the method is inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The source host location information (specifically the VTEP label) is embedded into the packet header at the source end before the packet enters the service chain. This preliminary action eliminates the need for subsequent broadcast messages or RARP requests to discover the source location, as the information is already available in the packet itself when reached by the last SVM.
Solution Approach 2:
A VTEP label acts as an intermediary that carries the source host location information through the service chain. Instead of using bandwidth-intensive broadcast messages or RARP protocols, the packet itself is modified to include this label, which serves as a compact carrier of location data that can be processed efficiently by SVMs without additional network traffic.
2Ease of operation
If the last SVM needs to return the serviced packet to the source host, then the source host location must be determined, but determining the location is difficult when the source GVM is on a different host than the SVMs
Solution Approach 1:
The VTEP label containing source host location information is预先 embedded in the packet header by the source host or network infrastructure before the packet reaches the service chain. This preliminary action simplifies the return operation, as the last SVM can directly use this pre-provided label to route the packet back without needing to perform complex location discovery or maintain complex state information about source host positions.
3Loss of information
If periodic broadcasts are generated to find the GVM's host, then the source host location can be discovered, but the method is inefficient and bandwidth-demanding
Solution Approach 1:
The source host location information is extracted from the broadcast/RARP message paradigm and embedded directly into the data packet itself as a VTEP label. This extraction eliminates the need for separate discovery protocols, as the location information travels with the packet through the service chain, improving network efficiency by consolidating control and data plane operations.
Data Source
AI summary
In an embodiment, a computer-implemented method provides mechanisms for identifying a source location in a service chaining topology. In an embodiment, a method comprises: determining, at an egress interface of a host that hosts a virtual machine (“VM”), whether a service plane MAC address (“spmac”) in a packet header of a packet, provided to the egress interface, is the same as an inner destination MAC address in the packet; in response to determining that the spmac in the packet header of the packet, provided to the egress interface, is the same as the inner destination MAC address in the packet: encapsulating the packet with a destination virtual tunnel endpoint (“VTEP”) address retrieved from a mapping of VTEP-labels onto VTEP addresses; and causing providing the packet from the egress interface of the host that hosts the VM to a source host that hosts a source guest virtual machine (“GVM”).