Tunnel Packet Routing for Overlapping Network Segments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Network connectivity issues arise when network segments of hosts in different environments overlap, causing service packets to be discarded or abnormal during routing, particularly in scenarios involving virtual private clouds and public networks.
Innovation Solution
Implement a packet processing method using tunneling technology to establish tunnels between networks with conflicting network segments, enabling the cloud management platform to manage infrastructure and route service packets through NAT gateways via tunnel encapsulation and decapsulation, ensuring accurate IP address translation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional routing is used without tunneling, then network configuration is simple, but network connectivity fails when network segments overlap between different environments
Solution Approach 1:
A tunnel gateway is introduced as an intermediary device between the first network and second network. The tunnel gateway establishes a tunnel connection that encapsulates packets from the first network, enabling reliable communication even when network segments overlap. This mediator resolves the routing conflict by providing an alternative path that bypasses the overlapping network segment issue.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimension of tunneling technology to solve the two-dimensional network routing problem. By adding the tunnel layer as an additional network dimension, packets can be transmitted through an encapsulated channel that is independent of the underlying overlapping network segments, thus resolving the connectivity issue without modifying the original network structures.
2Reliability
If tunnel encapsulation is implemented to resolve network segment conflicts, then network connectivity is improved, but packet processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tunnel gateway performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing tunnel connections and configuring routing rules before actual data transmission. This includes setting up the encapsulation/decapsulation processes in advance, so that when packets need to be transmitted across overlapping network segments, the complex processing has already been prepared and configured, reducing the perceived complexity during operation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If NAT gateway is used for address translation, then network address translation function is provided, but service packets are discarded or abnormal when network segments overlap
Solution Approach 1:
The tunnel gateway acts as a mediator between the NAT gateway and the overlapping networks. It encapsulates packets before they reach the NAT gateway, preventing the NAT gateway from discarding them due to network segment conflicts. The tunnel gateway adds an outer layer with different addressing that does not conflict with the overlapping network segments, allowing packets to pass through the NAT gateway successfully.
Solution Approach 2:
By introducing tunneling as an additional network dimension, the patent creates a new addressing layer that operates independently of the conflicting network segments. The tunnel encapsulation adds outer headers with source and destination addresses at the tunnel level, which do not overlap with the inner network segment addresses, thus resolving the reliability issue while maintaining NAT functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A packet processing method based on a tunneling technology including: a cloud management platform obtains first tunnel information, where the first tunnel information includes a first tunnel destination IP address, and the first tunnel destination IP address is an IP address of a gateway; the cloud management platform establishes a first tunnel between a first network and the gateway based on the first tunnel information, a service packet generated in a running process of a first host is transmitted to the gateway through the first tunnel, and a destination IP address of the service packet is an IP address of a second host, where the first host is deployed in the first network, the second host is deployed in a second network, and a network address conflict exists between the first network and the second network.