Virtual Disk NIC Teaming via MAC Address Replacement
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in creating a virtual hard disk with network interface card (NIC) teaming capabilities that can function across different machines, as existing solutions fail due to differences in MAC addresses, leading to issues with NIC teaming software not being able to establish a team during boot time and hindering the virtual disk provisioning process.
Innovation Solution
The method involves identifying virtual protocol binding information associated with a NIC team and using it to identify all NICs within the team, allowing the virtual disk to retain NIC teaming capabilities without requiring matching MAC addresses, thus enabling the recreation of a NIC team across different machines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If NIC teaming software uses physical MAC addresses to identify NICs, then NIC teaming can be established on the provisioning server, but the virtual disk cannot be streamed to client machines with different MAC addresses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the virtual disk image beforehand to include a NIC teaming driver and configuration information before streaming. This preliminary action ensures that when the virtual disk is deployed to a client machine, the NIC teaming capability is already present and can automatically adapt to the client's physical NICs without requiring manual reconfiguration or matching specific MAC addresses.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the identification parameter from physical MAC addresses to a virtualized NIC team identifier. By modifying how NICs are identified within the virtual disk image - using a virtual team interface rather than physical hardware addresses - the system enables the same virtual disk to function across multiple client machines with different physical MAC addresses while maintaining NIC teaming capabilities.
2Reliability
If the virtual disk retains NIC teaming configuration with specific MAC addresses, then NIC teaming works on the provisioning server, but it fails to operate on client machines with different MAC addresses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtualized copy of the NIC teaming interface within the virtual disk image. Instead of copying specific physical MAC address configurations, the virtual disk contains a virtual NIC team driver that replicates the teaming functionality generically. This virtual copy can then map to any physical NICs on the client machine, enabling automatic adaptation without requiring exact MAC address matches.
3Reliability
If NIC teaming is configured with specific physical NIC details, then the team can be established on the provisioning server, but the virtual disk provisioning process is hindered due to MAC address differences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary modification of the virtual disk image to include generic NIC teaming configuration and the necessary driver before the provisioning process begins. This ensures that when the virtual disk is streamed to client machines, the NIC teaming capability is already present and can automatically adapt to the client's physical NICs without requiring manual reconfiguration or matching specific MAC addresses, thereby maintaining fast provisioning speeds.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system for modifying a virtual disk to provide network interface card (NIC) teaming capabilities to a virtual disk. The system can include a virtual disk that has access to one or more NICs. In some instances, the NICs are included in a NIC team that is also available to the virtual disk. A teaming module executing on a computer can identify the NIC team and responsively obtain a media access control (MAC) address of the NIC team. In response to obtaining the NIC team MAC address, the teaming module can obtain a network boot MAC address that was used to PXE boot the virtual disk. The teaming module can then replace the NIC team MAC address of each NIC in the NIC team with the obtained network boot MAC address. The system then boots from the virtual disk that has the modified NIC team configuration.