Virtual NIC Multicast Failover via IGMP Redirection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing network systems face bottlenecks in throughput and reliability due to increased processing speeds and decreased memory access times, particularly at device interfaces, which can be mitigated by employing redundant network resources and NIC teaming for fault tolerance and load balancing.
Innovation Solution
The method involves virtualizing physical ports into a single virtual NIC, validating network connectivity, and implementing failover techniques using Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) to redirect IP Multicast traffic flows to active ports, ensuring continuous connectivity and reliability without manual intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If NIC teaming is implemented with primary and standby ports, then reliability is improved through fault tolerance, but the standby port remains idle and throughput potential is not fully utilized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic port role assignment where NIC ports can transition between primary, secondary, and standby roles based on real-time operational status. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to optimize throughput by activating previously standby ports when needed, while maintaining reliability through automatic failover capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of NIC ports by adjusting their roles (primary/secondary/standby) and traffic flow assignments based on detected network conditions. This parameter change enables the standby port to become active and contribute to throughput when the primary port fails or becomes overloaded.
2Ease of operation
If multiple physical ports are virtualized into a single virtual NIC, then ease of operation is improved through simplified management, but device complexity increases due to virtualization overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple physical NIC ports into a single virtual NIC interface, presenting a unified management point to higher-level protocols and applications. This combining simplifies operation by allowing administrators to manage multiple physical interfaces through one logical interface, while the virtualization layer handles the complexity of port coordination, failover, and traffic distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual NIC acts as an intermediary layer between the physical NIC ports and the network stack. It mediates traffic flow, manages failover logic, and coordinates between multiple physical interfaces, thereby simplifying the interface presented to the operating system while managing the underlying complexity of multiple physical ports.
3Adaptability or versatility
If IGMP protocol is used for multicast traffic management, then adaptability is improved through protocol-based failover, but loss of time occurs during multicast group management operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring backup paths and maintaining IGMP group membership information in advance. When failover is needed, the virtual NIC can quickly switch to a standby port that already has the necessary IGMP memberships established, reducing the time penalty associated with protocol-based failover.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating a network computer system provides redundant Internet Protocol (IP) Multicast traffic flow on a group of physical ports and comprises virtualizing the group of physical ports into a single virtual Network Interface Controller (NIC), validating network connectivity in a logical group comprising at least one of the physical ports in the virtualized group, and responding to failure of a physical port that is actively receiving on an IP Multicast traffic flow by instigating failover of the actively received IP Multicast traffic flow to a physical port in the logical group with validated network connectivity.