VXLAN Policy Encoding for Preserving TSI Group IDs Across Data Centers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current techniques for preserving group-based policies in network virtualization overlays fail to retain the tenant system interface (TSI) group identifier during packet transmission between data centers, leading to resource consumption and poor user experience due to the inability to apply associated policies.
Innovation Solution
Encoding the source TSI group identifier into a tag protocol identifier and a group-based policy identifier within the payload of a VXLAN packet, which is then transmitted via an EVPN MPLS network, allowing the identifier to be preserved and applied at the destination data center.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the TSI group identifier is not encoded into the VXLAN packet, then the packet header remains simple and processing is faster, but the identifier is lost during transmission between data centers and policies cannot be applied
Solution Approach 1:
The TSI group identifier is nested within the VXLAN packet by encoding it into the Tag Protocol Identifier (TPID) and Group-Based Policy Identifier (GBP-Id) fields. This nesting allows the identifier to be carried within the existing packet structure without adding external overhead, resolving the contradiction between information preservation and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter representation of the TSI group identifier by encoding it into two separate fields (TPID and GBP-Id) rather than using a single field. This parameter transformation allows the identifier to be preserved during transmission while maintaining compatibility with existing VXLAN packet processing mechanisms.
2Loss of information
If the TSI group identifier is encoded into the VXLAN packet header, then the identifier is preserved during transmission, but the header size increases and processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The encoding mechanism serves multiple functions simultaneously: it preserves the TSI group identifier for policy application, maintains compatibility with existing VXLAN processing pipelines, and enables group-based policy enforcement across data center boundaries. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by achieving information preservation without requiring entirely new processing paths.
3Adaptability or versatility
If group-based policy encoding is implemented across data centers, then policy application capability is improved, but the networking infrastructure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The encoded TSI group identifier acts as an intermediary that carries policy information through the EVPN MPLS network infrastructure. This intermediary mechanism enables policy application across data centers without requiring direct integration or complex coordination between different networking infrastructures, resolving the contradiction between versatility and infrastructure complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A first network device of a first data center may encode a source tenant system interface (TSI) group identifier into a tag protocol identifier and a group-based policy identifier, and may encode the tag protocol identifier and the group-based policy identifier into a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) packet with the source TSI group identifier, where the source TSI group identifier is not included in a header of the VXLAN packet. The first network device may provide the VXLAN packet, with the source TSI group identifier, to a second network device of a second data center, via an Ethernet virtual private network (EVPN) multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network.