In one aspect, A computerized method of a gateway distributing routes learned through routing protocols (RP) into a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) includes the step of providing a first gateway that receives a route over a routing protocol. The method includes the step of with the first gateway, redistributing the route to one or more peer routers as a BGP route based on one or more specified criteria. The method includes the step of setting a gateway precedence based on the redistribution of the route to the one or more peer routers as the BGP route. The method includes the step of, based on the gateway precedence, setting a second, gateway to automatically redistribute the route with different priorities to influence steering of traffic to a preferred gateway,
H04L 12/66 - Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
H04L 41/5041 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
H04L 41/50 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
H04L 47/24 - Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
H04L 69/325 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25
Some embodiments provide a system that includes a set of network controllers for receiving definitions of first and second logical switching elements. The system includes several managed switching elements. The set of network controllers configure the several managed switching elements to implement the defined first and second logical switching elements. The system includes several network hosts that are each (1) communicatively coupled to one of the several managed switching elements and (2) associated with one of the first and second logical switching elements. Network data communicated between network hosts associated with the first logical switching element are isolated from network data communicated between network hosts associated with the second logical switching element.
H04L 41/0816 - Configuration setting characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
H04L 41/0853 - Retrieval of network configuration; Tracking network configuration history by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
Some embodiments provide a method for dynamically implementing quality of service (QoS) for machines of a network. The method identifies a QoS policy rule that defines a QoS policy to be implemented for machines that meet a set of criteria specified by the QoS policy rule. The method dynamically identifies a set of machines that meet the set of criteria. The method configures a set of managed forwarding elements of the network to implement the QoS policy rule for network traffic associated with the set of machines. In some embodiments, the method monitors network events (e.g., user logins, addition of new machines, etc.) and identifies a corresponding QoS policy rule to be enforced at corresponding locations in the network based on the detected event.
A novel method for dynamic network service allocation that maps generic services into specific configurations of service resources in a network is provided. An application that is assigned to be performed by computing resources in the network is associated with a set of generic services, and the method maps the set of generic services to the service resources based on the assignment of the application to the computing resources. The mapping of generic services is further based on a level of service that is chosen for the application, where the set of generic services are mapped to different sets of network resources according to different levels of services.
G06F 9/50 - Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
H04L 41/5051 - Service on demand, e.g. definition and deployment of services in real time
H04L 41/5041 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
Some embodiments provide a novel method for performing services on a host computer that executes several data compute nodes (DCNs). The method receives, at a module executing on the host, a data message associated with a DCN executing on the host. The method supplies the data message to a service virtual machine (SVM) that executes on the host and on which several service containers execute. One or more of the service containers then perform a set of one or more services on the data message. The method then receives an indication from the SVM that the set of services has been performed on the data message.
A system for private networking within a virtual infrastructure is presented. The system includes a virtual machine (VM) in a first host, the VM being associated with a first virtual network interface card (VNIC), a second VM in a second host, the second VM being associated with a second VNIC, the first and second VNICs being members of a fenced group of computers that have exclusive direct access to a private virtual network, wherein VNICs outside the fenced group do not have direct access to packets on the private virtual network, a filter in the first host that encapsulates a packet sent on the private virtual network from the first VNIC, the encapsulation adding to the packet a new header and a fence identifier for the fenced group, and a second filter in the second host that de-encapsulates the packet to extract the new header and the fence identifier.
A novel algorithm for packet classification that is based on a novel search structure for packet classification rules is provided. Addresses from all the containers are merged and maintained in a single Trie. Each entry in the Trie has additional information that can be traced back to the container from where the address originated. This information is used to keep the Trie in sync with the containers when the container definition dynamically changes.
Example methods are provided for a first switch to perform congestion-aware load balancing in a data center network. The method may comprise: receiving probe packets from multiple next-hop second switches that connect the first switch with a third switch via multiple paths. The method may also comprise: processing congestion state information in each probe packet to select a selected next-hop second switch from the multiple next-hop second switches, the selected next-hop second switch being associated with a least congested path from the first switch to the third switch. The method may further comprise: in response to receiving data packets from a fourth switch that are destined for a destination connected with the third switch, sending the data packets to the selected next-hop second switch such that the data packets travel to the third switch along the least congested path.
Some embodiments provide a method for detecting a failure of a layer 2 (L2) bump-in-the-wire service at a device. In some embodiments, the device sends heartbeat signals to a second device connected to L2 service nodes in order to detect failure of the L2 service (e.g., a failure of all the service nodes). In some embodiments, the heartbeat signals are unidirectional heartbeat signals (e.g., a unidirectional bidirectional-forwarding-detection (BFD) session) sent from each device to the other. The heartbeat signals, in some embodiments, use a broadcast MAC address in order to reach the current active L2 service node in the case of a failover (i.e., an active service node failing and a standby service node becoming the new active service node). The unidirectional heartbeat signals are also used, in some embodiments, to decrease the time between a failover and data messages being forwarded to the new active service node.
H04L 43/0805 - Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters by checking availability
H04L 41/0668 - Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications using network fault recovery by dynamic selection of recovery network elements, e.g. replacement by the most appropriate element after failure
H04L 43/10 - Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
Some embodiments provide a method for handling failure at one of several peer centralized components of a logical router. At a first one of the peer centralized components of the logical router, the method detects that a second one of the peer centralized components has failed. In response to the detection, the method automatically identifies a network layer address of the failed second peer. The method assumes responsibility for data traffic to the failed peer by broadcasting a message on a logical switch that connects all of the peer centralized components and a distributed component of the logical router. The message instructs recipients to associate the identified network layer address with a data link layer address of the first peer centralized component.
H04L 41/5041 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
A LRE (logical routing element) that have LIFs that are active in all host machines spanned by the LRE as well as LIFs that are active in only a subset of those spanned host machines is provided. A host machine having an active LIF for a particular L2 segment would perform the L3 routing operations for network traffic related to that L2 segment. A host machine having an inactive LIF for the particular L2 segment would not perform L3 routing operations for the network traffic of the L2 segment.
H04L 45/586 - Association of routers of virtual routers
H04L 47/33 - Flow control; Congestion control using forward notification
H04L 69/325 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25
H04L 41/0893 - Assignment of logical groups to network elements
A network system that includes a first set of network hosts in a first domain and a second set of network hosts in a second domain. Within each of the domains, the system includes several edge switching elements (SEs) that each couple to the network hosts and forward network data to and from the set of network hosts. Within the first domain, the system includes (i) an interior SE that couples to a particular edge SE in order to receive network data for forwarding from the edge SE when the edge SE does not recognize a destination location of the network data and (ii) an interconnection SE that couples to the interior SE, the edge SE, and the second domain through an external network. When the edge SE receives network data with a destination address in the second domain, it forwards the network data directly to the interconnection SE.
Some embodiments provide a method for a first data compute node (DCN) operating in a public datacenter. The method receives an encryption rule from a centralized network controller. The method determines that the network encryption rule requires encryption of packets between second and third DCNs operating in the public datacenter. The method requests a first key from a secure key storage. Upon receipt of the first key, the method uses the first key and additional parameters to generate second and third keys. The method distributes the second key to the second DCN and the third key to the third DCN in the public datacenter.
H04L 67/10 - Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network
G06F 15/177 - Initialisation or configuration control
G06F 11/20 - Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements
G06F 9/455 - Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines
G06F 11/34 - Recording or statistical evaluation of computer activity, e.g. of down time, of input/output operation
G06F 11/07 - Responding to the occurrence of a fault, e.g. fault tolerance
G06F 11/14 - Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operation, e.g. by using different operation sequences leading to the same result
H04L 67/1097 - Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
H04L 9/32 - Arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system
A network controller for managing several managed switching elements that forward data in a network that includes the managed switching elements. The network controller is further for creating a logical switching element to be implemented in a set of managed switching elements. The network controller includes a set of modules for receiving input data specifying a logical switching element and for creating, based on the received input data, a set of logical switch constructs for the logical switching element by performing a set of database join operations. At least one of the logical switch constructs is for facilitating non-forwarding behavior of the logical switching element.
A first host receives a packet from a first compute node for a second compute node of a second host. The payload is larger than a maximum transmission unit size. The first packet is encapsulated with an outer header. The first host analyzes a length of at least a portion of the outer header in determining a size of an encrypted segment of the payload. Then, the first host forms a plurality of packets where each packet in the packets includes an encrypted segment of the payload, a respective encryption header, and a respective authentication value. The payload of the first packet is segmented to form a plurality of encrypted segments based on the size. The first host sends the packets to the second host and receives an indication that a packet was not received. A second packet including the encrypted segment is sent to the second compute node.
H04L 47/36 - Flow control; Congestion control by determining packet size, e.g. maximum transfer unit [MTU]
H04L 69/324 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC
A logical routing element (LRE) having multiple designated instances for routing packets from physical hosts (PH) to a logical network is provided. A PH in a network segment with multiple designated instances can choose among the multiple designated instances for sending network traffic to other network nodes in the logical network according to a load balancing algorithm. Each logical interface (LIF) of an LRE is defined to be addressable by multiple identifiers or addresses, and each LIF identifier or address is assigned to a different designated instance.
For a multi-tenant environment, some embodiments of the invention provide a novel method for forwarding tenant traffic through a set of service machines to perform a set of service operations on the tenant traffic. In some embodiments, the method performs a classification operation on a data message flow of a tenant, in order to identify a set of service operations to perform on the data message flow. For some data message flows, the classification operation selects the identified set of service operations from several candidate sets of service operations that are viable service operation sets for similar data message flows of the tenant. In some embodiments, the classification operation is based on a set of attributes associated with the data message flow (e.g., five tuple identifier, i.e., protocol and source and destination ports and IP addresses).
H04L 41/5041 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
H04L 43/028 - Capturing of monitoring data by filtering
H04L 67/1014 - Server selection for load balancing based on the content of a request
H04L 47/2483 - Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS involving identification of individual flows
H04L 47/2408 - Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
H04L 45/00 - Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks
Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems include a central controller receiving a request to generate a new encryption key for a security group to replace a current encryption key for the security group. The security group includes a plurality of hosts that each encrypt and decrypt communications using the current encryption key. In response to receiving the request, the central controller determines that a threshold period following generation of the current encryption key has not expired. In response to determining that the threshold period has not expired, the central controller delays execution of the request until the expiration of the threshold period. In response to the expiration of the threshold period, the central controller executes the request by generating the new encryption key, storing a time of creation of the new encryption key, and transmitting the new encryption key to the plurality of hosts.
Some embodiments provide a system that detects whether a data flow is an elephant flow; and if so, the system treats it differently than a mouse flow. The system of some embodiments detects an elephant flow by examining, among other items, the operations of a machine. In detecting, the system identifies an initiation of a new data flow associated with the machine. The new data flow can be an outbound data flow or an inbound data flow. The system then determines, based on the amount of data being sent or received, if the data flow is an elephant flow. The system of some embodiments identifies the initiation of a new data flow by intercepting a socket call or request to transfer a file.
H04L 47/2441 - Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
H04L 43/026 - Capturing of monitoring data using flow identification
Techniques are disclosed for securing traffic flowing across multi-tenant virtualized infrastructures using group key-based encryption. In one embodiment, an encryption module of a virtual machine (VM) host intercepts layer 2 (L2) frames sent via a virtual NIC (vNIC). The encryption module determines whether the vNIC is connected to a “secure wire,” and invokes an API exposed by a key management module to encrypt the frames using a group key associated with the secure wire, if any. Encryption may be performed for all frames from the vNIC, or according to a policy. In one embodiment, the encryption module may be located at a layer farthest from the vNIC, and encryption may be transparent to both the VM and a virtual switch. Unauthorized network entities which lack the group key cannot decipher the data of encrypted frames, even if they gain access to such frames.
Some embodiments provide a local network controller that manages a first managed forwarding element (MFE) operating to forward traffic on a host machine for several logical networks and configures the first MFE to forward traffic for a set of containers operating within a container virtual machine (VM) that connects to the first MFE. The local network controller receives, from a centralized network controller, logical network configuration information for a logical network to which the set of containers logically connect. The local network controller receives, from the container VM, a mapping of a tag value used by a second MFE operating on the container VM to a logical forwarding element of the logical network to which the set of containers connect. The local network controller configures the first MFE to apply the logical network configuration information to data messages received from the container VM that are tagged with the tag value.
A novel method for stateful packet classification that uses hardware resources for performing stateless lookups and software resources for performing stateful connection flow handshaking is provided. To classify an incoming packet from a network, some embodiments perform stateless look up operations for the incoming packet in hardware and forward the result of the stateless look up to the software. The software in turn uses the result of the stateless look up to perform the stateful connection flow handshaking and to determine the result of the stateful packet classification.
A method of collecting health check metrics for a network is provided. The method, at a deep packet inspector on a physical host in a datacenter, receives a copy of a network packet from a load balancer. The packet includes a plurality of layers. Each layer corresponds to a communication protocol in a plurality of communication protocols. The method identifies an application referenced in the packet. The method analyzes the information in one or more layers of the packet to determine metrics for the source application. The method sends the determined metrics to the load balancer.
Systems and techniques are described for monitoring network communications using a distributed firewall. One of the techniques includes receiving, at a driver executing in a guest operating system of a virtual machine, a request to open a network connection from a process associated with a user, wherein the driver performs operations comprising: obtaining identity information for the user; providing the identity information and data identifying the network connection to an identity module external to the driver; and receiving, by a distributed firewall, data associating the identity information with the data identifying the network connection from the identity module, wherein the distributed firewall performs operations comprising: receiving an outgoing packet from the virtual machine; determining that the identity information corresponds to the outgoing packet; and evaluating one or more routing rules based at least in part on the identity information.
Some embodiments provide a system for implementing a logical network that includes a set of end machines, a first logical middlebox, and a second logical middlebox connected by a set of logical forwarding elements. The system includes a set of nodes. Each of several nodes includes (i) a virtual machine for implementing an end machine of the logical network, (ii) a managed switching element for implementing the set of logical forwarding elements of the logical network, and (iii) a middlebox element for implementing the first logical middlebox of the logical network. The system includes a physical middlebox appliance for implementing the second logical middlebox.
A novel design of a gateway that handles traffic in and out of a network by using a datapath pipeline is provided. The datapath pipeline includes multiple stages for performing various data-plane packet-processing operations at the edge of the network. The processing stages include centralized routing stages and distributed routing stages. The processing stages can include service-providing stages such as NAT and firewall. The gateway caches the result previous packet operations and reapplies the result to subsequent packets that meet certain criteria. For packets that do not have applicable or valid result from previous packet processing operations, the gateway datapath daemon executes the pipelined packet processing stages and records a set of data from each stage of the pipeline and synthesizes those data into a cache entry for subsequent packets.
H04L 41/5041 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
Some embodiments provide a method for generating a multi-layer network map from network configuration data. The method receives network configuration data that defines network components and connections between the network components for a network that spans one or more datacenters. Based on the received network configuration data, the method generates multiple data layers for a multi-layer interactive map of the network. Different data layers include different network components and connections. The method generates a visual representation of the network for each data layer. Each visual representation includes a map of the network at a different level of hierarchy.
H04L 41/22 - Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
H04L 43/045 - Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
H04L 41/12 - Discovery or management of network topologies
28.
SCALING GATEWAY TO GATEWAY TRAFFIC USING FLOW HASH
For a network including multiple computers acting as tunnel endpoints in a network, some embodiments provide a method for processing data messages in parallel using multiple processors (e.g., cores) of each computer. Each computer in some embodiments has a set of interfaces configured as tunnel endpoints connecting to multiple tunnels. In some embodiments, the multiple processors encrypt data messages according to a set of encryption parameters or multiple sets of encryption parameters that specify an encryption policy for data messages requiring encryption, an encryption algorithm, an encryption key, a destination network address, and an encryption-parameter-set identifier.
H04L 9/06 - Arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols the encryption apparatus using shift registers or memories for blockwise coding, e.g. D.E.S. systems
H04L 9/32 - Arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system
Some embodiments provide a method that processes network data through a network. The method receives a packet destined for a network host associated with a logical datapath set implemented by a set of managed edge switching elements and a set of managed non-edge switching elements in the network. The method determines whether the packet is a known packet. When the packet is a known packet, the method forwards the packet to a managed switching element in the set of managed edge switching elements for forwarding to the network host. When the packet is not a known packet, the method forwards the packet to a managed switching element in the set of managed non-edge switching elements for further processing.
Some embodiments provide a method for a network controller that manages several logical networks. The method receives a specification of a logical network that includes at least one logical forwarding element attached to a logical service (e.g., DHCP). The method selects at least one host machine to host the specified logical service from several host machines designated for hosting logical services. The method generates logical service configuration information for distribution to the selected host machine. In some embodiments, the method selects a master host machine and a backup host machine for hosting logical service. In some embodiments, a particular one of the designated host machines hosts at least two DHCP services for two different logical networks as separate processes operating on the particular host machine.
For a network controller for managing hosts in a network, a method for configuring a host to resolve network addresses is described. The method configures an address resolution module in a host to resolve a network address. The method configures a managed forwarding element in the host to (1) avoid sending a request to resolve the network address to another host by using the address resolution module to resolve the network address and (2) forward packets using the resolved network address.
H04L 61/103 - Mapping addresses of different types across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP]
Some embodiments provide an elastic architecture for providing a service in a computing system. To perform a service on the data messages, the service architecture uses a service node (SN) group that includes one primary service node (PSN) and zero or more secondary service nodes (SSNs). The service can be performed on a data message by either the PSN or one of the SSN. However, in addition to performing the service, the PSN also performs a load balancing operation that assesses the load on each service node (i.e., on the PSN or each SSN), and based on this assessment, has the data messages distributed to the service node(s) in its SN group. Based on the assessed load, the PSN in some embodiments also has one or more SSNs added to or removed from its SN group. To add or remove an SSN to or from the service node group, the PSN in some embodiments directs a set of controllers to add (e.g., instantiate or allocate) or remove the SSN to or from the SN group. Also, to assess the load on the service nodes, the PSN in some embodiments receives message load data from the controller set, which collects such data from each service node. In other embodiments, the PSN receives such load data directly from the SSNs.
H04L 41/0813 - Configuration setting characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
H04L 47/125 - Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
H04L 41/5054 - Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
H04L 67/1031 - Controlling of the operation of servers by a load balancer, e.g. adding or removing servers that serve requests
H04L 47/62 - Queue scheduling characterised by scheduling criteria
In one aspect, a computerized system useful for implementing a virtual private network (VPN) including an edge device that automatically establishes an Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) tunnel alongside an unsecure Multipath Protocol (MP) tunnel with a gateway device in preparation for a transmission of a secure traffic communication. The edge device has a list of local subnets. The edge device sends the list of local subnets to the gateway during an initial MP tunnel establishment handshake message exchange between the edge device and the gateway device. Each subnet includes an indication of whether the subnet is reachable over the VPN. A gateway device that automatically establishes the IPsec tunnel alongside the unsecure MP tunnel with the edge device. An enterprise datacenter server that comprises an orchestrator module that receives a toggle the VPN command and enables the VPN on the orchestrator. The orchestrator informs the edge device the list of subnets is accessible over the VPN causing the edge device to update the gateway device with a new list of subnets of the edge device that accessible over the VPN.
A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program that configures managed forwarding elements to establish tunnels between the managed forwarding elements is described. From a particular managed forwarding element, the program receives information regarding coupling of a network element to the first managed forwarding element. Upon receiving the information, the program generates a set of universal flow entries for configuring another managed forwarding element to establish a tunnel to the particular managed forwarding element.
Example methods are provided for a destination host to implement a firewall in a virtualized computing environment that includes the destination host and a source host. The method may comprise receiving, via a physical network interface controller (PNIC) of the destination host, an ingress packet sent by the source host. The ingress packet may be destined for a destination virtualized computing instance that is supported by the destination host and associated with a destination virtual network interface controller (VNIC). The method may further comprise retrieving a PNIC-level firewall rule associated with the destination virtualized computing instance, the PNIC-level firewall rule being applicable at the PNIC and generated by based on a VNIC-level firewall rule applicable at the destination VNIC. In response to determination that the PNIC-level firewall rule blocks the ingress packet from passing through, the ingress packet may be dropped such that the ingress packet is not sent to the destination VNIC.
A novel algorithm for packet classification that is based on a novel search structure for packet classification rules is provided. Addresses from all the containers are merged and maintained in a single Trie. Each entry in the Trie has additional information that can be traced back to the container from where the address originated. This information is used to keep the Trie in sync with the containers when the container definition dynamically changes.
H04L 47/2441 - Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
A network control system for managing a plurality of switching elements that implement a plurality of logical datapath sets. The network control system includes first and second controllers for generating requests for modifications to first and second logical datapath sets. The first controller is further for determining whether to make modifications to the first logical datapath set. The second controller is further for determining whether to make modifications to the second logical datapath set. Each controller is further for receiving logical control plane data that specifies logical datapath sets and for converting the logical control plane data to physical control plane data for propagating to the switching elements.
H04L 41/0896 - Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities
H04L 41/0853 - Retrieval of network configuration; Tracking network configuration history by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
H04L 45/00 - Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks
H04L 47/783 - Distributed allocation of resources, e.g. bandwidth brokers
H04L 41/0816 - Configuration setting characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
G06F 11/07 - Responding to the occurrence of a fault, e.g. fault tolerance
H04L 101/622 - Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
38.
NETWORK CONTROL SYSTEM FOR CONFIGURING MIDDLEBOXES
Some embodiments provide a method for configuring a logical middlebox in a hosting system that includes a set of nodes. The logical middlebox is part of a logical network that includes a set of logical forwarding elements that connect a set of end machines. The method receives a set of configuration data for the logical middlebox. The method uses a stored set of tables describing physical locations of the end machines to identify a set of nodes at which to implement the logical middlebox. The method provides the logical middlebox configuration for distribution to the identified nodes.
Some embodiments provide a method for configuring a logical router that interfaces with an external network. The method receives a configuration for a logical network that includes a logical router with several interfaces that connect to at least one physical router external to the logical network. The method selects a separate host machine to host a centralized routing component for each of the interfaces. The method selects a particular one of the host machines for operating a dynamic routing protocol control plane that receives routing protocol data from each of the centralized routing components and updates routing tables of each of the centralized routing components.
Some embodiments provide a method for clustering a set of data compute nodes (DCNs), which communicate with each other more frequently, on one or more host machines. The method groups together guest DCNs (GDCNs) that (1) execute on different host machines and (2) exchange network data among themselves more frequently, in order to reduce interhost network traffic. The more frequently-communicating GDCNs can be a set of GDCNs that implement a distributed application, GDCNs of a particular tier in a multi-tier network architecture (e.g., a web tier in a three-tier architecture), GDCNs that are dedicated to a particular tenant in a hosting system, or any other set of GDCNs that exchange data among each other regularly for a particular purpose.
A network control system that includes several controllers for managing several switching elements. Each controller includes a network information base (NIB) storage that stores data regarding the switching elements and a secondary storage for facilitating replication of at least a portion of data across the NIB storages of the different controllers. In some embodiments, the primary purpose for one or more of the secondary storage structures is to back up the data in the NIB. In these or other embodiments, one or more of the secondary storage structures serve a purpose other than backing up the data in the NIB. In some embodiments, the NIB is stored in system memory while the system operates for fast access of the NIB records. In some embodiments, one or more of the secondary storage structures are stored on disks which can be slower to access.
H04L 41/0816 - Configuration setting characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
H04L 41/0853 - Retrieval of network configuration; Tracking network configuration history by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
42.
Inspecting operations of a machine to detect elephant flows
Some embodiments provide a system that detects whether a data flow is an elephant flow; and if so, the system treats it differently than a mouse flow. The system of some embodiments detects an elephant flow by examining, among other items, the operations of a machine. In detecting, the system identifies an initiation of a new data flow associated with the machine. The new data flow can be an outbound data flow or an inbound data flow. The system then determines, based on the amount of data being sent or received, if the data flow is an elephant flow. The system of some embodiments identifies the initiation of a new data flow by intercepting a socket call or request to transfer a file.
H04L 47/2441 - Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
H04L 43/026 - Capturing of monitoring data using flow identification
43.
EDGE NODE CLUSTER NETWORK REDUNDANCY AND FAST CONVERGENCE USING AN UNDERLAY ANYCAST VTEP IP
Some embodiments provide a method for providing redundancy and fast convergence for modules operating in a network. The method configures modules to use a same anycast inner IP address, anycast MAC address, and to associate with a same anycast VTEP IP address. In some embodiments, the modules are operating in an active-active mode and all nodes running modules advertise the anycast VTEP IP addresses with equal local preference. In some embodiments, modules are operating in active-standby mode and the node running the active module advertises the anycast VTEP IP address with higher local preference.
H04L 41/0668 - Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications using network fault recovery by dynamic selection of recovery network elements, e.g. replacement by the most appropriate element after failure
H04L 45/586 - Association of routers of virtual routers
H04L 45/28 - Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks using route fault recovery
H04L 69/40 - Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection
H04L 45/00 - Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks
In order to enable dynamic scaling of network services at the edge, novel systems and methods are provided to enable addition of add new nodes or removal of existing nodes while retaining the affinity of the flows through the stateful services. The methods provide a cluster of network nodes that can be dynamically resized to handle and process network traffic that utilizes stateful network services. The existing traffic flows through the edge continue to function during and after the changes to membership of the cluster. All nodes in the cluster operate in active-active mode, i.e., they are receiving and processing traffic flows, thereby maximizing the utilization of the available processing power.
In one aspect, a computerized method includes the step of providing process monitor in a Gateway. The method includes the step of, with the process monitor, launching a Gateway Daemon (GWD). The GWD runs a GWD process that implements a Network Address Translation (NAT) process. The NAT process includes receiving a set of data packets from one or more Edge devices and forwarding the set of data packets to a public Internet. The method includes the step of receiving another set of data packets from the public Internet and forwarding the other set of data packets to the one or more Edge devices. The method includes the step of launching a Network Address Translation daemon (NATD). The method includes the step of detecting that the GWD process is interrupted; moving the NAT process to the NATD.
Methods and systems for implementing private allocated networks in a virtual infrastructure are presented. One method operation creates virtual switches in one or more hosts in the virtual infrastructure. Each port in the virtual switches is associated with a private allocated network (PAN) from a group of possible PANs. In one embodiment, one or more PANs share the same physical media for data transmission. The intranet traffic within each PAN is not visible to nodes that are not connected to the each PAN. In another operation, the method defines addressing mode tables for the intranet traffic within each PAN. The entries in the addressing mode tables define addressing functions for routing the intranet traffic between the virtual switches, and different types of addressing functions are supported by the virtual switches.
H04L 69/324 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC
H04L 69/325 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25
H04L 49/354 - Switches specially adapted for specific applications for supporting virtual local area networks [VLAN]
H04L 101/622 - Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
47.
CONTROLLER DRIVEN RECONFIGURATION OF A MULTI-LAYERED APPLICATION OR SERVICE MODEL
Some embodiments provide novel inline switches that distribute data messages from source compute nodes (SCNs) to different groups of destination service compute nodes (DSCNs). In some embodiments, the inline switches are deployed in the source compute nodes datapaths (e.g., egress datapath). The inline switches in some embodiments are service switches that (1) receive data messages from the SCNs, (2) identify service nodes in a service-node cluster for processing the data messages based on service policies that the switches implement, and (3) use tunnels to send the received data messages to their identified service nodes. Alternatively, or conjunctively, the inline service switches of some embodiments (1) identify service-nodes cluster for processing the data messages based on service policies that the switches implement, and (2) use tunnels to send the received data messages to the identified service-node clusters. The service-node clusters can perform the same service or can perform different services in some embodiments. This tunnel-based approach for distributing data messages to service nodes/clusters is advantageous for seamlessly implementing in a datacenter a cloud-based XaaS model (where XaaS stands for X as a service, and X stands for anything), in which any number of services are provided by service providers in the cloud.
A method of automatically identifying and recreating tenants environment issues in a set of datacenters by a workflow replay tool is provided. Each datacenter includes a network manager server. The method analyzes, by the workflow replay tool, a set of log files generated in the particular tenant's environment to identify tenant's workflows. The method analyzes, by the workflow replay tool, network manager server databases of the tenant's environment to identify the logical entities in the tenant environment used by the identified workflows. The method allocates resources in a lab environment to simulate the tenant's environment. The method reruns the identified tenant's workflows by the workflow replay tool using the allocated resources in the lab environment to recreate tenant environment issues.
An approach for a software defined networking manager to perform a predictive analysis of proposed modifications to a software defined network (SDN) is presented. A method comprises receiving entity logical associations that are captured in a set of rules implemented in a SDN. Once a proposed modification to the entity logical associations is received, without implementing the proposed modification and without modifying the set of rules, impacted entity associations, from the entity logical associations, are identified. Upon receiving input indicating that the proposed modification is to be accepted, an updated set of rules for the SDN is generated by updating the set of rules based on the proposed modification, and the updated set of rules is implemented in the SDN.
H04L 41/147 - Network analysis or design for predicting network behaviour
H04L 41/22 - Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
A method of selecting an egress interface for a source process running on an electronic device is provided. The device implements a TCP/IP stack utilized by a plurality of applications for sending network packets. The method receives a packet from a particular application in the plurality of applications to send to a network destination over a socket tagged with an identifier of the particular application. The method compares the socket tag with a set of network egress interface tags. Each network egress interface tag is associated with a network egress interface in a plurality of network egress interfaces. Each network egress interface tag includes the identifier of an application that utilizes the network egress interface. The method selects a network egress interface with a tag that matches the socket tag. The method sends the packet to the network destination through the selected network egress interface.
A method for coordinating distributed network address translation (NAT) in a network within which several logical networks are implemented. The logical networks include several tenant logical networks and at least one service logical network that include service virtual machines (VMs) that are accessed by VMs of the tenant logical networks. The method defines a group of replacement IP address and port number pairs. Each pair is used to uniquely identify a VM across all tenant logical networks. The method sends to at least one host that is hosting a VM of a particular tenant logical network, a set of replacement IP address and port number pairs. Each replacement IP address and port number pair can be used by the host to replace a source IP address and a source port number in a packet that is destined from the particular VM to a VM of the particular service logical network.
H04L 61/103 - Mapping addresses of different types across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP]
H04L 61/2517 - Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses using port numbers
H04L 61/2514 - Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses between local and global IP addresses
52.
METHOD AND SYSTEM OF APPLICATION-AWARE ROUTING WITH CROWDSOURCING
In one aspect, a computerized method of an application routing service includes the step of using a deep-packet inspection (DPI) technique on a first network flow to identify an applications The method includes the step of storing an Internet-protocol (IP) address and a port number used by the application and an identity of the application in a databases The method includes the step of detecting a second network flow. The method includes the step of identifying the IP address and the port number of the application in the second network flow. The method includes the step of looking up the IP address and the port number in the database. The method includes the step of identifying the application based on the IP address and the port number.
The disclosure herein describes a system, which provides service switching in a datacenter environment. The system can include a service switching gateway, which can identify a service tag associated with a received packet. During operation, the service switching gateway determines a source client, a requested service, or both for the packet based on the service tag, identifies a corresponding service portal based on the service tag, and forwards the packet toward the service portal. The service switching gateway can optionally maintain a mapping between the service tag and one or more of: a source client, a required service, the service portal, and a tunnel encapsulation. The service switching gateway can encapsulate the packet based on an encapsulation mechanism supported by the service portal and forward the packet based on the mapping.
Some embodiments provide a method for a managed forwarding element (MFE). At the MFE, the method receives a first packet from a particular tunnel endpoint. The first packet originates from a particular data compute node associated with multiple tunnel endpoints including the particular tunnel endpoint. Based on the first packet, the method stores an association of the particular tunnel endpoint with the particular data compute node. The method uses the stored association to encapsulate subsequent packets received at the MFE and having the particular data compute node as a destination address with the particular tunnel endpoint as a destination tunnel endpoint.
Some embodiments provide a method for dynamically implementing quality of service (QoS) for machines of a network. The method identifies a QoS policy rule that defines a QoS policy to be implemented for machines that meet a set of criteria specified by the QoS policy rule. The method dynamically identifies a set of machines that meet the set of criteria. The method configures a set of managed forwarding elements of the network to implement the QoS policy rule for network traffic associated with the set of machines. In some embodiments, the method monitors network events (e.g., user logins, addition of new machines, etc.) and identifies a corresponding QoS policy rule to be enforced at corresponding locations in the network based on the detected event.
In general, the present invention relates to a virtual platform in which one or more distributed virtual switches can be created for use in virtual networking. According to some aspects, the distributed virtual switch according to the invention provides the ability for virtual and physical machines to more readily, securely, and efficiently communicate with each other even if they are not located on the same physical host and/or in the same subnet or VLAN. According other aspects, the distributed virtual switches of the invention can support integration with traditional IP networks and support sophisticated IP technologies including NAT functionality, stateful firewalling, and notifying the IP network of workload migration. According to further aspects, the virtual platform of the invention creates one or more distributed virtual switches which may be allocated to a tenant, application, or other entity requiring isolation and/or independent configuration state. According to still further aspects, the virtual platform of the invention manages and/or uses VLAN or tunnels (e.g, GRE) to create a distributed virtual switch for a network while working with existing switches and routers in the network. The present invention finds utility in both enterprise networks, datacenters and other facilities.
Techniques are disclosed for securing traffic flowing across multi-tenant virtualized infrastructures using group key-based encryption. In one embodiment, an encryption module of a virtual machine (VM) host intercepts layer 2 (L2) frames sent via a virtual NIC (vNIC). The encryption module determines whether the vNIC is connected to a “secure wire,” and invokes an API exposed by a key management module to encrypt the frames using a group key associated with the secure wire, if any. Encryption may be performed for all frames from the vNIC, or according to a policy. In one embodiment, the encryption module may be located at a layer farthest from the vNIC, and encryption may be transparent to both the VM and a virtual switch. Unauthorized network entities which lack the group key cannot decipher the data of encrypted frames, even if they gain access to such frames.
Described herein are systems, methods, and software to enhance network traffic management. In one implementation, a first host identifies a packet to be transferred from a first virtual machine on the first host to a second virtual machine on a second host. In response to identifying the packet, the first host identifies a source logical port for the first virtual machine, and transferring a communication to the second host, wherein the communication encapsulates the data packet and the source logical port. Once the packet is received by the second host, the second host may use the source logical port to determine a forwarding action for the packet.
A novel method of providing virtual private access to a software defined data center (SDDC) is provided. The SDDC uses distributed VPN tunneling to allow external access to application services hosted in the SDDC. The SDDC includes host machines for providing computing and networking resources and a VPN gateway for providing external access to those resources. The host machines that host the VMs running the applications that VPN clients are interested in connecting performs the VPN encryption and decryption. The VPN gateway does not perform any encryption and decryption operations. The packet structure is such that the VPN gateway can read the IP address of the VM without decrypting the packet.
Some embodiments provide a method for a network controller operating on a host machine that hosts a particular one of multiple centralized routing components for a logical router. The method receives a routing table from a routing protocol application operating on the host machine. Each of the other centralized routing components operates on a different host machine and implements a different interface of the logical router that connects to at least one physical router external to the logical network. The routing protocol application operates as a router server for all of the centralized routing components. For each of the other centralized routing components, the method identifies a set of routes in the routing table to distribute to the centralized routing component. The method sends the identified routes for each centralized routing component to the centralized routing component.
In one aspect, a computerized system useful for implementing a cloud-based multipath routing protocol to an Internet endpoint includes an edge device that provides an entry point into an entity's core network. The entity's core network includes a set of resources to be reliably accessed. The computerized system includes a cloud-edge device instantiated in a public-cloud computing platform. The cloud-edge device joins a same virtual routing and forwarding table as the edge device. The cloud-edge device receives a set of sources and destinations of network traffic that are permitted to access the edge device and the set of resources
Some embodiments provide a system for implementing a logical network that includes a set of end machines, a first logical middlebox, and a second logical middlebox connected by a set of logical forwarding elements. The system includes a set of nodes. Each of several nodes includes (i) a virtual machine for implementing an end machine of the logical network, (ii) a managed switching element for implementing the set of logical forwarding elements of the logical network, and (iii) a middlebox element for implementing the first logical middlebox of the logical network. The system includes a physical middlebox appliance for implementing the second logical middlebox.
Some embodiments provide a local network controller that manages a first managed forwarding element (MFE) operating to forward traffic on a host machine for several logical networks and configures the first MFE to forward traffic for a set of containers operating within a container virtual machine (VM) that connects to the first MFE. The local network controller receives, from a centralized network controller, logical network configuration information for a logical network to which the set of containers logically connect. The local network controller receives, from the container VM, a mapping of a tag value used by a second MFE operating on the container VM to a logical forwarding element of the logical network to which the set of containers connect. The local network controller configures the first MFE to apply the logical network configuration information to data messages received from the container VM that are tagged with the tag value.
In one aspect, a computerized method useful for connecting to a multipath hub in a cluster includes the step of, with a gateway in a same network as the cluster, receiving, from a branch edge, a request to connect to a logical identifier (ID) of the multipath hub. The gateway recognizes a logical ID representing a cluster. The gateway determines a least-loaded edge in the cluster to be the multipath hub. The gateway returns a connectivity information for the multipath hub. The branch edge configures a tunnel to the multipath hub.
H04L 43/0876 - Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
H04L 43/0811 - Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters by checking availability by checking connectivity
65.
Networking connection management based on container identification
Described herein are systems, methods, and software to enhance packet processing. In one implementation, a host computing element identifies a packet from a process executing on the host computing element. In response to identifying the packet, the host computing element determines whether the packet originates from a container namespace corresponding to a container on the host computing element or a host namespace corresponding to the host computing element. If the packet originates from a container namespace, the host computing element may determine supplemental information for the container associated with the container namespace, and process the packet based on the supplemental information.
G06F 15/16 - Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs
The technology disclosed herein enables a dynamic chain of service functions for processing network traffic. In a particular embodiment, a method includes, in a logical router for a logical network connecting service functions, receiving a network packet from a service function over the logical network after the network packet has been processed by the service function. The method further includes determining a new classification of the network packet and determining a next service function based on application of a service chain policy to the new classification. The method also includes directing the network packet to the next service function over the logical network.
G06F 9/44 - Arrangements for executing specific programs
G06F 9/455 - Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines
H04L 41/00 - Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
H04L 41/0893 - Assignment of logical groups to network elements
H04L 41/12 - Discovery or management of network topologies
H04L 41/5054 - Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
Some embodiments of the invention provide a novel architecture for capturing contextual attributes on host computers that execute one or more machines, and for consuming the captured contextual attributes to perform services on the host computers. The machines are virtual machines (VMs) in some embodiments, containers in other embodiments, or a mix of VMs and containers in still other embodiments. Some embodiments execute a guest-introspection (GI) agent on each machine from which contextual attributes need to be captured. In addition to executing one or more machines on each host computer, these embodiments also execute a context engine and one or more attribute-based service engines on each host computer. Through the GI agents of the machines on a host, the context engine of that host in some embodiments collects contextual attributes associated with network events and/or process events on the machines. The context engine then provides the contextual attributes to the service engines, which, in turn, use these contextual attributes to identify service rules for processing.
G06F 9/06 - Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
H04L 51/214 - Monitoring or handling of messages using selective forwarding
G06F 21/50 - Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems
G06F 21/55 - Detecting local intrusion or implementing counter-measures
G06F 21/57 - Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities
A novel design of a gateway that handles traffic in and out of a network by using a datapath pipeline is provided. The datapath pipeline includes multiple stages for performing various data-plane packet-processing operations at the edge of the network. The processing stages include centralized routing stages and distributed routing stages. The processing stages can include service-providing stages such as NAT and firewall. The gateway caches the result previous packet operations and reapplies the result to subsequent packets that meet certain criteria. For packets that do not have applicable or valid result from previous packet processing operations, the gateway datapath daemon executes the pipelined packet processing stages and records a set of data from each stage of the pipeline and synthesizes those data into a cache entry for subsequent packets.
H04L 41/5041 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
H04L 69/326 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the transport layer [OSI layer 4]
H04L 69/329 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
H04L 47/19 - Flow control; Congestion control at layers above the network layer
H04L 45/302 - Route determination based on requested QoS
H04L 43/08 - Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
H04L 43/106 - Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
H04L 49/354 - Switches specially adapted for specific applications for supporting virtual local area networks [VLAN]
H04L 67/1038 - Load balancing arrangements to avoid a single path through a load balancer
H04L 61/103 - Mapping addresses of different types across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP]
H04L 61/2503 - Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses
H04L 41/50 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
H04L 45/28 - Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks using route fault recovery
H04L 101/663 - Transport layer addresses, e.g. aspects of transmission control protocol [TCP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] ports
H04L 67/1095 - Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
69.
USING PHYSICAL LOCATION TO MODIFY BEHAVIOR OF A DISTRIBUTED VIRTUAL NETWORK ELEMENT
A system for network virtualization in which physical network resources in different physical contexts are configured to implement one or more distributed logical network elements, at least some of the physical network resources implementing the distributed logical network elements configured according the physical context of those network resources. The local configuration of a physical locale is a version of the logical configuration that is modified specifically for the physical locale. Such modification is based on locale identifiers that are assigned to the physical locales. Some systems use locale-specific information to modify next-hop preference. Some system use locally modified configurations to determine the placement of VMs.
G06F 9/455 - Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines
H04L 41/0816 - Configuration setting characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
70.
Provisioning network services in a software defined data center
A novel method for dynamic network service allocation that maps generic services into specific configurations of service resources in a network is provided. An application that is assigned to be performed by computing resources in the network is associated with a set of generic services, and the method maps the set of generic services to the service resources based on the assignment of the application to the computing resources. The mapping of generic services is further based on a level of service that is chosen for the application, where the set of generic services are mapped to different sets of network resources according to different levels of services.
G06F 9/50 - Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
H04L 41/5051 - Service on demand, e.g. definition and deployment of services in real time
H04L 41/5041 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
H04L 41/50 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
71.
Providing shared memory for access by multiple network service containers executing on single service machine
Some embodiments provide a method for efficient data message transfer across a hypervisor, service DCN, and containers implementing partner network services. The method allocates memory to a service DCN that operates a set of containers for providing partner network services for data messages received by the service DCN. The service DCN and the containers share the allocated memory and the method stores data messages received by the service DCN in the allocated memory. The method then accesses the data message stored in the shared memory from a set of partner network service containers to perform the partner network services. In some embodiments, the host machine or a process of the host machine on which the service DCN executes also shares the allocated memory. The host machine process, in some embodiments is a kernel process.
Some embodiments of the invention provide a novel method of tunneling data packets. The method establishes a tunnel between a first forwarding element and a second forwarding element. For each data packet directed to the second forwarding element from the first forwarding element, the method encapsulates the data packet with a header that includes a tunnel option. The method then sends the data packet from the first forwarding element to the second forwarding element through the established tunnel. In some embodiments, the data packet is encapsulated using a protocol that is adapted to change with different control plane implementations and the implementations' varying needs for metadata.
H04L 69/324 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC
A first host receives a packet from a first compute node for a second compute node of a second host. The payload is larger than a maximum transmission unit size. The first packet is encapsulated with an outer header. The first host analyzes a length of at least a portion of the outer header in determining a size of an encrypted segment of the payload. Then, the first host forms a plurality of packets where each packet in the packets includes an encrypted segment of the payload, a respective encryption header, and a respective authentication value. The payload of the first packet is segmented to form a plurality of encrypted segments based on the size. The first host sends the packets to the second host and receives an indication that a packet was not received. A second packet including the encrypted segment is sent to the second compute node.
H04L 47/36 - Flow control; Congestion control by determining packet size, e.g. maximum transfer unit [MTU]
H04L 69/324 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC
A method for visualizing network flows of a network is provided. The method monitors network flows between a group of machines in a network. The method associates identifiers with the monitored network flows. The method aggregates the monitored network flows into a set of groups based on the associated identifiers. The method displays a set of flow records for the each group of the set of groups.
A control system including several controllers for managing several switching elements. A first controller registers a second controller for receiving a notification when a data tuple changes in a network information base (NIB) storage of the first controller that stores data for managing a set of switching elements. The first controller changes the data tuple in the NIB. The first controller sends the notification to the second controller of the change to the data tuple in the NIB. The first and second controllers operate on two different computing devices. Each controller receives logical control plane data for specifying logical datapath sets and converts the logical control plane data to physical control plane data for enabling the switching elements to implement the logical datapath sets.
H04L 41/0816 - Configuration setting characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
H04L 41/0853 - Retrieval of network configuration; Tracking network configuration history by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
H04L 101/622 - Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
Some embodiments provide a managed network for implementing a logical network for a tenant. The managed network includes a first set of host machines and a second set of host machines. The first set of host machines is for hosting virtual machines (VMs) for the logical network. Each of the first set of host machines operates a managed forwarding element that implements a first logical router for the tenant logical network and a second logical router to which the first logical router connects. The implementation of the second logical router is for processing packets entering and exiting the tenant logical network. The second set of host machines is for hosting L3 gateways for the second logical router. The L3 gateways connect the tenant logical network to at least one external network.
Some embodiments provide a method for handling failure at one of several peer centralized components of a logical router. At a first one of the peer centralized components of the logical router, the method detects that a second one of the peer centralized components has failed. In response to the detection, the method automatically identifies a network layer address of the failed second peer. The method assumes responsibility for data traffic to the failed peer by broadcasting a message on a logical switch that connects all of the peer centralized components and a distributed component of the logical router. The message instructs recipients to associate the identified network layer address with a data link layer address of the first peer centralized component.
H04L 41/5041 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
H04L 45/586 - Association of routers of virtual routers
H04L 45/302 - Route determination based on requested QoS
H04L 43/08 - Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
H04L 43/106 - Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
H04L 49/354 - Switches specially adapted for specific applications for supporting virtual local area networks [VLAN]
H04L 67/1038 - Load balancing arrangements to avoid a single path through a load balancer
H04L 61/103 - Mapping addresses of different types across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP]
H04L 61/2503 - Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses
H04L 41/50 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
H04L 45/28 - Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks using route fault recovery
H04L 101/663 - Transport layer addresses, e.g. aspects of transmission control protocol [TCP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] ports
H04L 67/1095 - Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
78.
Method and system of a dynamic high-availability mode based on current wide area network connectivity
In one aspect, a method useful for implementing high availability (HA) enhancements to a computer network, comprising the steps of: providing a first edge device of a local area network (LAN); providing a second edge device of the LAN; providing a gateway system to the LAN from a wide area network; detecting that an HA cable between the first edge device and the second edge device is disconnected; establishing a network connection between the gateway system and the second edge device; with the gateway system: determining that the first edge device is active and passing network traffic, implementing a network tunneling protocol with second edge device.
A method of generating a network topology map in a datacenter comprising a network manager server and a set of host machines is provided. Each host machine hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method receives information regarding the configuration of each of a set of logical networks from the network manager server. Each logical network is connected to several DCNs. The method identifies logical connections configured between the DCNs using the configuration of the overlay networks. The method generates a network topology map based on the identified logical configuration. The network topology identifies the DCNs that are connected to each overlay network. The method displays the network topology map on a graphical user interface.
H04L 41/22 - Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
H04L 41/12 - Discovery or management of network topologies
H04L 41/0816 - Configuration setting characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
H04L 47/36 - Flow control; Congestion control by determining packet size, e.g. maximum transfer unit [MTU]
In one exemplary aspect, an edge-gateway multipath method includes the step of providing an edge device in a local network communicatively coupled with a cloud-computing service in a cloud-computing network. A set of wide area network (WAN) links connected to the edge device are automatically detected. The WAN links are automatically measured without the need for an external router. The edge device is communicatively coupled with a central configuration point in the cloud-computing network. The method further includes the step of downloading, from the central configuration point, an enterprise-specific configuration data into the edge device. The enterprise-specific configuration data includes the gateway information. The edge device is communicatively coupled with a gateway in the cloud-computing network. The communicatively coupling of the edge device with the gateway includes a multipath (MP) protocol.
H04L 47/41 - Flow control; Congestion control by acting on aggregated flows or links
H04L 47/125 - Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
H04L 47/2408 - Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
H04L 1/00 - Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
H04L 1/18 - Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
H04L 43/028 - Capturing of monitoring data by filtering
81.
TRACING LOGICAL NETWORK PACKETS THROUGH PHYSICAL NETWORK
Some embodiments provide a method for a network controller that manages several managed forwarding elements. The method receives a request to trace a specified packet having a particular source on a logical switching element. The method generates the packet at the network controller according to the packet specification. The generated packet includes an indicator that the packet is for a trace operation. The method inserts the packet into a managed forwarding element associated with the particular source. The method receives a set of messages from a set of managed forwarding elements that process the packet regarding operations performed on the packet.
Some embodiments provide a method for maintaining a cluster topology for a cluster of application instances operating across several datacenters. On a particular machine at which a particular one of the application instances operates, the method maintains a cluster topology that identifies, for each application instance of the cluster, the datacenter in which the application instance operates. From the particular application instance, the method receives a query request for at least a portion of the cluster topology through a programmatic interface. The method provides the requested portion of the cluster topology to the particular application instance. The particular application instance uses the cluster topology for processing application data based on the locations of a set of application instances within the several datacenters.
A method for providing multi-tenancy support for RDMA in a system that includes a plurality of physical hosts. Each each physical host hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method, at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receives a packet that includes a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host. The method sends a set of parameters of an overlay network that are associated with the first DCN to an RDMA physical network interface controller of the first host. The set of parameters are used by the RDMA physical NIC to encapsulate the packet with an RDMA data transfer header and an overlay network header by using the set of parameters of the overlay network to transfer the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network.
H04L 67/1097 - Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
Systems and techniques are described for virtual machine security. A described technique includes operating one or more virtual machines each in accordance with a respective security container, wherein the respective security container is associated with a respective rule that specifies transfer of the virtual machine from the respective security container to a quarantine container based on one or more criteria. One or more security services are operated on the one or more virtual machines to identify one or more security threats associated with one or more of the virtual machines. One or more tags generated by the endpoint security services are obtained, where each tag is for a virtual machine that is associated with one of the identified security threats. And one of the virtual machines is identified as requiring transfer to the quarantine container based on, at least, one or more of the obtained tags and the one or more criteria.
H04L 29/06 - Communication control; Communication processing characterised by a protocol
G06F 21/55 - Detecting local intrusion or implementing counter-measures
G06F 21/56 - Computer malware detection or handling, e.g. anti-virus arrangements
G06F 21/53 - Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems during program execution, e.g. stack integrity, buffer overflow or preventing unwanted data erasure by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
A logical routing element (LRE) having multiple designated instances for routing packets from physical hosts (PH) to a logical network is provided. A PH in a network segment with multiple designated instances can choose among the multiple designated instances for sending network traffic to other network nodes in the logical network according to a load balancing algorithm. Each logical interface (LIF) of an LRE is defined to be addressable by multiple identifiers or addresses, and each LIF identifier or address is assigned to a different designated instance.
Some embodiments provide a system that implements a set of tools to define a set of one or more logical forwarding elements from a number of physical forwarding elements and a scalable framework to retrieve statistics relating each logical forwarding element. In some embodiments, the statistics relate to the logical ports of a logical forwarding element. The system of some embodiments allows a network administrator to retrieve a total packet count and byte count for one or more logical ports of the logical forwarding element, even though the logical ports may be distributed across multiple physical forwarding elements.
A managed hardware forwarding element (MHFE) that performs packet forwarding operations for a logical network is described. The MHFE receives configuration data for the logical network that defines a logical router and a set of logical switches for logically connecting several end machines that operate on different host machines to several physical machines that are connected to the MHFE. The logical router also includes multiple routing components. The MHFE also receives a first forwarding table and a second forwarding table. The first forwarding table stores linking data for each logical port of each logical switch in the set of logical switches that identifies a corresponding routing component in the logical router. The second forwarding table stores a set of routes for each routing component of the logical router. The MHFE uses the first and second forwarding tables to perform packet forwarding operations at the MHFE.
A method of creating containers in a physical host that includes a managed forwarding element (MFE) configured to forward packets to and from a set of data compute nodes (DCNs) hosted by the physical host. The method creates a container DCN in the host. The container DCN includes a virtual network interface card (VNIC) configured to exchange packets with the MFE. The method creates a plurality of containers in the container DCN. The method, for each container in the container DCN, creates a corresponding port on the MFE. The method sends packets addressed to each of the plurality of containers from the corresponding MFE port to the VNIC of the container DCN.
H04L 12/713 - Route fault prevention or recovery, e.g. rerouting, route redundancy, virtual router redundancy protocol [VRRP] or hot standby router protocol [HSRP] using node redundancy, e.g. VRRP
H04L 12/24 - Arrangements for maintenance or administration
A method of utilizing the same hardware network interface card (NIC) in a gateway of a datacenter to communicate datacenter tenant packet traffic and packet traffic for a set of applications that execute in the user space of the gateway and utilize a network stack in the kernel space of the gateway. The method sends and receives packets for the datacenter tenant packet traffic through a packet datapath in the user space. The method sends incoming packets from the NIC to the set of applications through the datapath in the user space, a user-kernel transport driver connecting the kernel network stack to the datapath in the user space, and the kernel network stack. The method receives outgoing packets at the NIC from the set of applications through the kernel network stack, the user-kernel transport driver, and the data path in the user space.
G06F 15/16 - Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs
H04L 61/2585 - NAT traversal through application level gateway [ALG]
H04L 67/1038 - Load balancing arrangements to avoid a single path through a load balancer
H04L 69/321 - Interlayer communication protocols or service data unit [SDU] definitions; Interfaces between layers
H04L 69/326 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the transport layer [OSI layer 4]
H04L 69/329 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
H04L 41/0806 - Configuration setting for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
H04L 43/0817 - Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters by checking availability by checking functioning
H04L 69/322 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions
H04L 69/16 - Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
H04L 67/63 - Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
H04L 67/568 - Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
H04L 67/1001 - Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
H04L 43/08 - Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
H04L 43/106 - Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
H04L 61/103 - Mapping addresses of different types across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP]
H04L 61/2503 - Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses
H04L 67/1095 - Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
H04L 61/5014 - Internet protocol [IP] addresses using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]
H04L 101/622 - Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
H04L 101/663 - Transport layer addresses, e.g. aspects of transmission control protocol [TCP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] ports
90.
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING FIREWALL RULES
Some embodiments of the invention provide a novel method for specifying firewall rules. In some embodiments, the method provides the ability to specify for a particular firewall rule, a set of network nodes (also called a set of enforcement points below) at which the particular firewall should be enforced. To provide this ability, the method of some embodiments adds an extra tuple (referred to below as the AppliedTo tuple) to a firewall rule. This added AppliedTo tuple lists the set of enforcement points at which the firewall rule has to be applied (i.e., enforced).
A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network is provided. The method, at a virtualization software of a host, sends a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host. The mapping table maps the identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network. The method, at the virtualization software, receives a packet from a VM of the tenant. The method sends the packet to the physical NIC. The method, at the physical NIC, encapsulates the packet for transmission over the overlay network by using the mapping table. The method of claim also tags the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC.
For a network including multiple computers acting as tunnel endpoints in a network, some embodiments provide a method for processing data messages in parallel using multiple processors (e.g., cores) of each computer. Each computer in some embodiments has a set of interfaces configured as tunnel endpoints connecting to multiple tunnels. In some embodiments, the multiple processors encrypt data messages according to a set of encryption parameters or multiple sets of encryption parameters that specify an encryption policy for data messages requiring encryption, an encryption algorithm, an encryption key, a destination network address, and an encryption-parameter-set identifier.
H04L 9/06 - Arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols the encryption apparatus using shift registers or memories for blockwise coding, e.g. D.E.S. systems
H04L 9/32 - Arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system
Some embodiments provide a forwarding element that detects and handles elephant flows. In detecting, the forwarding element of some embodiments monitors statistics or measurements relating to a data flow. In handling, the forwarding element marks each packet associated with a detected elephant flow in some manner to differentiate it from a packet associated with a mouse flow. Alternatively, the forwarding element of break elephant flows into a number mouse flow by facilitating in sending packets associated with the detected elephant flow along different paths.
A novel design of a gateway that handles traffic in and out of a network by using a datapath daemon is provided. The datapath daemon is a run-to-completion process that performs various data-plane packet-processing operations at the edge of the network. The datapath daemon dispatches packets to other processes or processing threads outside of the daemon by utilizing a user space network stack.
H04L 41/5041 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
H04L 43/08 - Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
H04L 43/106 - Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
H04L 45/00 - Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks
H04L 61/2585 - NAT traversal through application level gateway [ALG]
H04L 67/1001 - Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
H04L 67/1038 - Load balancing arrangements to avoid a single path through a load balancer
H04L 67/568 - Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
H04L 67/63 - Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
H04L 69/321 - Interlayer communication protocols or service data unit [SDU] definitions; Interfaces between layers
H04L 69/326 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the transport layer [OSI layer 4]
H04L 69/329 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
H04L 41/50 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
H04L 45/28 - Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks using route fault recovery
H04L 61/103 - Mapping addresses of different types across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP]
H04L 61/2503 - Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses
H04L 67/1095 - Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
H04L 101/663 - Transport layer addresses, e.g. aspects of transmission control protocol [TCP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] ports
Some embodiments provide a novel method for load balancing data messages that are sent by a source compute node (SCN) to one or more different groups of destination compute nodes (DCNs). In some embodiments, the method deploys a load balancer in the source compute node's egress datapath. This load balancer receives each data message sent from the source compute node, and determines whether the data message is addressed to one of the DCN groups for which the load balancer spreads the data traffic to balance the load across (e.g., data traffic directed to) the DCNs in the group. When the received data message is not addressed to one of the load balanced DCN groups, the load balancer forwards the received data message to its addressed destination. On the other hand, when the received data message is addressed to one of load balancer's DCN groups, the load balancer identifies a DCN in the addressed DCN group that should receive the data message, and directs the data message to the identified DCN. To direct the data message to the identified DCN, the load balancer in some embodiments changes the destination address (e.g., the destination IP address, destination port, destination MAC address, etc.) in the data message from the address of the identified DCN group to the address (e.g., the destination IP address) of the identified DCN.
In one aspect, A computerized method of a gateway distributing routes learned through routing protocols (RP) into a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) includes the step of providing a first gateway that receives a route over a routing protocol. The method includes the step of with the first gateway, redistributing the route to one or more peer routers as a BGP route based on one or more specified criteria. The method includes the step of setting a gateway precedence based on the redistribution of the route to the one or more peer routers as the BGP route. The method includes the step of, based on the gateway precedence, setting a second gateway to automatically redistribute the route with different priorities to influence steering of traffic to a preferred gateway.
H04L 12/66 - Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
H04L 69/325 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25
H04L 47/24 - Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
H04L 41/5041 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
H04L 41/50 - Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
A LRE (logical routing element) that have LIFs that are active in all host machines spanned by the LRE as well as LIFs that are active in only a subset of those spanned host machines is provided. A host machine having an active LIF for a particular L2 segment would perform the L3 routing operations for network traffic related to that L2 segment. A host machine having an inactive LIF for the particular L2 segment would not perform L3 routing operations for the network traffic of the L2 segment.
H04L 45/586 - Association of routers of virtual routers
H04L 47/33 - Flow control; Congestion control using forward notification
H04L 69/325 - Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25
H04L 41/0893 - Assignment of logical groups to network elements
A method for a hypervisor to implement flow-based local egress in a multisite datacenter is disclosed. The method comprises: determining whether a first data packet of a first data flow has been received. If the first data packet has been received, then the hypervisor determines a MAC address of a first local gateway in a first site of a multisite datacenter that communicated the first data packet, and stores the MAC address of the first local gateway and a 5-tuple for the first data flow. Upon determining that a response for the first data flow has been received, the hypervisor determines whether the response includes the MAC address of the first local gateway. If the response includes a MAC address of another local gateway, then the hypervisor replaces, in the response, the MAC address of another local gateway with the MAC address of the first local gateway.
A method is provided that uses a consistent hashing technique to dispatch incoming packets in a stable system prior to adding of a node. The method uses a hash table and assigns hash buckets in the table to each network node. A set of fields in each incoming packet is hashed and is used to identify the corresponding hash bucket. The packets are then dispatched to the network nodes based on the nodes' hash buckets. During an observation period, the method identifies the ongoing sessions by creating a bit vector table that is used to identify the old and new sessions during a re-dispatching period. The method uses the consistent hashing method and the probabilistic method dispatch the incoming packets such that each packet that belongs to an old session is dispatched to the same old node that has been processing the other packets of the session.
H04L 29/08 - Transmission control procedure, e.g. data link level control procedure
H04L 12/24 - Arrangements for maintenance or administration
H04L 12/743 - Header address processing for routing, e.g. table lookup using hashing techniques
H04L 41/0806 - Configuration setting for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
H04L 67/1023 - Server selection for load balancing based on a hash applied to IP addresses or costs
H04L 41/0816 - Configuration setting characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
H04L 67/1001 - Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
H04L 45/7453 - Address table lookup; Address filtering using hashing
H04L 41/08 - Configuration management of networks or network elements
H04L 41/0873 - Checking configuration conflicts between network elements
H04L 41/0813 - Configuration setting characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
100.
Detecting failure of layer 2 service using broadcast messages
Some embodiments provide a method for detecting a failure of a layer 2 (L2) bump-in-the-wire service at a device. In some embodiments, the device sends heartbeat signals to a second device connected to L2 service nodes in order to detect failure of the L2 service (e.g., a failure of all the service nodes). In some embodiments, the heartbeat signals are unidirectional heartbeat signals (e.g., a unidirectional bidirectional-forwarding-detection (BFD) session) sent from each device to the other. The heartbeat signals, in some embodiments, use a broadcast MAC address in order to reach the current active L2 service node in the case of a failover (i.e., an active service node failing and a standby service node becoming the new active service node). The unidirectional heartbeat signals are also used, in some embodiments, to decrease the time between a failover and data messages being forwarded to the new active service node.
H04L 43/0805 - Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters by checking availability
H04L 41/0668 - Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications using network fault recovery by dynamic selection of recovery network elements, e.g. replacement by the most appropriate element after failure
H04L 43/10 - Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
