Synchronizing IP information of virtual machines

1. A method for synchronizing internet protocol (IP) information of virtual machines in a switch, the method comprising:

prior to a migration of a virtual machine within a subnet:

obtaining, by a switch, an IP relevant message of the virtual machine within the subnet by snooping a transmission of another device in the subnet;

recording, by the switch, IP information and connection information of the virtual machine based on the IP relevant message; and

in response to migration of the virtual machine, modifying, by the switch, connection information of the virtual machine while maintaining the IP information of the virtual machine through migration.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the IP relevant message comprises the IP confirmation message of the at least one virtual machine, and wherein the transmission is the broadcast message from the DHCP server.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the IP relevant message comprises the IP confirmation message of a virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine hosted by the server that is connected to the switch, and wherein the transmission is the unicast message from the DHCP server.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the IP relevant message comprises the IP confirmation message of a second virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine that is hosted by another server that is connected to another switch in the subnet, and wherein the IP confirmation message is obtained by snooping a broadcast from the another switch in the subnet.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the connection information comprises:

connection status information; and

a lease time corresponding to the IP information, and wherein recording the IP information and the connection information of the at least one virtual machine comprises:

recording the connection status information of a first virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine that is connected to the switch as a first status;

recording the connection status information of the second virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine that is connected to another switch as a second status; and

deleting IP information for a third virtual machine in response to a lease time corresponding to the IP information for the third virtual machine having expired.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the specific virtual machine is migrated in from another switch or migrated out from the switch, and wherein the switch modifying the connection information of the specific virtual machine comprises:

modifying the connection status information of the specific virtual machine from the second status into the first status and recording determined connection parameter information of the specific virtual machine in response to the specific virtual machine migrating in from another switch; and

modifying the connection status information of the specific virtual machine from the first status into the second status in response to the specific virtual machine migrating out from the switch.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the switch maintaining a record table that stores the IP information and the connection information of virtual machines in the subnet, the record table comprising a plurality of entries, each entry storing information for a specific virtual machine including:

a media access control (MAC) address;

an IP address;

a port;

a virtual local area network (VLAN);

a lease time; and

connection status information indicating an active connection or an inactive connection.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the switch obtaining the IP relevant message of the at least one virtual machine within the subnet comprises obtaining an IP release message of a certain virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine, and

wherein the switch recording the IP information and connection information of the at least one virtual machine comprises deleting IP information of the certain virtual machine.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the IP relevant message is a unicasted DHCP ACK packet, and wherein the switch broadcasting the IP confirmation message within the subnet more than one time comprises, prior to broadcasting the IP confirmation message:

the switch modifying a target media access control (MAC) address of the DHCP ACK packet as FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF;

the switch modifying a target IP address as 255.255.255.255;

the switch recalculating an IP head checksum; and

the switch maintaining other fields of the DHCP ACK packet.

10. An apparatus for synchronizing internet protocol (IP) information of virtual machines in a switch, the apparatus comprising at least one hardware processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the at least one hardware processor, the logic being configured as:

a message obtaining unit configured to obtain, prior to a migration of a virtual machine within a subnet, an IP relevant message of the virtual machine within the subnet by snooping a transmission of another device in the subnet;

a recording unit configured to record, prior to the migration of the virtual machine within the subnet, IP information and connection information of the virtual machine based on the IP relevant message; and

a modifying unit configured to modify, in response to migration of the virtual machine, connection information of the virtual machine while maintaining the IP information of the virtual machine through migration.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the IP relevant message comprises the IP confirmation message of the at least one virtual machine, and wherein the transmission is the broadcast message from the DHCP server.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the IP relevant message comprises the IP confirmation message of a virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine that is connected to the switch, wherein the transmission is the unicast message from the DHCP server, wherein the IP relevant message further comprises a unicasted DHCP ACK packet, and wherein the message obtaining unit is further configured to, prior to broadcasting the IP confirmation message:

modify a target media access control (MAC) address of the DHCP ACK packet as FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF;

modify a target IP address as 255.255.255.255;

recalculate an IP head checksum; and

maintain other fields of the DHCP ACK packet.

13. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the IP relevant message comprises the IP confirmation message of a second virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine that is hosted by another server that is connected to another switch in the subnet, and wherein the message obtaining unit is configured to obtain the IP confirmation message by snooping a broadcast from the another switch in the subnet.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the connection information comprises connection status information, and wherein the recording unit is configured to:

record the connection status information of a first virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine that is connected to the switch as a first status; and

record the connection status information of the second virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine that is connected to another switch as a second status.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the modifying unit is configured to modify the connection status information of the specific virtual machine from the second status into the first status and record determined connection parameter information of the specific virtual machine in response to that the specific virtual machine being migrated in from another switch.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the modifying unit is configured to modify the connection status information of the specific virtual machine from the first status into the second status in response to the specific virtual machine being migrated out from the switch.

17. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the message obtaining unit is configured to obtain an IP release message of a certain virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine, wherein the recording unit is configured to delete IP information of the certain virtual machine, and wherein the recording unit is configured to maintain a record table that stores the IP information and the connection information of virtual machines in the subnet, the record table comprising a plurality of entries, each entry storing information for a specific virtual machine including:

a media access control (MAC) address;

an IP address;

a port;

a virtual local area network (VLAN);

a lease time; and

connection status information indicating an active connection or an inactive connection.

18. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the modifying unit is configured to modify a connection parameter of the specific virtual machine in response to the specific virtual machine being migrated within the switch.

19. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the embodied program instructions readable/executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

prior to a migration of a virtual machine within a subnet:

obtaining an IP relevant message of the virtual machine within the subnet by snooping a transmission of another device in the subnet;

recording IP information and connection information of the virtual machine based on the IP relevant message; and

modifying connection information of the virtual machine in response to migration of the virtual machine, while maintaining the IP information of the virtual machine through migration.

20. The computer program product as recited in claim 19 , wherein the embodied program instructions are configured to snoop the IP relevant message of the at least one virtual machine within the subnet from the transmission selected from a group consisting of: the broadcast message from the DHCP server, the unicast message from the DHCP server, the IP confirmation message of a second virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine that is connected to another switch in the subnet, and the IP release message of the certain virtual machine of the at least one virtual machine, wherein the IP relevant message is a unicasted DHCP ACK packet that comprises the IP confirmation message of the at least one virtual machine, and wherein the method comprises, prior to broadcasting the IP confirmation message:

modifying a target media access control (MAC) address of the DHCP ACK packet as FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF;

modifying a target IP address as 255.255.255.255;

recalculating an IP head checksum; and

maintaining other fields of the DHCP ACK packet.