Mechanism for exchange of routing data between controllers

1. A method comprising:

providing a software defined networking (SDN) network including a plurality of Openflow islands, a first tenant and a second tenant; and

communicating, from the first tenant over the SDN network to the second tenant, a first communication, comprising:

sending the first communication to a first Openflow island of the plurality of Openflow islands, wherein the first communication comprises an identification of the second tenant;

determining the destination address of the second tenant based on a lookup on a aggregated virtual router;

wherein:

the first communication passes through at least two Openflow islands of the plurality of Openflow islands as the first communication is communicated through the SDN network from the first tenant to the second tenant.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

encoding tenant information into a first data packet; and

incorporating the first data packet into the first communication.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:

the encoding of tenant information encodes the tenant information at least partially into a header of the first data packet.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein:

the encoding of tenant information encodes the tenant information at least partially into a Ethernet header MAC address field of the header of the first data packet.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

exchanging data between multiple controllers in the SDN network.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

managing inter-tenant routing using routing table aggregation across controllers in the SDN network.

7. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium, wherein the computer readable storage medium is non-transitory, per se, having stored thereon:

first program instructions programmed to provide a software defined networking (SDN) network including a plurality of Openflow islands, a first tenant and a second tenant; and

second program instructions programmed to communicate, from the first tenant over the SDN network to the second tenant, a first communication, comprising:

third program instructions programmed to send the first communication to a first Openflow island of the plurality of Openflow islands, wherein the first communication comprises an identification of the second tenant;

fourth program instructions programmed to determine the destination address of the second tenant based on a lookup on a aggregated virtual router;

wherein:

the first communication passes through at least two Openflow islands of the plurality of Openflow islands as the first communication is communicated through the SDN network from the first tenant to the second tenant.

8. The product of claim 7 wherein the medium as further stored thereon:

fifth program instructions programmed to encode tenant information into a first data packet; and

sixth program instructions programmed to incorporate the first data packet into the first communication.

9. The product of claim 8 wherein third program instructions are further programmed to:

encode the tenant information at least partially into a header of the first data packet.

10. The product of claim 9 wherein third program instructions are further programmed to:

encode the tenant information at least partially into a Ethernet header MAC address field of the header of the first data packet.

11. The product of claim 7 wherein the medium has further stored thereon:

third program instructions programmed to exchange data between multiple controllers in the SDN network.

12. The product of claim 7 wherein the medium has further stored thereon:

third program instructions programmed to manage inter-tenant routing using routing table aggregation across controllers in the SDN network.

13. A computer system comprising:

a processor(s) set; and

a computer readable storage medium;

wherein:

the processor set is structured, located, connected and/or programmed to run program instructions stored on the computer readable storage medium; and

the program instructions include:

first program instructions programmed to provide a software defined networking (SDN) network including a plurality of Openflow islands, a first tenant and a second tenant, and

second program instructions programmed to communicate, from the first tenant over the SDN network to the second tenant, a first communication, comprising:

third program instructions programmed to send the first communication to a first Openflow island of the plurality of Openflow islands, wherein the first communication comprises an identification of the second tenant;

fourth program instructions programmed to determine the destination address of the second tenant based on a lookup on a aggregated virtual router;

wherein:

the first communication passes through at least two Openflow islands of the plurality of Openflow islands as the first communication is communicated through the SDN network from the first tenant to the second tenant.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the medium as further stored thereon:

fifth program instructions programmed to encode tenant information into a first data packet; and

sixth program instructions programmed to incorporate the first data packet into the first communication.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein third program instructions are further programmed to:

encode the tenant information at least partially into a header of the first data packet.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein third program instructions are further programmed to:

encode the tenant information at least partially into a Ethernet header MAC address field of the header of the first data packet.

17. The system of claim 13 wherein the medium has further stored thereon:

third program instructions programmed to exchange data between multiple controllers in the SDN network.

18. The system of claim 13 wherein the medium has further stored thereon:

third program instructions programmed to manage inter-tenant routing using routing table aggregation across controllers in the SDN network.