Granted Patent B2

US 11,343,174 · App. 15/929,858 · Granted May 24, 2022

Inventor: Kannan Karuppiah (Freemong, CA)

Assignee: Dell Products L.P.

H04L45/245G06F16/27H04L61/103H04W56/001G06Q10/10H04L61/6022

Abstract

Claims (57)

1. A networking aggregation synchronization system, comprising:

a second aggregated networking device that is configured to provide a second portion of a link aggregation to a connected device; and

a first aggregated networking device that is coupled to the second aggregated networking device via an inter-aggregated-networking-device link and that is configured to provide a first portion of the link aggregation to the connected device, wherein the first aggregated networking device is configured to:

receive a first packet via a first aggregated port that is included in the first aggregated networking device and that provides the first portion of the link aggregation to the connected device, wherein the first packet includes first synchronization information for synchronizing at least one of a Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) manager process, a multicast routing protocol process, an aggregation Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) process, an Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping process, and a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) process running in each of the first aggregated networking device and the second aggregated networking device;

copy, based on at least one first Access Control List (ACL) entry using a first Network Processing Unit (NPU) that is included in the first aggregated networking device and that is configured to also perform data path determination and data path forwarding, the first packet to provide a first copied packet; and

provide, based on the at least one first ACL entry using a first remote CPU feature provided by the first NPU, the first copied packet to the second aggregated networking device via a first remote CPU port included in the inter-aggregated-networking-device link, wherein the second aggregated networking device is configured to:

receive, via the inter-aggregated-networking-device link using a second NPU included in the second aggregated networking device, the first copied packet; and

synchronize, using a second CPU included in the second aggregated networking device and the first synchronization information included in the first copied packet, the respective corresponding second aggregated networking device processes with the at least one first aggregated networking device process running in the first aggregated networking device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second aggregated networking device is configured to:

receive a second packet on a second aggregated port that provides the first portion of the link aggregation to the connected device, wherein the second packet includes second synchronization information for synchronizing the at least one of the ARP management process, the multicast routing protocol process, the aggregation STP process, the IGMP snooping process, and the DHCP process running in each of the first aggregated networking device and the second aggregated networking device;

copy, based on at least one second ACL entry using the second NPU, the second packet to provide a second copied packet; and

provide, based on at least one second ACL entry using a second remote CPU feature provided by the second NPU, the second copied packet to the first aggregated networking device via a second remote CPU port included in the inter-aggregated-networking-device link, wherein the first aggregated networking device is configured to:

receive, via the inter-aggregated-networking-device link using the first NPU, the second copied packet; and

synchronize, using a first CPU included in the first aggregated networking device and the second synchronization information included in the second copied packet, the at least one first aggregated networking device process with the respective corresponding second aggregated networking device processes.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first aggregated networking device is configured to:

provide the first packet to a first CPU included in the first aggregated networking device; and

update, using the first CPU, the at least one first aggregated networking device process.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the providing the first copied packet to the second aggregated networking device via the first remote CPU port included in the inter-aggregated-networking-device link includes:

providing, using the first network processing system, the first copied packet to a first queue that is coupled to the first remote CPU port included in the inter-aggregated-networking-device link; and

outputting, via the first queue and the first remote CPU port, the first copied packet to the inter-aggregated-networking-device link.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first remote CPU feature is enabled at a first CPU Class of Service Queue (CoSQ) level.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first aggregated networking device process includes at least one of a Media Access Control (MAC) address process, an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) process, and a multicast routing process.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second aggregated networking device is designated as a primary aggregated networking device, and wherein the first aggregated networking device is designated as a secondary aggregated networking device.

8. An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:

a Central Processing Unit (CPU);

a Network Processing Unit (NPU) that is configured to perform data path determination and data path forwarding; and

a memory system that is coupled to the NPU and the CPU and that includes instructions that, when executed by the NPU, cause the NPU to provide a network synchronization engine that is configured to:

receive a first packet on a first aggregated port that provides a first portion of a link aggregation to a connected device, wherein the first packet includes first synchronization information for synchronizing at least one of a Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) manager process, a multicast routing protocol process, an aggregation Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) process, an Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping process, and a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) process running in each of the IHS and a first aggregated networking device that is coupled to the NPU via an inter-aggregated-networking-device link;

copy, based on at least one first Access Control List (ACL) entry, the first packet to provide a first copied packet; and

provide, based on at least one first ACL entry using a remote CPU feature provided by the NPU, the first copied packet to the first aggregated networking device via a first remote CPU port included in the inter-aggregated-networking-device link without processing the first copied packet using the CPU.

9. The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the network synchronization engine is configured to:

receive, via the inter-aggregated-networking-device link from the first aggregated networking device, a second copied packet and wherein the CPU is configured to:

synchronize, using the second synchronization information included in the second copied packet, the at least one of the ARP management process, the multicast routing protocol process, the aggregation STP process, the IGMP snooping process, and the DHCP process running in each of the IHS and the first aggregated networking device.

10. The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the network synchronization engine is configured to:

provide the first packet to the CPU, and wherein the CPU is configured to:

update the at least one first aggregated networking device process.

11. The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the providing the first copied packet to the first aggregated networking device via the first remote CPU port included in the inter-aggregated-networking-device link includes:

providing the first copied packet to a first queue that is coupled to the first remote CPU port included in the inter-aggregated-networking-device link; and

outputting, via the first queue and the first remote CPU port, the first copied packet to the inter-aggregated-networking-device link.

12. The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the first remote CPU feature is enabled at a first CPU Class of Service Queue (CoSQ) level.

13. The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the at least one first aggregated networking device process includes at least one of a Media Access Control (MAC) address process, an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) process, and a multicast routing process.

14. A method of synchronizing aggregated networking devices, comprising:

receiving, by a first Network Processing Unit (NPU) included in a first aggregated networking device, a first packet on a first aggregated port that provides a first portion of a link aggregation to a connected device, wherein the first packet includes first synchronization information for synchronizing at least one of a Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) manager process, a multicast routing protocol process, an aggregation Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) process, an Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping process, and a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) process running in each of the first aggregated networking device and a second aggregated networking device that is coupled to the first aggregated networking device via an inter-aggregated-networking-device link;

copying, by the first NPU based on at least one first Access Control List (ACL) entry, the first packet to provide a first copied packet; and

providing, by the first NPU based on at least one first ACL entry using a remote CPU feature provided by the NPU, the first copied packet to the second aggregated networking device via a first remote CPU port included in the inter-aggregated-networking-device link without processing the first copied packet using a first Central Processing Unit (CPU) included in the first aggregated networking device.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving, by the first aggregated networking device via the inter-aggregated-networking-device link from the second aggregated networking device, a second copied packet; and

synchronizing, by the first aggregated networking device using the first CPU and second synchronization information included in the second copied packet, the at least one of the ARP management process, the multicast routing protocol process, the aggregation STP process, the IGMP snooping process, and the DHCP process running in each of the first aggregated networking device and the second aggregated networking device.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

providing, by the first network processing system, the first packet to the first CPU; and

updating, using the first CPU, the at least one first aggregated networking device process.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the providing the first copied packet to the second aggregated networking device via the first remote CPU port included in the inter-aggregated-networking-device link includes:

providing, using the first NPU, the first copied packet to a first queue that is coupled to the first remote CPU port included in the inter-aggregated-networking-device link; and

outputting, via the first queue and the first inter remote CPU port, the first copied packet to the inter-aggregated-networking-device link.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first remote CPU feature is enabled at a first CPU Class of Service Queue (CoSQ) level.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the at least one first aggregated networking device process includes at least one of a Media Access Control (MAC) address process, an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) process, and a multicast routing process.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the second aggregated networking device is designated as a primary aggregated networking device, and wherein the first aggregated networking device is designated as a secondary aggregated networking device.

Assignments (9)

Continuity (1)