Switch monitoring statistics gathering at servers and gateways for overlay networks

1. A system, comprising:

a hardware processor and logic integrated with the hardware processor, executable by the hardware processor, or integrated with and executable by the hardware processor, the logic being configured to:

create, on a per-tunnel basis, statistics about overlay-encapsulated packets which are received by or sent by the hardware processor across an overlay network, including counting events associated with de-encapsulation of one or more inner packets from an overlay-encapsulated packet;

record the statistics in association with a virtual network identifier and a tunnel identifier that identifies a tunnel on which the overlay-encapsulated packets are received or sent; and

maintain a table indexed for the virtual network identifier and the tunnel identifier, the table comprising:

the virtual network identifier;

the tunnel identifier; and

statistic bucket identifiers pointing to locations where statistics associated with the virtual network identifier and the tunnel identifier are stored.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic configured to create, on the per-tunnel basis, the statistics includes logic configured to count events associated with an encapsulation of one or more of the inner packets into the overlay-encapsulated packet, the events including:

sending one or more packets,

receiving one or more packets,

dropping one or more packets, and

re-routing one or more packets.

3. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the statistics include Layer-2 (L2) egress statistics, L2 ingress statistics, or L2 egress statistics and L2 ingress statistics based on outermost local area network (LAN) headers of the overlay-encapsulated packets.

4. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the statistics include Layer-2 (L2) egress statistics or L2 ingress statistics based on outermost local area network (LAN) headers of the overlay-encapsulated packets.

5. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the statistics include egress statistics, ingress statistics, or egress and ingress statistics based on outermost local area network (LAN) headers of the overlay-encapsulated packets.

6. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic is further configured to:

meter traffic flow on an overlay network based on statistics associated with the overlay network.

7. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic is further configured to:

meter traffic flow across a tunnel associated with the tunnel identifier based on statistics associated with the tunnel.

8. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic is further configured to:

count events associated with encapsulation of one or more inner packets into an overlay-encapsulated packet.

9. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic is further configured to:

correlate statistics associated with an overlay-encapsulated packet with statistics associated with one or more inner packets of the overlay-encapsulated packet.

10. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic is further configured to:

correlate statistics associated with each overlay network that utilizes a first tunnel with statistics associated with the first tunnel.

11. A method, comprising:

creating on a per-tunnel basis, by a hardware processor, statistics about overlay- encapsulated packets which are received by or sent by the hardware processor across an overlay network, including counting events associated with de-encapsulation of one or more inner packets from an overlay-encapsulated packet;

recording, by the hardware processor, the statistics in association with a virtual network identifier and a tunnel identifier that identifies a tunnel on which the overlay- encapsulated packets are received or sent; and

maintaining, by the hardware processor, a table indexed for the virtual network identifier and the tunnel identifier, the table comprising:

the virtual network identifier;

the tunnel identifier; and

statistic bucket identifiers pointing to locations where statistics associated with the virtual network identifier and the tunnel identifier are stored.

12. The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising storing the statistics in a storage device accessible to the hardware processor, wherein the statistics include Layer-2 (L2) egress statistics and L2 ingress statistics based on outermost local area network (LAN) headers of the overlay-encapsulated packets.

13. The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising:

metering traffic flow on the overlay network based on statistics associated with the overlay network.

14. The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising:

metering traffic flow across a tunnel associated with the tunnel identifier based on statistics associated with the tunnel.

15. The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising:

counting events associated with encapsulation of one or more inner packets into an overlay-encapsulated packet.

16. The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising:

correlating statistics associated with an overlay-encapsulated packet with statistics associated with one or more inner packets of the overlay-encapsulated packet.

17. The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising:

correlating statistics associated with each overlay network that utilizes a first tunnel with statistics associated with the first tunnel.

18. A computer program product comprising a computer readable hardware storage device having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the embodied computer readable program code comprising:

computer readable program code to create, on a per-tunnel basis, statistics about overlay-encapsulated packets which are received by or sent by a processor across an overlay network, including counting events associated with de-encapsulation of one or more inner packets from an overlay-encapsulated packet;

computer readable program code to record the statistics in association with a virtual network identifier and a tunnel identifier that identifies a tunnel on which the overlay-encapsulated packets are received or sent; and

computer readable program code to maintain a table indexed for the virtual network identifier and the tunnel identifier, the table comprising:

the virtual network identifier;

the tunnel identifier; and

statistic bucket identifiers pointing to locations where statistics associated with the virtual network identifier and the tunnel identifier are stored.

19. The computer program product as recited in claim 18 , the embodied computer readable program code further comprising:

computer readable program code to meter traffic flow on the overlay network based on statistics associated with the overlay network.

20. The computer program product as recited in claim 18 , the embodied computer readable program code further comprising:

computer readable program code to meter traffic flow across a tunnel associated with the tunnel identifier based on statistics associated with the tunnel; and

computer readable program code to count events associated with encapsulation of one or more inner packets into an overlay-encapsulated packet.