Packet forwarding method, apparatus, and system

1. A packet forwarding method, implemented by an ingress provider edge (PE) in an Ethernet virtual private network instance (EVI), the method comprising:

receiving a broadcast, unknown unicast, and multicast (BUM) packet from a first customer edge (CE);

forwarding the BUM packet to a first egress PE which is a designated forwarder (DF) for forwarding the BUM packet to a second CE, wherein the second CE is multi-homed to the first egress PE and a second egress PE, and wherein an Ethernet virtual private network (EVPN) associated with the EVI comprises the first customer edge (CE) and the second CE; and

skipping forwarding the BUM packet to the second egress PE which is not a DF for forwarding the BUM packet.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a border gateway protocol (BGP) update message sent by the first egress PE, wherein the BGP update message indicates that the first egress PE is the DF.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein:

the BGP update message comprises a EVPN network layer reachability information (NLRI), the EVPN NLRI comprises a route type field, a route distinguisher (RD) field, and a state indication field;

content of the route type field indicates that the EVPN NLRI carries information about a state of the EVI;

the RD field carries an RD of the EVI on the first egress PE; and

in response to content of the state indication field being a first value, the state of the EVI associated with the RD is active.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein:

the BGP update message comprises a EVPN network layer reachability information (NLRI) and an extended community attribute associated with the EVPN NLRI which comprises a route distinguisher (RD) field, the extended community attribute comprises a type field and a state indication field;

content of the type field indicates that the extended community attribute carries information about a state of the EVI;

the RD field carries an RD of the EVI on the first egress PE; and

in response to content of the state indication field being a first value, the state of the EVI corresponding to the RD is active.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a border gateway protocol (BGP) update message sent by the first egress PE,

wherein the BGP update message indicates a state of a Ethernet segment (ES) is active, and

wherein the first egress PE is connected to the second CE by using the ES; and

determining, according the state of the ES, that the first egress PE is the DF.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein:

the BGP update message comprises a EVPN network layer reachability information (NLRI), wherein the EVPN NLRI comprises a route type field, a route distinguisher (RD) field, an Ethernet signal identifier (ESI) field, and a state indication field;

content of the route type field indicates that the EVPN NLRI carries information about a state of the ES;

the RD field carries an RD of the EVI on the first egress PE, the ESI field carries a ESI uniquely identifying the ES; and

in response to that content of the state indication field being a first value, the state of the ES is active; and

in response to that the content of the second state indication field being a second value, the state of the ES is inactive.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein:

the BGP update message comprises EVPN network layer reachability information (NLRI) and an extended community attribute associated with the EVPN NLRI,

wherein the EVPN NLRI comprises a route distinguisher (RD) field and an Ethernet signal identifier (ESI) field, and

wherein the extended community attribute comprises a type field and a state indication field;

content of the type field indicates the extended community attribute carries information about a state of an ES, the RD field carries an RD of the EVI on the first egress PE, and the ESI field carries a ESI uniquely identifying the ES;

in response to content of the state indication field being a first value, the state of the ES is active; and

in response to the content of the state indication field being a second value, the state of the ES is inactive.

8. A packet forwarding system comprising an ingress provider edge (PE), a first egress PE, and a second egress PE that are in an Ethernet virtual private network instance (EVI), wherein the ingress PE is configured to:

receive a broadcast, unknown unicast, and multicast (BUM) packet from a first customer edge (CE);

forward the BUM packet to the first egress PE, which is a designated forwarder (DF) for forwarding the BUM packet to a second CE,

wherein the second CE is multi-homed to the first egress PE and the second egress PE, and

wherein an Ethernet virtual private network (EVPN) associated with the EVI comprises the first CE and the second CE; and

skip forwarding the BUM packet to the second egress PE, which is not a DF for forwarding the BUM packet.

9. The packet forwarding system according to claim 8 , wherein the first egress PE is configured to:

generate a border gateway protocol (BGP) update message, wherein the BGP update message indicates the state of the EVI on the first egress PE is active, and

send the BGP update message to the ingress PE.

10. The packet forwarding system according to claim 8 , wherein the second egress PE is configured to:

generate a border gateway protocol (BGP) update message, wherein the BGP update message indicates the state of the EVI on the second egress PE is inactive, and

send the first BGP update message to the ingress PE.

11. An ingress provider edge (PE) device in an Ethernet virtual private network instance (EVI), the ingress PE device comprising:

a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is configured to store program code that, when executed by the processor, cause the ingress PE device to:

receive a broadcast, unknown unicast, and multicast (BUM) packet from a first customer edge (CE);

forward the BUM packet to a first egress PE which is a designated forwarder (DF) for forwarding the BUM packet to a second CE,

wherein the second CE is multi-homed to the first egress PE and a second egress PE, and

wherein an Ethernet virtual private network (EVPN) associated with the EVI includes the first CE and the second CE; and

skip forwarding the BUM packet to the second egress PE which is not a DF for forwarding the BUM packet.

12. The ingress PE of claim 11 , wherein the program code further cause the ingress PE to:

receive a border gateway protocol (BGP) update message sent by the first egress PE, wherein the first BGP update message indicates the state of the EVI on the first egress PE is active.

13. The ingress PE of claim 11 , wherein the program code further causes the ingress PE to:

receive a border gateway protocol (BGP) update message sent by the first egress PE,

wherein the BGP update message indicates a state of an Ethernet segment (ES) is active, and

wherein the first egress PE is connected to the second CE by using the ES;

in response to the state of the ES being active, the ES is used to forward the BUM packet to the second CE; and

determine, according to the state of the ES, that the first egress PE is the DF.

14. The ingress PE of claim 11 , wherein skip forwarding the BUM packet to the second egress PE comprises blocking a unicast tunnel established between the ingress PE and the second egress PE.

15. The ingress PE of claim 11 , wherein skip forwarding the BUM packet to the second egress PE comprises skiping establishing a unicast tunnel between the ingress PE and the second egress PE.

16. The ingress PE of claim 11 , wherein the program code further causes the ingress PE to:

receive a border gateway protocol (BGP) update message sent by the first egress PE, wherein the BGP update message indicates the state of the EVI on the first egress PE is active, and wherein the state of the EVI on the first egress PE is active indicates the first egress PE is the DF.

17. The ingress PE of claim 11 , wherein the program code further causes the ingress PE to:

receive a border gateway protocol (BGP) update message sent by the second egress PE, wherein the BGP update message indicates the state of the EVI on the second egress PE is inactive, and wherein the state of the EVI on the second egress PE is inactive indicates the second egress PE is not the DF.