Granted Patent B1

US 11,394,684 · App. 17/345,661 · Granted Jul 19, 2022

Inventor: Syed Inayethulla (Davangere, IN)

Assignee: Dell Products L.P.

H04L61/1541H04L12/4641H04L49/15H04L61/2557

Abstract

Claims (102)

1. An address discovery system, comprising:

a plurality of supplier switch devices that are each coupled to at least one host device; and

a distributor switch device that is coupled to each of the plurality of supplier switch devices via a network and that is configured to:

receive, via the network from each of the plurality of supplier switch devices, respective first Virtual extensible Local Area Network (VxLAN) data packets that each include:

a first bit of a flags section set to indicate that first VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

a second bit of the flags section set to indicate that first VxLAN data packet is providing host address information; and

host address information for each host device that is coupled to that supplier switch device;

store the host address information in a database;

receive, subsequent to storing the host address information in the database and via the network from a first supplier switch device that is included in the plurality of supplier switch devices, a second VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that second VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

a third bit of the flags section set to indicate that second VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery request; and

a second host device identifier for a second host device that is coupled to a second supplier switch device;

determine that second host address information is associated with the second host device identifier in the host address information stored in the database;

retrieve the second host address information from the database; and

transmit, via the network to the first supplier switch device, a third VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that third VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

a fourth bit of the flags section set to indicate that second VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery reply; and

the second host address information.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the distributor switch device and each of the plurality of supplier switch devices are provided by a respective Virtual extensible Local Area Network (VxLAN) Tunnel EndPoint (VTEP) device.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the host address information is received from each of the plurality of supplier switch devices in a respective Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the distributor switch device and each of the plurality of supplier switch devices share a common Virtual Network Interface (VNI).

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second host device identifier is provided by a Internet Protocol (IP) address, and wherein the second host address information is provided by a Media Access Control (MAC) address.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the distributor switch device is configured to:

receive, subsequent to storing the host address information in the database and from a third supplier switch device that is included in the plurality of supplier switch devices, a fourth VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that fourth VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

the third bit of the flags section set to indicate that fourth VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery request; and

a third host device identifier for a third host device;

determine that third host address information is not associated with the third host device identifier in the host address information stored in the database;

flood, via the network, a broadcast address discovery request that is associated with the third host address information;

receive, via the network in response to flooding the broadcast address discovery request via the network, the third host address information; and

transmit, to the second supplier switch device, a fifth VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that fifth VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

the fourth bit of the flags section set to indicate that fifth VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery reply; and

the third host address information.

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

a processing system; and

a memory system that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide an address discovery engine that is configured to:

receive, via a network from each of a plurality of switch devices, respective first Virtual extensible Local Area Network (VxLAN) data packets that each include:

a first bit of a flags section set to indicate that first VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

a second bit of the flags section set to indicate that first VxLAN data packet is providing host address information; and

host address information for each host device that is coupled to that switch device;

store the host address information in a database;

receive, subsequent to storing the host address information in the database and via the network from a first switch device that is included in the plurality of switch devices, a second VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that second VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

a third bit of the flags section set to indicate that second VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery request; and

a second host device identifier for a second host device that is coupled to a second switch device;

determine that second host address information is associated with the second host device identifier in the host address information stored in the database;

retrieve the second host address information from the database; and

transmit, via the network to the first switch device, a third VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that third VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

a fourth bit of the flags section set to indicate that second VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery reply; and

the second host address information.

8. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of switch devices are provided by a respective Virtual extensible Local Area Network (VxLAN) Tunnel EndPoint (VTEP) device, and wherein the address discovery engine is included in a VTEP device.

9. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the host address information is received from each of the plurality of switch devices in a respective Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table.

10. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the address discovery engine and each of the plurality of switch devices share a common Virtual Network Interface (VNI).

11. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the second host device identifier is provided by a second host device Internet Protocol (IP) address of the second host device, and wherein the second host address information is provided by a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the second host device.

12. The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the second VxLAN data packet includes a first switch device Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first switch device, a first switch device Media Access Control (MAC) address of the first switch device, the second host device IP address of the second host device, and does not include a valid MAC address in a MAC address section of the second VxLAN data packet.

13. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the address discovery engine is configured to:

receive, subsequent to storing the host address information in the database and from a second switch device that is included in the plurality of switch devices, a fourth VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that fourth VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

the third bit of the flags section set to indicate that fourth VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery request; and

a third host device identifier for a third host device;

determine that third host address information is not associated with the third host device identifier in the host address information stored in the database;

flood, via the network, a broadcast address discovery request that is associated with the third host address information;

receive, via the network in response to flooding the broadcast address discovery request via the network, the third host address information; and

transmit, to the second switch device, a fifth VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that fifth VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

the fourth bit of the flags section set to indicate that fifth VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery reply; and

the third host address information.

14. A method for discovering addresses, comprising:

receiving, by a distributor switch device via a network from each of a plurality of supplier switch devices, respective first Virtual extensible Local Area Network (VxLAN) data packets that each include:

a first bit of a flags section set to indicate that first VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

a second bit of the flags section set to indicate that first VxLAN data packet is providing host address information; and

host address information for each host device that is coupled to that supplier switch device;

storing, by the distributor switch device, the host address information in a database;

receiving, by the distributor switch device subsequent to storing the host address information in the database and via the network from a first supplier switch device that is included in the plurality of supplier switch devices, a second VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that second VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

a third bit of the flags section set to indicate that second VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery request; and

a second host device identifier for a second host device that is coupled to a second supplier switch device;

determining that second host address information is associated with the second host device identifier in the host address information stored in the database;

retrieving the second host address information from the database; and

transmitting, via the network to the first supplier switch device, a third VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that third VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

a fourth bit of the flags section set to indicate that second VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery reply; and

the second host address information.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the distributor switch device and each of the plurality of supplier switch devices are provided by a respective Virtual extensible Local Area Network (VxLAN) Tunnel EndPoint (VTEP) device.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the host address information is received from each of the plurality of supplier switch devices in a respective Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the distributor switch device and each of the plurality of supplier switch devices share a common Virtual Network Interface (VNI).

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the second host device identifier is provided by a second host Internet Protocol (IP) address of the second host device, and wherein the second host address information is provided by a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the second host device.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the second VxLAN data packet includes a first supplier switch device Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first supplier switch device, a first supplier switch device Media Access Control (MAC) address of the first supplier switch device, the second host device IP address of the second host device, and does not include a valid MAC address of the second VxLAN data packet.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving, by the distributor switch device subsequent to storing the host address information in the database and from a second supplier switch device that is included in the plurality of supplier switch devices, a fourth VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that fourth VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

the third bit of the flags section set to indicate that fourth VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery request; and

a third host device identifier for a third host device;

determining, by the distributor switch device, that third host address information is not associated with the third host device identifier in the host address information stored in the database;

flooding, by the distributor switch device via the network, a broadcast address discovery request that is associated with the third host address information;

receiving, by the distributor switch device via the network in response to flooding the third address discovery request via the network, the third host address information; and

transmitting, to the second supplier switch device, a fifth VxLAN data packet that includes:

the first bit of the flags section set to indicate that fifth VxLAN data packet is being provided for address discovery;

the fourth bit of the flags section set to indicate that fifth VxLAN data packet is providing an address discovery reply; and

the third host address information.

Assignments (8)

Priority Claims (1)