Reducing routes based on network traffic utilization
Technologies are provided for managing routing updates for Internet Protocol (IP) addresses based on network traffic utilization. For example, a set of IP addresses can be obtained (e.g., IP addresses that are assigned to hosts). Network traffic utilization data can be obtained for the set of IP addresses. Using the network traffic utilization data, a subset of set of IP addresses can be identified reflecting which of the IP addresses are being utilized (e.g., that have network traffic utilization over a threshold amount for a previous time period). The utilized IP addresses can be included in a routing update, which can be provided to one or more routers. For example, the routing update can add routes for IP addresses that are being utilized. The routing update can also withdraw routes for IP addresses that are not being utilized.
1. A system, comprising a processing unit and a network interface, the system comprising:
a controller that is configured to perform operations comprising:
identifying a set of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses that are assigned to host computing devices;
determining a subset of utilized IP addresses from the set of IP addresses, wherein the utilized IP addresses are determined based on network traffic utilization data for the set of IP addresses by the host computing devices;
reducing the set of IP addresses by removing IP addresses that are not in the subset of utilized IP addresses;
generating a routing update for advertising to a router, wherein the routing update:
adds specific routes for the reduced set of IP addresses; and
withdraws specific routes for the IP addresses that are not in the subset of utilized IP addresses, wherein the IP addresses that are not in the subset of utilized IP addresses remain assigned to the host computing devices after the specific routes are withdrawn;
wherein a specific route is a route for one or more IP addresses that routes network traffic directly to a given network area; and
providing the routing update to the router.
2. The system of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
performing route aggregation on the reduced set of IP addresses, wherein the route aggregation comprises combining IP addresses into larger subnets.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the subset of utilized IP addresses is determined to be IP addresses associated with hosts that used more than a threshold amount of network traffic over a previous time period.
4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a network traffic monitor that is configured to perform operations comprising:
collecting network traffic utilization data from a collection of routers; and
providing the network traffic utilization data to the controller.
5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an IP address manager that is configured to perform operations comprising:
maintaining IP usage data for the host computing devices; and
based on the IP usage data, providing the set of IP addresses to the controller.
6. A computing device comprising:
a processing unit; and
a network interface;
wherein the computing device is configured to perform operations, the operations comprising:
identifying a set of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses that are assigned to hosts;
determining which of the set of IP addresses are being used based on network traffic utilization data for the set of IP addresses by the hosts;
generating a routing update that:
adds specific routes for the set of IP addresses that are being used; and
withdraws specific routes for the IP addresses that are not being used, wherein the IP addresses that are not being used remain assigned to the hosts after the specific routes are withdrawn;
wherein a specific route is a route for one or more IP addresses that routes network traffic directly to a given network area; and
publishing the routing update to a router.
7. The computing device of claim 6 , the operations further comprising:
performing route aggregation on the used IP addresses, wherein the route aggregation comprises combining IP addresses into larger subnets.
8. The computing device of claim 6 , the operations further comprising:
performing route aggregation on the identified set of IP addresses, wherein the route aggregation comprises combining IP addresses into larger subnets.
9. The computing device of claim 6 , wherein the used IP addresses are determined to be IP addresses associated with hosts that used more than a threshold amount of network traffic over a previous time period.
10. The computing device of claim 6 , wherein determining which of the set of IP addresses are being used comprises:
if an IP address used more than a threshold amount of network traffic over a first time period, including an entry in the routing update to add a specific route for the IP address; and
otherwise, if the IP address did not use more than the threshold amount of network traffic over a second time period, including an entry in the routing update to withdraw a specific route for the IP address;
wherein the first time period is shorter than the second time period.
11. The computing device of claim 6 , wherein the IP addresses are public IP addresses that are reachable via the Internet.
12. A method, implemented by a computing device, the method comprising:
identifying a set of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses that are assigned to hosts;
determining which of the set of IP addresses are used based on network traffic utilization data for the set of IP addresses by the hosts, wherein the used IP addresses are determined to be IP addresses associated with hosts that used more than a threshold amount of network traffic over a previous time period;
generating a routing update that is usable by a router to:
add specific routes for the IP addresses that are used; and
remove specific routes for the IP addresses that are not used, wherein the IP addresses that are not used remain assigned to the hosts after the specific routes are removed;
wherein a specific route is a route for one or more IP addresses that routes network traffic directly to a given network area; and
publishing the routing update to a router.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the routing update does not include routes for the IP addresses that are not being used.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the routing update withdraws routes for the IP addresses that are not being used.
15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
performing route aggregation on the used IP addresses, wherein the route aggregation comprises combining IP addresses into larger subnets.
16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
performing route aggregation on the identified set of IP addresses, wherein the route aggregation comprises combining IP addresses into larger subnets.
17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the threshold amount is zero.
18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the network traffic utilization data is obtained from a collection of routers that provide routing services for the hosts.
19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the IP addresses that are not in the subset of utilized IP addresses are routable using default routes.