Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to provide a multicast virtual private network (MVPN)
Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to provide a multicast virtual private network (MVPN) are disclosed. Example methods to transmit multicast data in a network disclosed herein include monitoring, with a first network node, a multicast data flow to determine a characteristic for triggering a switch from a first logical topology for the multicast data flow to a second logical topology for the multicast data flow. Disclosed example methods also include, after the switch to the second logical topology, accessing a multicast data packet associated with a first multicast route generated for the multicast data flow from a second network node, and transmitting a first replication of the multicast data packet to a third network node via a unicast path, the first replication of the multicast data packet to include a first label provided by the third network node to identify the first multicast route.
1. A first network node comprising:
memory including computer readable instructions; and
a processor to execute the computer readable instructions to perform operations including:
monitoring a multicast data flow to determine a characteristic for triggering a switch from a first logical topology for the multicast data flow to a second logical topology for the multicast data flow; and
after the switch to the second logical topology:
accessing a multicast data packet from a second network node, the multicast data packet associated with a first multicast route generated for the multicast data flow; and
transmitting a first replication of the multicast data packet to a third network node via a unicast path, the first replication of the multicast data packet to include a first label provided by the third network node to identify the first multicast route.
2. The first network node of claim 1 , wherein the first network node is associated with a first Internet protocol address in the first logical topology and the first network node is associated with a second Internet protocol address in the second logical topology, the second Internet protocol address different from the first Internet protocol address.
3. The first network node of claim 1 , wherein the processor is implemented by a first server, the second network node is implemented by a second server and the third network node is implemented by a third server.
4. The first network node of claim 1 , wherein the first label conforms to a multiprotocol label switching protocol.
5. The first network node of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic includes at least one of a data rate of the multicast data flow or a fan-out of the multicast data flow, the fan-out corresponding to at least one of a number of receiver nodes of the multicast data flow or a number of branches of the multicast data flow.
6. The first network node of claim 1 , further including a multicast routing table stored in the memory, the first multicast route is a first leaf access-discovery route included in the multicast routing table, the first leaf access-discovery route is to specify the first label and a downstream hop corresponding to the third network node, and the operations further include performing a route lookup in the multicast routing table to obtain the first label.
7. The first network node of claim 6 , wherein the operations further include:
accessing the first leaf access-discovery route in a message from the third network node; and
storing the first leaf access-discovery route in the multicast routing table.
8. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer readable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a first network node, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
monitoring a multicast data flow to determine a characteristic for triggering a switch from a first logical topology for the multicast data flow to a second logical topology for the multicast data flow; and
after the switch to the second logical topology:
accessing a multicast data packet from a second network node, the multicast data packet associated with a first multicast route generated for the multicast data flow; and
transmitting a first replication of the multicast data packet to a third network node via a unicast path, the first replication of the multicast data packet to include a first label provided by the third network node to identify the first multicast route.
9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the first network node is associated with a first Internet protocol address in the first logical topology and the first network node is associated with a second Internet protocol address in the second logical topology, the second Internet protocol address different from the first Internet protocol address.
10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the processor of the first network node is implemented by a first server, the second network node is implemented by a second server and the third network node is implemented by a third server.
11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the first label conforms to a multiprotocol label switching protocol.
12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the characteristic includes at least one of a data rate of the multicast data flow or a fan-out of the multicast data flow, the fan-out corresponding to at least one of a number of receiver nodes of the multicast data flow or a number of branches of the multicast data flow.
13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the first multicast route is a first leaf access-discovery route that is to specify the first label and a downstream hop corresponding to the third network node, and the operations further include performing a route lookup in a multicast routing table including the first leaf access-discovery route to obtain the first label.
14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the operations further include:
accessing the first leaf access-discovery route in a message from the third network node; and
storing the first leaf access-discovery route in the multicast routing table.
15. A method to transmit multicast data in a network, the method comprising:
monitoring, by executing an instruction with a processor of a first network node, a multicast data flow to determine a characteristic for triggering a switch from a first logical topology for the multicast data flow to a second logical topology for the multicast data flow; and
after the switch to the second logical topology:
accessing, by executing an instruction with the processor, a multicast data packet from a second network node, the multicast data packet associated with a first multicast route generated for the multicast data flow; and
transmitting a first replication of the multicast data packet to a third network node via a unicast path, the first replication of the multicast data packet to include a first label provided by the third network node to identify the first multicast route.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first network node is associated with a first Internet protocol address in the first logical topology and the first network node is associated with a second Internet protocol address in the second logical topology, the second Internet protocol address different from the first Internet protocol address.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first network node corresponds to a first server, the second network node corresponds to a second server and the third network node corresponds to a third server.
18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first label conforms to a multiprotocol label switching protocol.
19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the characteristic includes at least one of a data rate of the multicast data flow or a fan-out of the multicast data flow, the fan-out corresponding to at least one of a number of receiver nodes of the multicast data flow or a number of branches of the multicast data flow.
20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first multicast route is a first leaf access-discovery route that is to specify the first label and a downstream hop corresponding to the third network node, and the method further includes:
accessing the first leaf access-discovery route in a message from the third network node;
storing the first leaf access-discovery route in a multicast routing table; and
performing a route lookup in the multicast routing table to obtain the first label.