Topology stratification method and apparatus, and flooding processing method and apparatus

Abstract

The method includes the following steps. First, a controller receives a data packet that is reported by a switch connected to a source host; then the controller searches a local media access control (MAC) address table of physical addresses of devices to determine whether a destination address of the data packet exists, and the controller acquires a destination port if no destination address of the data packet exists, where the destination port is a port of a switch connected to a destination host, and the destination host is another host different from the source host; and finally, the controller uses the destination port as a destination address to generate a routing table, and sends the routing table to the switch connected to the source host, so that the switch connected to the source host forwards the data packet according to the routing table.

Claims

1. A flooding processing method, comprising: receiving, by a controller, a data packet from a source switch coupled to a source host; searching, by the controller, a local media access control (MAC) address table of physical addresses of devices to determine whether a destination address of the data packet exists; performing, by the controller, topology stratification on switches of a network when no destination address of the data packet exists; acquiring, by the controller according to the topology stratification, a destination port among enabled ports of a destination switch coupled to a destination host, wherein the destination port is not coupled to another switch, and wherein the destination host is different from the source host; using, by the controller, the destination port as a destination address to generate a routing table; and sending the routing table to the source switch.

2. The flooding processing method according to claim 1, wherein the data packet comprises at least one of an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request, an unknown unicast frame, and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) data.

3. The flooding processing method according to claim 1, wherein the data packet is an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request, and wherein after acquiring the destination port, the method further comprises; selecting, by the controller, a selected port to which an unknown host is coupled, the unknown host having unknown information; and using the selected port to which the unknown host is coupled as the destination address.

4. The flooding processing method according to claim 1, wherein the data packet is an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request, and wherein before acquiring the destination port, the method further comprises directly responding, by the controller, to the ARP request received from the source host when the destination address of the ARP request exists in the local MAC address table.

5. A flooding processing apparatus, comprising: a receiver configured to receive a data packet from a source switch coupled to a source host; a transmitter; and a processor coupled to the receiver and the transmitter, wherein the processor is configured to: search a local media access control (MAC) address table of physical addresses of devices to determine whether a destination address of the data packet exists; perform topology stratification on switches on a network when no destination address of the data packet exists in the MAC table; acquire, according to the topology stratification, a destination port among enable ports of a destination switch coupled to a destination host, wherein the destination host is different from the source host, and wherein the destination port is not coupled to another switch; and use the destination port as a destination address to generate a routing table, and wherein the transmitter is configured to send the routing table to the source switch.

6. The flooding processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the data packet comprises at least one of an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request, an unknown unicast frame, and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) data.

7. The flooding processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the data packet is an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request, and wherein the processor is further configured to: select a selected port to which an unknown host is coupled having unknown information; and use the selected port to which the unknown host is coupled as the destination address.

8. The flooding processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the data packet is an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request, and wherein the processor is further configured to directly respond to the ARP request that is received from the source host when the destination address of the ARP request exists in the local MAC address table.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) To illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments or the prior art. The accompanying drawings in the following description show merely some embodiments of the present invention, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

(2) FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a topology stratification method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a topology stratification apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a flooding processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(5) FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a flooding processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(6) FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a controller according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(7) FIG. 6 illustrates a topology structure of switches on an existing network according to the prior art;

(8) FIG. 7 illustrates a topology structure of switches on a network according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

(9) FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a status of a port of a switch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(10) The following clearly describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. The described embodiments are merely a part rather than all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

(11) To make the advantages of the technical solutions of the present invention more comprehensible, the following describes the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and the embodiments.

(12) An embodiment provides a topology stratification method. As shown in FIG. 1, the method includes the following steps.

(13) 101. A controller acquires, according to topology information of a switch on a network, a switch connected to a host.

(14) Specifically, the controller acquires enabled ports of the switch according to the topology information of the switch on the network; the controller determines whether a port connected to the host exists among the enabled ports of the switch; and if a port connected to the host exists among the enabled ports of the switch, the controller confirms that the switch is the switch connected to the host.

(15) For example, in FIG. 8, the enabled ports of the switch include ports: Port 1, Port 2, Port 3, Port 4, and Port 5, where Port 1, Port 2, and Port 3 connect to another switch. In this case, the controller may determine that Port 4 and Port 5 of the switch are ports connected to the host.

(16) 102. The controller configures the switch connected to the host as a layer 1 switch.

(17) 103. The controller acquires unstratified switches on the network, and configures a switch directly connected to a layer N switch among the unstratified switches as a layer N+1 switch.

(18) N indicates a layer on which the switch is located, and N is a positive integer.

(19) Specifically, the controller configures a switch with a port connected to the host as a layer 1 switch. Likewise, the controller configures a switch directly connected to the layer 1switch among the unstratified switches as a layer 2 switch; therefore, by analog, a switch directly connected to a layer N−1 switch among the unstratified switches is the layer N switch. According to this rule, all switches on the network can be classified.

(20) For the topology stratification method provided in this embodiment, a specific data structure may be as follows: <key, value>=(layer i, value), i=1, 2, . . . , N. In this case, the layer 1 switch is stored as: Key=layer1; Value=<Sw ID, Ports to hosts, last seen Time>; the layer 2 switch directly connected to the layer 1 switch is stored as: Key=layer2; Value=<Sw ID, Links to layer1, last seen Time>. The layer N switch connected to the layer (N−1) switch is stored as: Key=layer N; Value=<SwID, Links to layer(N−1), last seen Time>. By analog, the classification continues until all switches are classified. When addition/deletion of a host and/or addition/deletion of a switch and/or addition/deletion of a link on the network causes a change to a location of a switch, a data structure of the layer 1 switch is updated, and a location of another switch connected to the switch is updated, and so on, until all switches are updated.

(21) Further, after step 103, the method may further include the following. When the controller receives the data packet that is reported by the switch connected to the source host, the controller searches a local MAC address table of physical addresses of devices to determine whether a destination address of the data packet exists; the controller acquires a destination port according to topology stratification if no destination address of the data packet exists, where the destination port is a port of a switch connected to a destination host, and the destination host is another host different from the source host; and the controller uses the destination port as a destination address to generate a routing table, and sends the routing table to the switch connected to the source host, so that the switch connected to the source host forwards the data packet according to the routing table.

(22) A switch topology structure on the network that is provided in this embodiment may be as shown in FIG. 7, while a switch topology structure on an existing network may be as shown in FIG. 6. As can be seen from the figures that, in the existing topology structure, switches on a network are not differentiated, while the topology stratification method provided in this embodiment can stratify switches on a network, that is, the switches on the network can be differentiated according to layers, so that a controller is capable of controlling a switch to purposefully forward a data packet, thereby efficiently restraining flooding, eliminating repeated broadcasting of the data packet on the network, and improving link utilization.

(23) An embodiment provides a topology stratification apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, an entity of the apparatus may be a controller, and the apparatus may include a first acquiring unit 21 and a configuration unit 22.

(24) The first acquiring unit 21 may be adapted to acquire, according to topology information of a switch on a network, a switch connected to a host.

(25) The first acquiring unit 21 may specifically include an acquiring module 2101, a determining module 2102, and a confirming module 2103.

(26) The acquiring module 2101 may be adapted to acquire enabled ports of the switch according to the topology information of the switch on the network.

(27) The determining module 2102 may be adapted to determine whether a port connected to the host exists among the enabled ports of the switch, where the enabled ports of the switch are acquired by the acquiring module 2101.

(28) The confirming module 2103 may be adapted to, if the determining module 2102 determines that a port connected to the host exists among the enabled ports of the switch, confirm that the switch is the switch connected to the host.

(29) The configuration unit 22 may be adapted to configure the switch connected to the host and acquired by the first acquiring unit 21 as a layer 1 switch.

(30) The first acquiring unit 21 may be further adapted to acquire unstratified switches on the network.

(31) The configuration unit 22 may be further adapted to configure a switch directly connected to a layer N switch among the unstratified switches that are acquired by the first acquiring unit 21 as a layer N+1 switch, where N indicates a layer on which the switch is located, and N is a positive integer.

(32) Further, the apparatus may further include a searching unit 23, a second acquiring unit 24, and a generating unit 25.

(33) The searching unit 23 may be adapted to, when a data packet that is reported by a switch connected to a source host is received, search a local MAC address table of physical addresses of devices to determine whether a destination address of the data packet exists.

(34) The second acquiring unit 24 may be adapted to acquire a destination port if the searching unit 23 determines through searching that no destination address of the data packet exists, where the destination port is a port of a switch connected to a destination host, and the destination host is another host different from the source host.

(35) The second acquiring unit 24 may be specifically adapted to acquire, according to topology stratification, a port among enabled ports of the switch connected to the destination host and use the port as the destination port, where the port is not connected to another switch.

(36) The generating unit 25 may be adapted to use the destination port acquired by the second acquiring unit 24 as a destination address to generate a routing table, and send the routing table to the switch connected to the source host, so that the switch connected to the source host forwards the data packet according to the routing table.

(37) It should be noted that, for other corresponding descriptions about each functional unit of the topology stratification apparatus provided in this embodiment, reference may be made to the corresponding description in FIG. 1. No further details are provided in this embodiment.

(38) The topology stratification apparatus provided in this embodiment stratifies switches on a network, that is, the switches on the network can be differentiated according to layers, so that a controller is capable of controlling a switch to purposefully forward a data packet, thereby efficiently restraining flooding, eliminating repeated broadcasting of the data packet on the network, and improving link utilization.

(39) An embodiment provides a flooding processing method. As shown in FIG. 3, the method includes the following steps.

(40) 301. A controller receives a data packet that is reported by a switch connected to a source host.

(41) The data packet is an ARP request and/or an unknown unicast frame and/or DHCP data. A rule of switch classification in this embodiment is based on the topology stratification method provided in FIG. 1.

(42) 302. The controller searches a local MAC address table of physical addresses of devices to determine whether a destination address of the data packet exists.

(43) Optionally, if the destination address of the data packet exists, the data packet is forwarded according to the destination address.

(44) 303. The controller acquires a destination port if no destination address of the data packet exists.

(45) The destination port is a port of a switch connected to a destination host, the destination host is another host different from the source host, and there may be one or more destination hosts.

(46) Specifically, the controller performs topology stratification on switches on a network, then acquires, according to the topology stratification, a port among enabled ports of the switch connected to the destination host, and uses the port as the destination port, where the port is not connected to another switch.

(47) Optionally, when the data packet is an ARP request, before step 303, the method may further include the following. If a destination address of the ARP request exists in the local MAC address table, the controller directly responds to the ARP request sent by the source host. After step 303, the method may further include the following. A port to which a host is connected having unknown information is selected from the destination ports, and the port to which a host is connected having unknown information is used as the destination address. In this way, unicast data packets of ARP can be efficiently converged, and unnecessary data packets can be reduced on the network.

(48) For example, first, host 1 pings (an executable command) host 9, and at this time, an ARP request sent by host 1 is unicast to host 4, host 6, and host 9 according to a decision of the controller; then host 1 pings host 6, and at this time, the ARP request sent by host 1 is unicast to host 4 and host 6 according to a decision of the controller; and subsequently, host 1 pings host 4, and at this time, the ARP request sent by host 1 is unicast only to host 4. In this way, unicast data packets of ARP can be efficiently converged, and unnecessary data packets can be reduced on the network. Afterward, the controller has known information about all hosts. Therefore, when a ping operation is performed again, the controller is capable of directly responding to the ARP request. Specifically, the controller may send a MAC address of a destination host to a host that initiates the request.

(49) 304. The controller uses the destination port as a destination address to generate a routing table, and sends the routing table to the switch connected to the source host.

(50) Further, the switch connected to the source host is allowed to forward the data packet according to the routing table.

(51) In the method provided in this embodiment, a controller performs topology stratification on locations of switches on a network, and configures a routing table for a switch when no destination address of a data packet reported by the switch can be found in a local MAC address table. In this way, the switch forwards the data packet only to a port of a switch connected to a destination host, thereby efficiently restraining flooding, eliminating repeated broadcasting of the data packet on the network, and improving link utilization.

(52) An embodiment provides a flooding processing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 4, the apparatus may include a receiving unit 41, a searching unit 42, an acquiring unit 43, and a sending unit 44.

(53) The receiving unit 41 may be adapted to receive a data packet that is reported by a switch connected to a source host.

(54) The data packet is an ARP request and/or an unknown unicast frame and/or DHCP data.

(55) The searching unit 42 may be adapted to search a local MAC address table of physical addresses of devices to determine whether a destination address of the data packet received by the receiving unit 41 exists.

(56) The acquiring unit 43 may be adapted to acquire a destination port if the searching unit 42 determines through searching that no destination address of the data packet exists in the MAC table.

(57) The destination port is a port of a switch connected to a destination host, and the destination host is another host different from the source host.

(58) The acquiring unit 43 may specifically include a stratification module 4301 and an acquiring module 4302.

(59) The stratification module 4301 may be adapted to perform topology stratification on switches on a network.

(60) The acquiring module 4302 may be adapted to acquire, according to the topology stratification performed by the stratification module, a port among enabled ports of the switch connected to the destination host and use the port as the destination port, where the port is not connected to another switch.

(61) The sending unit 44 may be adapted to use the destination port acquired by the acquiring unit 43 as a destination address to generate a routing table, and send the routing table to the switch connected to the source host.

(62) Further, the switch connected to the source host is allowed to forward the data packet according to the routing table.

(63) The apparatus may further include a selecting unit 45 and a responding unit 46.

(64) The selecting unit 45 may be adapted to select a port to which a host is connected having unknown information from the destination ports acquired by the acquiring unit 43 and use the port to which a host is connected having unknown information as the destination address.

(65) The responding unit 46 is adapted to, if a destination address of the ARP request exists in the local MAC address table, directly respond to the ARP request that is sent by the source host and received by the receiving unit 41.

(66) An entity of the flooding processing apparatus provided in this embodiment may be a controller. The controller may be deployed on a server device but is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 5, the controller includes a receiver 51, a processor 52, and a transmitter 53.

(67) The receiver 51 may be adapted to receive a data packet that is reported by a switch connected to a source host.

(68) The processor 52 may be adapted to search a local MAC address table of physical addresses of devices to determine whether a destination address of the data packet received by the receiver 51 exists.

(69) The processor 52 may be further adapted to acquire a destination port if no destination address of the data packet exists in the MAC table, where the destination port is a port of a switch connected to a destination host, and the destination host is another host different from the source host.

(70) The transmitter 53 may be adapted to use the destination port acquired by the processor 52 as a destination address to generate a routing table, and send the routing table to the switch connected to the source host, so that the switch connected to the source host forwards the data packet according to the routing table.

(71) The processor 52 may be specifically adapted to perform topology stratification on switches on a network, then acquire, according to the topology stratification, a port among enabled ports of the switch connected to the destination host, and use the port as the destination port, where the port is not connected to another switch.

(72) The processor 52 may be further adapted to select a port to which a host is connected having unknown information from the destination ports and use the port to which a host is connected having unknown information as the destination address.

(73) The processor 52 may be further specifically adapted to: if a destination address of an ARP request exists in the local MAC address table, directly respond to the ARP request that is sent by the source host and received by the receiver 31.

(74) It should be noted that, for other corresponding descriptions about each functional unit of the flooding processing apparatus and controller that are provided in this embodiment, reference may be made to the corresponding description in FIG. 3. No further details are provided in this embodiment.

(75) According to the apparatus provided in this embodiment, a controller performs topology stratification on locations of switches on a network, and configures a routing table for a switch when no destination address of a data packet reported by the switch can be found in a local MAC address table. In this way, the switch forwards the data packet only to a port of a switch connected to a destination host, thereby efficiently restraining flooding, eliminating repeated broadcasting of the data packet on the network, and improving link utilization.

(76) The topology stratification apparatus and the flooding processing apparatus that are provided in the embodiments of the present invention can implement the foregoing method embodiments. For specific function implementation, refer to the description in the method embodiments. No further details are provided herein. The topology stratification method and apparatus, and the flooding processing method and apparatus are applicable to, but not limited to, the field of communications systems.

(77) A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or a part of the processes of the methods in the embodiments may be implemented by a computer program instructing relevant hardware. The aforementioned program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. When the program runs, the processes of the foregoing methods in the embodiments are performed. The storage medium may be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), or the like.

(78) The foregoing descriptions are merely specific embodiments of the present invention, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.