CN107896195B

CN107896195B - Service chain arranging method and device and service chain topological structure system

Info

Publication number: CN107896195B
Application number: CN201711140103.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈旭; 黄永远
Original assignee: Ruijie Networks Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ruijie Networks Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-11-16
Filing date: 2017-11-16
Publication date: 2020-04-24
Anticipated expiration: 2037-11-16
Also published as: CN107896195A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a service chain arranging method, a service chain arranging device and a service chain topological structure, relates to the technical field of communication, and can realize service chain arranging under the condition that part or all service nodes are virtualized. The method comprises the following steps: the controller acquires the port information of the core switching equipment, and the controller acquires the port information of N OVSs; and the controller configures a flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device, and configures a corresponding flow table of the OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs, wherein the core switching device is connected with the N computing nodes, one computing node comprises one OVS and the M VNFs, and one OVS is connected with the M VNFs.

Description

Service chain arranging method and device and service chain topological structure system

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a service chain arranging method and device and a service chain topological structure.

Background

During the transmission of the data packet in the network, the data packet needs to be processed by a plurality of service nodes (e.g., a flow control device, a firewall, a load balancer, etc.), so that the data packet is securely and smoothly transmitted to a target device (e.g., a terminal device or a server) through the core switching device. The data message passes through a message processing path formed by each service node according to the processing sequence required by the service logic, namely the service chain.

At present, as shown in fig. 1, the service chain topology structure for transmitting data packets may be a bypass structure, specifically, each physical service node is suspended on a core switching device, a controller performs OpenFlow protocol interaction with the core switching device, obtains configuration information of the core switching device (including information of a type, a flow table capability, a port, and the like of the core switching device), and arranges a service chain according to the configuration information of the core switching device and a user requirement, generates a flow table (including service chain information, i.e., information of a port where a data flow flows out of the core switching device and a port where a data flow flows into the core device), and sends the flow table to the core switching device, so that the core switching device directs the data flow received from an external network to each physical service node according to the flow table, for example, the service chain topology structure shown in fig. 1 includes a service node 1 and a service node 2, after the service chain arrangement is completed, according to the flow table, the transport stream of the data stream is sequentially transmitted according to P1-P2-P3-P4-P5-P6, where P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, and P6 are ports of the core switch device, the core switch device receives the data stream from the external network from P1, and after the data stream is processed by the flow control device and the firewall in sequence, the data stream flows back from P5 to the core switch device, so that the core switch device sends the processed data stream to the next hop device of the core switch device through P6, thereby completing the data stream diversion.

However, the above method is a service chain arranging method based on physical service nodes, and today with the rapid development of communication technology, a great amount of virtual network services are running on a data center server, that is, the physical service nodes are virtualized into virtual network functions, and in this case, how to arrange service chains to drain the virtual network functions is still under development.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for arranging a service chain and a service chain topological structure, which can realize service chain arrangement under the condition that part or all service nodes are virtualized, thereby completing the drainage of core switching equipment to each service node.

In order to achieve the purpose, the technical scheme is as follows:

in a first aspect, the present application provides a service chain arrangement method, which may include: the method comprises the steps that a controller obtains port information of core switching equipment, and the controller obtains port information of N Open source software switching equipment (Open vSwitch, OVS); and then the controller configures a flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device, and configures a flow table of a corresponding OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs.

The core switching device is connected with N computing nodes, one computing node comprises an OVS and M Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), one OVS is connected with the M VNFs, and a flow table of the core switching device is used for indicating a service chain formed by father service nodes for transmitting a first data flow after the core switching device receives the first data flow; the first data flow is a data flow from an external network, that is, the core switching device receives the data flow from the external network, and may transmit the data flow according to a service chain indicated by a flow table of the core switching device, where the parent service node includes at least one of N computing nodes connected to the core switching device; the flow table of the OVS is used for indicating a service chain formed by sub-service nodes for transmitting the second data flow after the OVS receives the second data flow; the second data flow is a data flow sent by the core switching device, that is, the OVS receives a data flow sent by the core switching device, and may transmit the data flow according to a service chain indicated by a flow table of the OVS, where the sub-service node includes at least one of M VNFs connected to the OVS.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a controller comprising an acquisition module and a configuration module.

The acquiring module is configured to acquire port information of a core switching device and port information of N OVSs, where the core switching device is connected to N computing nodes, one computing node includes one OVS and M Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), one OVS is connected to the M VNFs, N is greater than or equal to 1, and M is greater than or equal to 1.

The configuration module is used for configuring a flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device acquired by the acquisition module, wherein the flow table of the core switching device is used for indicating a service chain formed by father service nodes for transmitting a first data flow after the core switching device receives the first data flow; the first data flow is a data flow from an external network, and the at least one father service node comprises at least one of N computing nodes connected with the core switching equipment; the configuration module is further configured to configure a corresponding flow table of the OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs acquired by the acquisition module, where the flow table of the OVS is used to indicate a service chain formed by sub-service nodes transmitting a second data stream after the OVS receives the second data stream; and the data flow sent by the core switching equipment, wherein the sub service node comprises at least one of M VNFs connected with the OVS.

In a third aspect, a controller is provided and may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory may be used to store computer instructions. When the controller is running, the processor executes the computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the controller executes the service chain arranging method according to the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium comprising computer instructions which, when run on a controller, cause the controller to perform the service chaining method of the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer instructions which, when run on a controller, cause the controller to perform the service chain orchestration method according to the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a service chain topology, including the controller according to the second aspect or the third aspect, the VNFM, the core switching device, and N computing nodes connected to the core switching device, where one computing node includes one OVS and M VNFs, and one OVS is connected to the M VNFs.

In a scenario where a part of physical service nodes are virtualized as virtual service nodes, a controller obtains port information of a core switching device, and the controller can obtain port information of N OVSs, then configures a flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device, and configures a flow table of a corresponding OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs, where the core switching device is connected to N computing nodes, one computing node includes one OVS and M VNFs, and one OVS is connected to the M VNFs. Compared with the prior art, a Software Defined Network (SDN) controller can configure a flow table of a core switching device and a flow table of each OVS, so as to implement flow guiding on a virtual service node (i.e., VNF), and thus, under the condition that part or all of the service nodes are virtualized, service chain arrangement is implemented, so as to complete flow guiding of the core switching device to each service node.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a first schematic diagram of a service chain topology structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a service chain topology structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a service chain topology structure provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a hardware diagram of a server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a first schematic diagram illustrating a service chain arrangement method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a port connection relationship of each device in a service chain topology structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a controller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following describes in detail a service chain arranging method, a service chain arranging device, and a service chain topology structure provided by the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the embodiments of the present invention, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "e.g.," an embodiment of the present invention is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof as referred to in the description of the invention are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements but may alternatively include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

First, some concepts involved in the embodiments of the present invention are explained.

The OpenFlow protocol: the standard adopted by the information interaction between the controller and the exchange equipment and the interface standard of the controller and the exchange equipment are adopted, the controller and the exchange equipment interact through an OpenFlow protocol, and the controller can acquire the port information of the exchange equipment and the like.

Software Defined Network (SDN) controller: the method is an application program in the SDN and is responsible for flow control. The SDN controller is based on a protocol such as OpenFlow, specifies a flexible data packet processing specification, and can control a switching device connected thereto to forward a data packet or a data packet according to a forwarding rule.

VNF: hardware equipment with various network functions is virtualized into software application through a virtualization technology, the software application can be flexibly deployed on a unified platform constructed by a standard-based server, a storage switch and a switch, the software application and the hardware equipment are decoupled, each application can achieve the purpose of rapid expansion by rapidly increasing and reducing virtual resources, and the elasticity of a network is greatly improved.

OVS: the virtual switch is an open source virtual switch based on software implementation, can support management interfaces and protocols of various standards, and has a working principle similar to that of a physical switch.

A flow table: may be considered a data forwarding flow or rule for a switching device that supports the OpenFlow protocol. Typically, three parts are included in the flow table: the device comprises a packet header field, a counter and an action, wherein the packet header field is used for data packet matching, the counter is used for data packet number statistics, and the action is used for indicating what processing action is performed on the matched data packets. For example, after receiving a data packet, the switching device first matches the content of the packet header of the data packet with information in the packet header field, if the matching is successful, the counter updates the count (i.e., the counter increases by 1 count), and the switching device performs corresponding processing on the data packet according to an action entry in the flow table.

Service chaining: refers to the path that the data stream travels between the various service nodes in the order of processing required by the service logic. For example, after a data stream flowing from an external network flows into a core switching device, the processing sequence required by service logic is as follows: the data flows into the core switching device after passing through the flow control device, the firewall and the load balancer, and the chain formed by connecting the flow control device, the firewall and the load balancer in series is a service chain.

Based on the problems in the background art, the service chain arrangement method, the service chain arrangement device and the service chain topology structure provided by the embodiments of the present invention can implement smooth flow guiding of the core switching device to each service node under the condition that part or all of the functions of the service node are virtualized on the server (that is, the server is used to carry the virtual network function).

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, a function of a part of service nodes is carried on a server, as shown in fig. 2, a service chain topology structure provided in the embodiment of the present invention includes a controller 10, a Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM) 11, a core switching device 12, a Physical Network Function (PNF) 13, and a computing node 14. The computing node 14 may include one OVS 15 and M VNFs (M ≧ 1), which are exemplified by two VNFs, VNF 16 and VNF17 in fig. 2, where a VNF is a virtual service node after a physical service node is virtualized, and a VNF has a function of a corresponding physical service node, specifically, the VNFM 11 may deploy the VNF 16 and the VNF17 on a server, and the controller 10 may orchestrate a service chain (i.e., control data streams are sequentially transmitted from respective devices in the topology structure) after the VNFM 11 deploys the VNF 16 and the VNF 17. Since the core switch device cannot directly interact with the VNF, and a virtual switch device (i.e., OVS 15 in fig. 2) is used as an intermediate device to forward the data stream, the computing node 14 composed of the OVS 15 and the VNF 16 and VNF17 connected to the OVS 15 may be equivalent to a physical service node. The core switching device 12 is connected to the PNF13 and the computing node 14 in a pendulous manner, and the controller 10 controls and manages each device in the service chain topology.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, functions of all service nodes may be carried on a server, as shown in fig. 3, a further service chain topology provided for the embodiment of the present invention includes a controller 20, a VNFM 21, a core switching device 22, a computing node 23, and a computing node 24. Wherein, one server carries one computing node, the computing node 23 may include one OVS 25 and M VNFs (M ≧ 1), which are exemplified by two VNFs, VNF 26 and VNF 27 in fig. 3, and the computing node 14 may include one OVS 28 and M VNFs (M ≧ 1), which are exemplified by one VNF and VNF 29 in fig. 3.

It should be noted that the service chain arrangement method provided in the embodiment of the present invention may be applied to any one of the service chain topology structures, and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited in particular.

The controller shown in fig. 2 or 3 may be an SDN controller, and the SDN controller may be carried in a server to implement the functions of the SDN controller. Each component of the server carrying the SDN controller according to the embodiment of the present invention is specifically described below with reference to fig. 4. As shown in fig. 4, the server may include: a processor 30, a memory 31, and a communication interface 32.

The processor 30: is a core component of the server, which is used to run an operating system of the server and applications (including system applications and third party applications, such as SDN controllers) on the server.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the processor 30 may specifically be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof, which may implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure of the embodiment of the present invention; a processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., comprising one or more microprocessors, a DSP and a microprocessor, or the like.

The memory 31: may be used to store software programs and modules, and the processor 30 executes various functional applications of the server and data processing by operating the software programs and modules stored in the memory 31. Memory 31 may include one or more computer-readable storage media. The memory 31 includes a storage program area and a storage data area, where the storage program area may store an operating system, an application program required by at least one function, and the like, and the storage data area may store data created by a server, and the like.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the memory 31 may specifically include a volatile memory (volatile memory), such as a random-access memory (RAM); the memory may also include a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory (flash memory), a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD); the memory may also comprise a combination of memories of the kind described above.

The communication interface 32: the interface circuit is used for the server to communicate with other devices, the communication interface can be a transceiver, a transceiving circuit and other structures with transceiving functions, and the communication interface comprises a serial communication interface and a parallel communication interface.

With reference to fig. 2 or fig. 3, as shown in fig. 5, the service chain arrangement method provided by the embodiment of the present invention may include S101 to S103:

s101, the controller acquires the port information of the core switching equipment, and the controller acquires the port information of the N OVSs.

The core switching equipment is connected with N computing nodes, one computing node comprises one OVS and M VNFs, and one OVS is connected with the M VNFs. Optionally, the core switching device may further connect P physical service nodes (e.g., PNF13 in the service chain topology shown in fig. 2), where N ≧ 1, M ≧ 1, and P ≧ 1.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the controller and the VNFM may interactively configure a service node, and complete deployment of a service chain topology (a specific deployment process, which is described in detail in the following embodiments), and then each device is initialized, where taking the controller as an SDN controller as an example, the initialization of each device may specifically include: configuring an IP address of the SDN controller, completing installation of control software of the SDN controller, and the like, configuring an IP address of the SDN controller and a management channel IP address on a switching device (including a core switching device and each OVS), ensuring that a management path between the switching device and the SDN controller is accessible, and connecting each service node to each port of the core switching device.

After the deployment of the service chain topology structure and the initialization of each device are completed, the SDN controller may perform OpenFlow protocol interaction with the core switching device and each OVS, respectively, that is, the SDN controller may establish a connection based on the OpenFlow protocol with the core switching device, and acquire information of the core switching device, including information of a device type, a flow table capability, port information, and the like of the core switching device, based on the connection of the OpenFlow protocol, and the SDN controller may establish a connection based on the OpenFlow protocol with each OVS, and acquire information of each OVS, including information of a type, a flow table capability, port information, and the like of the OVS, based on the connection of the OpenFlow protocol, so that the SDN controller may arrange the service chain according to the information of the core switching device and the information of the OVS.

S102, the controller configures a flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device.

The flow table of the core switching device is used for indicating the core switching device to transmit a service chain formed by father service nodes of a first data flow after the core switching device receives the first data flow; the first data flow is a data flow from an external network, and the parent service node comprises at least one of N compute nodes connected to the core switching device.

S103, the controller configures a corresponding flow table of the OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs.

The flow table of the OVS is used to indicate that the OVS receives a second data flow and then transmits a service chain formed by sub-service nodes of the second data flow; the second data flow is a data flow sent by the core switching device, and the child service node includes at least one of M VNFs connected to the OVS.

In the embodiment of the present invention, since the flow table may indicate a path for data flow transmission, that is, a service chain may be indicated, the SDN controller completes configuration of the flow table of the core switching device and completes configuration of the flow table of each OVS, that is, the SDN controller may be considered to complete arrangement of the service chain, and the service chain may include a parent service chain and a child service chain, where the parent service chain is composed of parent service nodes and the child service chain is composed of child service nodes.

The parent service node, child service node, parent service chain and child service chain are illustrated in connection with FIG. 6.

Illustratively, for the service chaining topology of fig. 2, as shown in fig. 6, port connections from various service nodes (including PNF13 and compute node 14) to the core switch device 12, wherein, the ports P2 and P3 are a pair of output and input ports for the core switch device 12 and PNF13 to transmit data, the ports P4 and P5 are a pair of output and input ports for the core switch device 12 and the compute node 14 to transmit data, the data stream of the external network flows into the core switch device 12 from the port P1 of the core switch device 12, the data stream flows back to the core switch device 12 after being processed by each service node, data streams are sent to user equipment (e.g., terminal equipment or servers) through port P6 of the core switch device 12, the ports of the data streams flowing out of the core switch device 12 are P2, P4 and P6, and the ports of the data streams flowing from the service node into the core switch device 12 are P3 and P5. In the flow table of the core switching device 12 configured by the SDN controller 10, the port order of data flow transmission (i.e. the path of transmission) is: P1-P2-P3-P4-P5-P6.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a parent service node may be a PNF or a compute node (one compute node may be equivalent to one parent service node), in the service chain topology structure shown in fig. 6, according to a flow table configured by the SDN controller 10, that is, according to the port sequence of the data flow transmission, one parent service chain in the topology structure is a service chain composed of a PNF13 and a compute node 14, and the service node PNF13 and the compute node 14 on the parent service chain are called as parent service nodes.

As shown in fig. 6, the ports of the OVS 15 are connected to the respective virtual service nodes (including VNF 16 and VNF 17), where ports Q3 and Q4 are a pair of output and input ports on the OVS 15 for transmitting data with VNF 16, ports Q5 and Q6 are a pair of output and input ports on the OVS 15 for transmitting data with VNF17, the data stream of the core switch device (i.e., the second data stream described above) flows into the OVS from port Q1 of the OVS, and after flowing back to the OVS 15 through the processing of the respective VNF, the data stream is returned to the core switch device 12 through port Q2 of the OVS, the ports of the data stream flowing out of the OVS are Q3, Q5, and Q2, and the ports of the data stream flowing into the OVS from the VNF are Q4 and Q6. In the flow table of the OVS 15 configured by the SDN controller 10, the port order of data flow transmission is: Q1-Q3-Q4-Q5-Q6-Q2.

In the service chain topology shown in fig. 6, inside the computing node 14, the computing node 14 includes an OVS 15, a VNF 16, and a VNF17, and as known from a flow table of the OVS configured by the SDN controller 10, the VNF 16 and the VNF17 may form a service chain, which is a sub-service chain, where the VNF 16 and the VNF17 are sub-service nodes.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the controller configures the flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device, to complete the arrangement of the parent service chain, in this way, the core switching device may direct the flow (for example, PNF and \ or the computation node) to another parent service node according to the flow table of the core switching device configured by the controller, and the controller configures the flow table of each OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of at least one OVS, to complete the arrangement of the child service chain, in this way, after the OVS on each computation node receives the data flow sent by the core switching device, the flow may be directed to another child service node (i.e., each VNF) according to the flow table of the OVS configured by the controller.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the controller may be an SDN controller, and the controllers in the following embodiments are all SDN controllers as examples, and a detailed description is made on the service chain orchestration method provided in the embodiment of the present invention from the VNF deployment to the service chain orchestration complete process.

Specifically, the service chain arrangement method provided by the embodiment of the present invention may include:

s201, the SDN controller sends a deployment notification message to the VNFM, where the deployment notification includes VNF configuration information.

The VNF configuration information includes configuration information of M VNFs, and the configuration information of one VNF may include the number of processors, the sizes of memories and disks, the number of network cards, and the like. The SDN controller sends a deployment notification message to the VNFM, where the deployment notification message is used to notify the VNFM to deploy M VNFs (which may also be referred to as deploying M VNF instances).

In this embodiment of the present invention, the SDN controller may include a service orchestrator (e.g., a WEB service module), and issue, through the service orchestrator, a deployment notification message including VNF configuration information to notify the VNFM to deploy the VNF, specifically, the service orchestrator may call an interface of the VNFM (e.g., a REST-API interface on the VNFM) to issue the deployment notification message to the VNF to notify the VNFM to deploy the VNF.

And S202, the VNFM deploys the VNF according to the VNF configuration information in the deployment notification message.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the VNFM may deploy a VNF (which may be considered as a virtual machine) on the server according to the VNF configuration information in the deployment notification message, so that the SDN controller configures the deployed VNF as a service node of a certain function.

And S203, the VNFM sends VNF deployment information to the SDN controller.

The VNF deployment information is related information of a VNF deployed by a VNFM, and includes deployment information of at least one VNF, where the deployment information of one VNF may include identification information of a computing node where the VNF is located, port information of an OVS connected to the VNF, an IP address of the VNF, a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the VNF, status information of the VNF, and a deployment mode of the VNF.

Specifically, after the VNF meeting the configuration information is deployed on a certain port of the OVS on a certain computing node (which may be understood as a server in an open stack environment) according to the VNF configuration information, the VNFM may notify (i.e., send) the deployment information of the VNF to the SDN controller. In the deployment information of the VNF, the state information of the VNF may include whether the VNF is in a failure state or a normal state, and the deployment mode of the VNF includes a routing mode and a transparent mode. A routing mode, namely a three-layer forwarding mode, for forwarding data streams based on the IP addresses of the devices; transparent mode forwarding mode, forwarding data streams based on MAC addresses of individual devices.

S204, the SDN controller receives VNF deployment information announced by the VNFM, and configures M virtual service nodes according to the VNF deployment information.

Wherein one VNF is for one virtual service node.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the SDN controller associates the VNFs deployed by the VNFM with the service nodes according to the user requirement, that is, configures one VNF of the M VNFs as a service node having a certain function, that is, configures a virtual service node according to deployment information of the VNFs. For example, the SDN controller may configure a VNF on the computing node 1, connected to the ports 1 and 2 of the OVS, in a deployment mode of the routing mode as a virtual firewall, and configure a VNF on the computing node 2, connected to the ports 1 and 2 of the OVS, in a deployment mode of the transparent mode as a load balancer.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the SDN controller may associate a port of the core switching device with a port of a computing node, that is, which pair of input/output ports of the core switching device connects to which input/output port of the computing node, and after the SDN controller associates the port of the core switching device with the port of the computing node, after the SDN controller configures the flow table of the core switching device and the flow table of each OVS, the flow may be directed from one computing node to another computing node.

And S205, each device carries out initialization configuration.

The initialization configuration of the SDN controller, the core switching device, and each OVS may specifically refer to the description about the initialization configuration of each device in S101, which is not described herein again.

And S206, the SDN controller and the core switching device perform OpenFlow protocol interaction, establish connection based on the OpenFlow protocol, and acquire port information of the core switching device.

In the embodiment of the invention, the SDN controller and the core switching device perform OpenFlow protocol interaction, so that the connection of the OpenFlow protocol is established between the SDN controller and the core switching device, the SDN controller discovers the core switching device, and the port information of the core switching device is acquired. Specifically, the SDN controller first establishes a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection with the core switching device, then performs OpenFlow protocol interaction with the core switching device to obtain OpenFlow protocol version information of both sides, and then sends a function request message to the core switching device to obtain a device type, a flow table capability, port information, and the like of the core switching device, thereby completing obtaining port information of the core switching device for service chaining.

And S207, the SDN controller and the N OVSs perform OpenFlow protocol interaction, establish connection based on the OpenFlow protocol, and acquire port information of the N OVSs.

The SDN controller and each OVS in the N OVSs perform OpenFlow protocol interaction, so that connection of the OpenFlow protocol is established between the SDN controller and each OVS, the SDN controller discovers the OVSs, and port information of each OVS is acquired.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a process of performing OpenFlow protocol interaction between the SDN controller and each OVS is similar to a process of performing OpenFlow protocol interaction between the SDN controller and the core switching device, and for a specific description of S207, reference may be made to the above description related to S206, which is not described herein again.

It should be noted that the execution order of S206 and S207 may not be limited in the embodiment of the present invention. That is, in the embodiment of the present invention, S206 may be executed first, and then S207 may be executed; or executing S207 first and then executing S206; s206 and S207 may also be performed simultaneously.

And S208, the SDN controller configures a flow table of the core switching device according to the port information sent by the core switching device.

In this embodiment of the present invention, a method for configuring, by a controller, a flow table of a core switching device according to port information of the core switching device may specifically include: the controller sets, in the flow table of the core switching device, a port of the data flow flowing out of the core switching device and a port of the data flow flowing into the core switching device, which may be specifically referred to the related description in S102 above.

And S209, configuring a corresponding flow table of the OVSs by the SDN controller according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the method for configuring the flow table of the OVS by the controller according to the port information of the OVS may specifically include: the controller sets, in the flow table of the OVS, a port through which the data flow flows out of the OVS and a port through which the data flow flows into the OVS, which may be specifically referred to the above description of S103.

For other descriptions of S208 and S209, reference may be made to the above-mentioned descriptions of S102 and S103, which are not described herein again.

The execution sequence of S208 and S209 may not be limited in the embodiments of the present invention. That is, in the embodiment of the present invention, S208 may be executed first, and then S209 may be executed; s209 may be performed first, and then S208 may be performed; s208 and S209 may also be performed simultaneously.

In one implementation, to ensure that the data flow is not interrupted, the SDN controller may configure the flow table of the OVS first and then configure the flow table of the core switching device, because if the flow table of the OVS is not configured yet, the existing data flow reaches the OVS, and the flow table of the OVS is not configured yet, so that the data flow is possibly interrupted.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, if the deployment mode of one or more VNFs in the M VNFs deployed in the VNFM is the routing mode, the SDN controller may further configure an address resolution protocol, ARP, proxy flow table, and send the ARP proxy flow table to the OVS, where the ARP proxy flow table is used to indicate the OVS to replace a core switching device to respond to an ARP request message of the VNF in the routing mode.

In the embodiment of the invention, in the process of guiding the core switching device to the service node, for the service node with the deployment mode being the routing mode, after the core switching device receives the data stream, the core switching device needs to modify the source MAC address of the data stream into the MAC address of the core switching device and modify the destination MAC address of the data stream into the MAC address of the service node, and because the forwarding mode of forwarding the data stream between the core switching device and each service node is three-layer forwarding (that is, the core switching device and each service node forward the data stream based on the IP address) in the routing mode, the IP address needs to be converted into the MAC address through ARP protocol learning, each service node broadcasts an ARP request message before forwarding the data stream, so as to request the MAC address of the next hop device. Illustratively, after the service node 1 receives the data stream sent by the core switching device, the service node 1 broadcasts an ARP request message, where the ARP request message is used to request the MAC address of the next-hop device of the service node 1 (the next-hop device of the service node 1 is the core switching device), and after the core switching device receives the ARP request message, the core switching device responds to the ARP request message. The specific process is as follows: the core switching equipment receives the ARP request message broadcasted by the service node 1, and carries the MAC address of the core switching equipment in the ARP response message and sends the ARP response message to the service node 1, so that the forwarding of the data stream in the routing mode is realized.

However, in the embodiment of the present invention, since the VNF is used as a child service node, the deployment mode of the VNF is a routing mode, and the next-hop device of the VNF is a core switching device, and the core switching device cannot directly perform an ARP response (i.e., send an ARP response message) on the VNF in the routing mode (i.e., cannot directly send a child service node), in order to ensure that the VNF can correctly forward a data flow, the SDN controller configures an ARP proxy flow table and sends the ARP proxy flow table to the OVS, so that the OVS may perform an ARP response to the VNF instead of the core switching device, that is, the OVS may send an ARP response message to the VNF instead of the core switching device. The specific process is as follows: after receiving an ARP request message broadcasted by a VNF, an OVS sends the request message to an SDN controller, the SDN controller inquires a MAC address of next hop equipment of the VNF, then generates an ARP response message, sends the ARP response message to the OVS, and then the OVS sends the ARP response message to the VNF, so that forwarding of data flow in a routing mode is achieved.

S210, the SDN controller sends a flow table of the core switching device to the core switching device.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the SDN controller configures the flow table of the core switching device, the SDN controller may issue the flow table of the core switching device to the core switching device, so that after the core switching device receives the data stream from the external network, the core switching device may direct the flow to each father service node (each PNF and/or computing node) according to the flow table of the core device and a transmission path of the data stream set in the flow table, thereby implementing smooth forwarding of the data stream between each father service node.

And S211, the SDN controller sends a flow table of the corresponding OVS to each OVS.

In the embodiment of the present invention, after the SDN controller configures the flow table of each OVS, the SDN controller may issue the flow table of each OVS to the OVS, so that, after each OVS receives the data stream sent by the core switching device, the data stream may be directed to each sub-service node (referred to as each VNF) according to the flow table of the OVS and the transmission path of the data stream set in the flow table, thereby implementing smooth forwarding of the data stream between each sub-service node.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the SDN controller may schedule multiple service chains, that is, the flow table of the core switching device configured by the SDN controller may include multiple sets of port information for data flow transmission, that is, the SDN controller may schedule multiple service chains to indicate a transmission path of a data flow, for example, in conjunction with fig. 6, the service chains scheduled by the SDN controller may be two, the transmission paths of the data flow respectively indicated are path 1 and path 2, path 1 is the core switching device 1-PNF 13-computing node 14, and path 2 is: the core switching device 1, the computing node 14, the PNF13, in this case, the SDN controller may perform traffic classification, and allocate data flows to the path 1 and the path 2, that is, allocate which data flows to be transmitted through the path 1 and allocate which data flows to be transmitted through the path 2.

In a scenario where a part of physical service nodes are virtualized as virtual service nodes, a controller may obtain port information of a core switch device, and may obtain port information of N OVSs, and then configure a flow table of the core switch device according to the port information of the core switch device, and configure a corresponding flow table of the OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs, where the core switch device is connected to M computing nodes, one computing node includes one OVS and M VNFs, and one OVS is connected to the M VNFs. Compared with the prior art, the flow table of the core switching device and the flow table of each OVS can be configured by the SDN controller, so that the flow of the virtual service nodes (i.e. VNFs) is guided, and thus, service chain arrangement is realized under the condition that part or all of the service nodes are virtualized, and the flow of the core switching device to each service node is completed.

Furthermore, the embodiment of the present invention virtualizes the physical service node as the VNF, so that the cost of deploying the service node can be reduced, and the VNF can be elastically expanded according to the traffic volume, that is, an appropriate VNF is deployed according to the traffic demand, so that the utilization rate of resources can be improved, the deployment of the service node can be more quickly and flexibly implemented, and smooth data flow drainage is ensured.

The scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention is introduced from the perspective of the main controller. It is to be understood that the controller and the like include hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to the respective functions for realizing the above-described functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

The embodiment of the present invention may perform the division of the functional modules on the controller according to the above method example, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, the division of the modules in the embodiment of the present invention is schematic, and is only a logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

In the case of dividing each functional module by corresponding functions, fig. 7 shows a possible structural diagram of the controller involved in the above embodiment, and as shown in fig. 7, the controller may include: an acquisition module 40 and a configuration module 41. Wherein:

an obtaining module 40, configured to obtain port information of the core switching device, and obtain port information of the N OVSs.

The core switching equipment is connected with N computing nodes, one computing node comprises one OVS and M VNFs, one OVS is connected with at least one VNF, N is larger than or equal to 1, and M is larger than or equal to 1.

The configuration module 41 is configured to configure a flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device acquired by the acquisition module.

The configuring module 41 is further configured to configure a flow table of the corresponding OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs acquired by the acquiring module.

The flow table of the OVS is used for indicating a service chain formed by sub-service nodes transmitting a second data flow after the OVS receives the second data flow; the second data flow is a data flow sent by the core switching device, and the child service node includes at least one of M VNFs connected to the OVS.

Optionally, the configuration module 41 is specifically configured to set, in a flow table of the core switching device, a port through which a data flow flows out of the core switching device and a port through which the data flow flows into the core switching device.

Optionally, the controller provided in the embodiment of the present invention further includes a sending module. The sending module is configured to send the flow table of the core switching device to the core switching device after the configuration module configures the flow table of the core switching device, so that the core switching device conducts flow to each parent service node according to the flow table of the core switching device.

Optionally, the module 41 is specifically configured to set, in a flow table of the OVS, a port through which a data flow flows out of the OVS and a port through which a data flow flows into the OVS.

Optionally, the sending module is further configured to send the flow table of each OVS to each OVS after the configuration module configures the flow table of each OVS, so that each OVS drains to each sub-service node according to the flow table of the OVS.

Optionally, the controller provided in the embodiment of the present invention further includes a receiving module, where the receiving module is configured to receive VNF deployment information sent by the VNFM, and the VNF deployment information includes deployment information of at least one VNF.

The configuration module 41 is further configured to configure at least one virtual service node according to the VNF deployment information received by the receiving module, where one VNF corresponds to one virtual service node.

Optionally, the deployment information of the VNF at least includes identification information of a computing node to which the VNF belongs, port information of an OVS to which the VNF is connected, an internet protocol IP address of the VNF, a media access control MAC address of the VNF, state information of the VNF, and a deployment mode of the VNF, where the deployment mode of the VNF includes a routing mode and a transparent mode.

Optionally, the configuration module is further configured to configure an ARP proxy flow table when the VNF deployment mode is the routing mode; the sending module is further configured to send the ARP proxy flow table configured by the configuration module to the OVS, so that the OVS sends the ARP response message to the VNF instead of the core switching device according to the ARP proxy flow table.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a server capable of operating the functions of the controller in the foregoing embodiments, where the server includes a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and capable of operating on the processor, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, each process of the service chain scheduling method embodiment may be implemented, and the same technical effect may be achieved.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program can implement each process of the service chain orchestration method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and in order to avoid repetition, details are not repeated here. The computer-readable storage medium may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for service chaining, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a controller obtains port information of core switching equipment, and the controller obtains port information of N open source software switching equipment (OVS), wherein the core switching equipment is connected with N computing nodes, one computing node comprises one OVS and M Virtual Network Functions (VNF), one OVS is connected with the M VNFs, N is larger than or equal to 1, and M is larger than or equal to 1;

the controller configures a flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device, wherein the flow table of the core switching device is used for indicating a service chain formed by parent service nodes for transmitting a first data flow after the core switching device receives the first data flow; the first data flow is a data flow from an external network, and the father service node comprises at least one of N computing nodes connected with the core switching equipment;

the controller configures a corresponding flow table of the OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs, wherein the flow table of the OVS is used for indicating a service chain formed by sub-service nodes for transmitting a second data flow after the OVS receives the second data flow; the second data flow is a data flow sent by the core switching device, and the child service node includes at least one of M VNFs connected to the OVS.

2. The method of claim 1,

the controller configures a flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device, including:

the controller sets a port of a data stream flowing out of the core switching device and a port of a data stream flowing into the core switching device in a flow table of the core switching device;

after the controller configures the flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device, the method further includes:

the controller sends the flow table of the core switching device to the core switching device, so that the core switching device guides the flow to each parent service node according to the flow table of the core switching device.

3. The method of claim 1,

the controller configures a flow table of an OVS according to port information of the OVS, and the configuration comprises the following steps:

the controller sets a port for data flow out of the OVS and a port for data flow into the OVS in a flow table of the OVS;

after the controller configures a flow table of each OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs, the method further includes:

the controller sends the flow table of the OVS to each OVS, so that the OVS drains to each sub-service node according to the flow table of the OVS.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the controller receives VNF deployment information sent by a VNFM (virtual network function manager), wherein the VNF deployment information comprises deployment information of at least one VNF;

the controller configures at least one virtual service node according to the VNF deployment information, where one VNF corresponds to one virtual service node.

5. The method of claim 4,

the deployment information of a VNF at least includes identification information of a computing node to which the VNF belongs, port information of an OVS to which the VNF is connected, an internet protocol IP address of the VNF, a media access control MAC address of the VNF, state information of the VNF, and a deployment mode of the VNF, where the deployment mode of the VNF includes a routing mode and a transparent mode.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the deployment mode of the VNF is a routing mode, the method further comprising:

the controller configures an ARP proxy flow table;

the controller sends the ARP proxy flow table to the OVS, so that the OVS sends an ARP response message to the VNF instead of the core switching device according to the ARP proxy flow table.

7. A controller is characterized by comprising an acquisition module and a configuration module;

the acquiring module is used for acquiring port information of core switching equipment and acquiring port information of N open source software switching equipment (OVS), wherein the core switching equipment is connected with N computing nodes, one computing node comprises one OVS and M Virtual Network Functions (VNF), one OVS is connected with the M VNFs, N is larger than or equal to 1, and M is larger than or equal to 1;

the configuration module is configured to configure a flow table of the core switching device according to the port information of the core switching device acquired by the acquisition module, where the flow table of the core switching device is used to indicate that the core switching device transmits a service chain formed by parent service nodes of a first data stream after receiving the first data stream; the first data flow is a data flow from an external network, and the father service node comprises at least one of N computing nodes connected with the core switching equipment;

the configuration module is further configured to configure a corresponding flow table of the OVS according to the port information of each OVS in the port information of the N OVSs acquired by the acquisition module, where the flow table of the OVS is used to indicate that the OVS receives a second data stream and then transmits a service chain formed by sub-service nodes of the second data stream; the second data flow is a data flow sent by the core switching device, and the child service node includes at least one of M VNFs connected to the OVS.

8. The controller of claim 7, further comprising a transmission module,

the configuration module is specifically configured to set, in a flow table of the core switching device, a port through which a data flow flows out of the core switching device and a port through which a data flow flows into the core switching device;

the sending module is configured to send the flow table of the core switching device to the core switching device after the configuration module configures the flow table of the core switching device, so that the core switching device conducts flow to each parent service node according to the flow table of the core switching device.

9. The controller of claim 7, further comprising a transmission module,

the configuration module is specifically configured to set, in a flow table of the OVS, a port through which a data flow flows out of the OVS and a port through which a data flow flows into the OVS;

the sending module is further configured to send the flow table of each OVS to each OVS after the configuration module configures the flow table of each OVS, so that each OVS conducts flow to each sub-service node according to the flow table of the OVS.

10. The controller according to any one of claims 8 to 9, wherein the controller further comprises a receiving module;

the receiving module is configured to receive VNF deployment information sent by a virtual network function manager VNFM, where the VNF deployment information includes deployment information of at least one VNF;

the configuration module is further configured to configure at least one virtual service node according to the VNF deployment information received by the receiving module, where one VNF corresponds to one virtual service node.

11. The controller of claim 10,

12. The controller of claim 11, wherein the deployment mode of the VNF is a routing mode,

the configuration module is also used for configuring an ARP proxy flow table;

the sending module is further configured to send the ARP proxy flow table configured by the configuration module to the OVS, so that the OVS sends an ARP response message to the VNF instead of the core switching device according to the ARP proxy flow table.

13. A service chaining topology system, comprising: the controller of any of claims 7 to 12, a virtual network function manager, VNFM, a core switching device, and N computing nodes connected to the core switching device, one computing node comprising one open source software switching device, OVS, and M virtual network functions, VNFs, one OVS connecting the M VNFs.

14. A controller comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory operable to store computer instructions; the processor executes the computer instructions stored by the memory when the controller is running to cause the controller to perform the service chaining method of any of claims 1 to 6.

15. A computer readable storage medium comprising computer instructions which, when run on a controller, cause the controller to perform a service chaining method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6.