CN111385215B

CN111385215B - Method and device for transmitting message

Info

Publication number: CN111385215B
Application number: CN201811645124.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王大为; 刘京卿
Original assignee: Beijing Huawei Digital Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Huawei Digital Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-12-29
Filing date: 2018-12-29
Publication date: 2022-04-22
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-29
Also published as: CN111385215A

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for transmitting a message. In order to reasonably utilize transmission resources, reduce the overhead increased by copying messages in BUM message transmission and be beneficial to reducing transmission resources of a VXLAN network occupied by BUM message transmission, the method for transmitting messages in the embodiment of the application transmits BUM messages in VXLAN based on a P2MP label forwarding mechanism. Based on the label forwarding mechanism of P2MP, only after the BUM packet is forwarded to a specific network element, the BUM packet is copied by the specific network element, where the specific network element is a network element that needs to forward a received BUM packet through multiple output ports.

Description

Method and device for transmitting message

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of information technology, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transmitting a packet.

Background

The Virtual eXtensible LAN (VXLAN) technology is a logical two-layer network constructed on the basis of the traditional physical network, is an ideal choice for the network to support the development of cloud services, is a deep extension from the traditional network to the network virtualization, and provides an optimal solution for the network resource pooling. It overcomes the traditional limitations of VLAN-based, and can bring the highest extensibility and flexibility and optimized performance to users at any location.

Currently, messages transmitted based on VXLAN can be classified into unicast messages and Multicast/Broadcast/Unknown unicast (Broadcast, Multicast, BUM) messages. Wherein, the BUM message is forwarded by adopting a head end copying mode. Specifically, when the BUM packet enters a VXLAN Tunnel, a source VXLAN Tunnel End Point (VTEP) that sends the BUM packet maintains a head-End replication list, where VXLAN Network Identifiers (VNIs) are recorded in the head-End replication list, and a corresponding relationship between the source VTEP and the target VTEP is obtained, that is, the source VTEP can determine a plurality of target VTEPs that receive target BUM packets carrying target VNIs by querying the head-End replication list. The source VTEP copies the target BUM message according to the number of the target VTEPs inquired through the head end copy list to obtain a plurality of target BUM messages, then the source VTEP performs VXLAN encapsulation on the target BUMs, and forwards the encapsulated target BUM messages to the target VTEPs through a plurality of VXLAN tunnels, wherein one group of the source VTEP and the target VTEP in the head end copy list corresponds to one VXLAN tunnel in the VXLAN tunnels.

When the destination BUM message is forwarded in the head-end replication manner, even if the next hop forwarding devices of the source VTEP on the VXLAN tunnels are the same physical forwarding device, the source VTEP needs to replicate the destination BUM message into multiple copies and transmit the destination BUM message to the next hop forwarding devices, so that the flow of the BUM message is increased by multiple times, the network resources used for transmitting the BUM message are improved, and the utilization rate of the network resources is reduced. For example, the number of the target VTEPs is 20, and the traffic of the target BUM packet entering the source VTEP is 5Gbps, then the source VTEP needs to copy 19 copies of the target BUM packet based on the above-mentioned transmission method of head-end copy, and then the traffic of the copied target BUM packet is increased to 100 Gbps.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for transmitting messages, which are used for reducing the utilization rate of network resources occupied when BUM messages are transmitted based on VXLAN.

In a first aspect, a method for transmitting a packet is provided, including:

selecting a target virtual network extension (VNI) from a virtual network extension (VNI) recorded in a head end copy list by a source VTEP, wherein the head end copy list records a source VTEP for sending broadcast/unknown unicast/multicast BUM messages carrying the VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs for receiving the BUM messages carrying the VNI;

the source VTEP determines a source VTEP corresponding to the target VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI by inquiring the head-end replication list;

the source VTEP establishes a point-to-multipoint P2MP label forwarding tunnel for a target BUM message carrying the target VNI according to the source VTEP corresponding to the target VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI;

and the source VTEP sends the target BUM message to a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI through the P2MP label forwarding tunnel.

In order to reasonably utilize transmission resources, reduce overhead increased by copying messages in BUM message transmission, and be beneficial to reducing transmission resources of a VXLAN network occupied by BUM message transmission, the method for transmitting messages in the embodiment of the application transmits BUM messages in VXLAN based on a P2MP label forwarding mechanism. Based on the label forwarding mechanism of P2MP, only after the BUM packet is forwarded to a specific network element (e.g., a forwarding device or a source VTEP), the BUM packet is copied by the specific network element, where the specific network element is a network element that needs to forward a received BUM packet through a plurality of egress ports, so that it is avoided that, in the process of forwarding the BUM packet based on a head-end copy list, no matter whether the source VTEP needs to forward the BUM packet from the plurality of egress ports, the BUM packet needs to be forwarded, which results in that transmission resources of a physical path between the source VTEP and the forwarding device for transmitting the BUM packet waste multiple copies of the BUM packet.

In one possible implementation, the target VNI includes a plurality of different VNIs, and the end node of the P2MP label forwarding path includes a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to each of the plurality of VNIs.

In the embodiment of the application, a shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel is configured for BUM messages corresponding to multiple VNIs, so as to simplify a configuration flow of a P2MP label forwarding tunnel.

In one possible implementation, the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a first set of VNIs,

the source VTEP selecting a target VNI from VNIs recorded in a head copy list, including:

the source VTEP selects the target VNI from the first VNI set according to the BUM message traffic corresponding to each VNI in the first VNI set, wherein the flow of the BUM message corresponding to each VNI in the target VNI is lower than that of the BUM message corresponding to each VNI in other VNIs except the target VNI in the first VNI set in a preset time period.

In the embodiment of the application, the target VNI is selected according to the BUM packet traffic to establish the P2MP label forwarding tunnel, so as to control the waste of transmission resources.

In one possible implementation, the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a second set of VNIs,

the source VTEP selects the target VNI from the second VNI set according to the BUM packet traffic corresponding to each VNI in the second VNI set and the first traffic threshold corresponding to each VNI in the second VNI set.

In one possible implementation, the target VNI comprises a first VNI, and the method further comprises:

if the flow of the BUM message corresponding to the first VNI is higher than a flow threshold value within a preset time period, the source VTEP determines a source VTEP corresponding to the first VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI by querying the head-end replication list;

the source VTEP establishes a special P2MP label forwarding tunnel for the BUM message carrying the first VNI according to the source VTEP corresponding to the first VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI;

and the source VTEP forwards the BUM message carrying the first VNI to a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI through the special P2MP label forwarding tunnel.

In this embodiment of the present application, if the flow of the BUM packet corresponding to the first VNI is higher than the flow threshold within the preset time period, a dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel may be established, that is, the type of the P2MP label forwarding tunnel used for transmitting the BUM packet carrying a certain VNI is dynamically adjusted, which is beneficial to obtaining a balance between the transmission overhead and the network maintenance pressure.

In one possible implementation, the target VNI is a VNI, and the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a third set of VNIs,

and the source VTEP selects the target VNI from the third VNI set according to the flow of the BUM message corresponding to the third VNI set, wherein the flow of the BUM message corresponding to the target VNI is higher than the flow of the BUM messages corresponding to other VNIs except the target VNI in the third VNI set in a preset time period.

In one possible implementation, the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a fourth set of VNIs,

the source VTEP selects the target VNI from the fourth VNI set according to the BUM packet traffic corresponding to each VNI in the fourth VNI set and the third traffic threshold corresponding to each VNI in the fourth VNI set.

In a second aspect, an apparatus for transmitting a packet is provided, including:

a processing module, configured to select a target VNI from a virtual extended local area network identifier VNI recorded in a head-end replication list, where the head-end replication list records a source VTEP that sends a broadcast/unknown unicast/multicast BUM packet carrying the VNI and multiple target VTEPs that receive the BUM packet carrying the VNI;

the processing module is further configured to determine a source VTEP corresponding to the target VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI by querying the head-end replication list;

the processing module is further configured to establish a point-to-multipoint P2MP label forwarding tunnel for a target BUM packet carrying the target VNI according to the source VTEP corresponding to the target VNI and the plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI;

a sending module, configured to send the target BUM packet to multiple target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI through the P2MP label forwarding tunnel established by the processing module.

the processing module is further configured to: and selecting the target VNI from the first VNI set according to the BUM message traffic corresponding to each VNI in the first VNI set, wherein the flow of the BUM message corresponding to each VNI in the target VNI is lower than that of the BUM message corresponding to each VNI in other VNIs except the target VNI in the first VNI set in a preset time period.

the processing module is further configured to:

selecting the target VNI from the second VNI set according to the BUM message traffic corresponding to each VNI in the second VNI set and the first traffic threshold corresponding to each VNI in the second VNI set.

In one possible implementation, the target VNI comprises a first VNI, and the apparatus further comprises:

if the flow of the BUM packet corresponding to the first VNI is higher than a second flow threshold within a preset time period, the processing module determines a source VTEP corresponding to the first VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI by querying the head-end replication list;

the processing module is configured to establish a dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel for the BUM packet carrying the first VNI according to the source VTEP corresponding to the first VNI and the plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI;

the sending module forwards the BUM packet carrying the first VNI to a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI through the dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel.

the processing module is further configured to: and selecting the target VNI from the third VNI set according to the flow of the BUM message corresponding to the third VNI set, wherein the flow of the BUM message corresponding to the target VNI is higher than the flow of the BUM messages corresponding to other VNIs except the target VNI in the third VNI set in a preset time period.

In a third aspect, a virtual extensible local area network tunnel endpoint VTEP is provided, which includes a processor and a memory, where the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program from the memory, so that the VTEP executes the method in the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the above-mentioned aspects.

It should be noted that, all or part of the computer program code may be stored in the first storage medium, where the first storage medium may be packaged together with the processor or may be packaged separately from the processor, and this is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, which stores program code, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the above-mentioned aspects.

In a sixth aspect, a chip system is provided, the chip system comprising a processor for enabling the VTEP to perform the functions referred to in the above aspects, such as generating, receiving, sending, or processing data and/or information referred to in the above methods. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the terminal device. The chip system may be formed by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a VXLAN for which the transmission BUM is applicable.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow diagram of a method of forwarding BUM messages based on a head-end replication list.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a method for transmitting a packet according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic architecture diagram of a forwarding BUM packet according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic architecture diagram of a forwarding BUM packet according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for transmitting a packet according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a VTEP of an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

For the sake of easy understanding, the terms used in the embodiments of the present application will be briefly described.

Firstly, VXLAN tunnel: a "tunnel" is a logical concept, a VXLAN tunnel is used to transport messages encapsulated by VXLAN, which is a virtual channel established between two VTEPs.

Secondly, VTEP: that is, the end point of the VXLAN tunnel is usually encapsulated in a Network virtual Edge Node (NVE) for encapsulating and decapsulating the VXLAN packet. The VTEP is connected with a physical network, and the allocated address is a physical network IP address. The source IP address in the VXLAN message is the VTEP address of the node, the destination IP address in the VXLAN message is the VTEP address of the opposite node, and a pair of VTEP addresses (namely the source VTEP address and the target VTEP address) corresponds to a VXLAN tunnel.

Thirdly, VNI: the VXLAN network identification VNI is similar to a VLAN ID and is used to distinguish VXLAN segments, and virtual machines of different VXLAN segments cannot directly communicate with each other at two layers. A VNI represents a tenant, and it should be noted that if a plurality of end users belong to the same VNI, these end users may also be represented as a tenant.

A method for transmitting BUM messages in VXLAN based on a head-end replication transport scheme is described below with reference to fig. 1 and 2, where fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of VXLAN for transmitting BUM probation, and the VXLAN shown in fig. 1 includes a source VTEP110, a forwarding device 120, and a destination VTEP 130.

Source VTEP110, the first node of the VXLAN tunnel, or the node that the destination BUM message arrived first after entering the VXLAN tunnel.

The forwarding device 120 may be located in a three-layer network, and configured to receive a target BUM packet sent by a source VTEP, and forward the target BUM packet to the target VTEP130 through other forwarding devices (not shown in fig. 1) in the three-layer network based on an IP address carried in the BUM packet.

And the target VTEP130 receives the target BUM message forwarded by the three-layer network and decapsulates the BUM.

It should be understood that the source VTEP and the target VTEP are both with respect to one VXLAN tunnel, i.e., the beginning and end of the VXLAN tunnel. The VTEP may be a standalone network device, such as a switch. The VTEP may also be a server where the virtual machine resides.

It should also be understood that the three-layer network described above can implement communications between VXLANs between different segments of an IP-based route, as well as communications between VXLANs and non-VXLANs.

A method for forwarding BUM messages based on the head-end replication list is described below with reference to fig. 2 based on the VXLAN shown in fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a schematic flow diagram of a method of forwarding BUM messages based on a head-end replication list. The method shown in fig. 2 includes steps 210 through 240.

210, the source VTEP determines a VNI of the target BUM packet to be sent.

220, the source VTEP queries the head-end replication list to determine a plurality of target VTEPs that receive the target BUM messages.

Table 1 is one possible implementation of the head end copy list. Table 1 shows that the source VTEP carrying the BUM packet with VNI ID10 is VTEP a, and the target VTEPs are VTEP1, VTEP2, and VTEP 3. That is, the BUM message carrying VNI ID of 10 needs to be forwarded through 3 VXLAN tunnels, i.e. the source VTEP is VTEP a, and the target VTEP is VTEP1 corresponding to VXLAN tunnel 1; the source VTEP is VTEP a, and the target VTEP is VTEP2 corresponding to VXLAN tunnel 2; the source VTEP is VTEP a and the target VTEP is VTEP3 corresponding to VXLAN tunnel 3.

TABLE 1

VNI ID	Source VTEP	Target VTEP
				10	VTEP a	VTEP 1
10	VTEP a	VTEP 2
			10	VTEP a	VTEP 3

And 230, copying the target BUM message by the source VTEP to obtain 3 parts of the target BUM message, and packaging the 3 parts of the BUM message.

240, respectively sending the 3 destination BUM messages to 3 destination VTEPs, i.e. VTEP1, VTEP2, and VTEP3, through 3 VXLAN tunnels.

As can be seen from the message transmission method shown in fig. 2, even though the forwarding devices of the BUM messages entering the three-layer network on the 3 VXLAN tunnels are the same physical network element (for example, the forwarding device 120, see fig. 1), that is, there is only one physical link from the source VTEP to the forwarding device 120, the source VTEP needs to copy the BUM messages into 3 BUM messages first, and then forward the BUM messages through a physical path between the source VTEP and the forwarding device 120, so that transmission resources, such as bandwidth, for transmitting the BUM messages on the physical path are occupied when the BUM messages are transmitted.

In order to reasonably utilize transmission resources, reduce the overhead increased by copying messages in BUM message transmission and be beneficial to reducing the transmission resources of a VXLAN network occupied by BUM message transmission, the application provides a message transmission method, which is based on a P2MP label forwarding mechanism and transmits BUM messages in VXLAN. Based on the label forwarding mechanism of P2MP, only after the BUM packet is forwarded to a specific network element (e.g., a forwarding device or a source VTEP), the BUM packet is copied by the specific network element, where the specific network element is a network element (e.g., the forwarding device 120 in fig. 1) that needs to forward a received BUM packet through multiple output ports, so that it is avoided that, in the process of forwarding the BUM packet based on a head-end copy list, no matter whether the source VTEP needs to forward the BUM packet from multiple output ports, the BUM packet needs to be forwarded, which results in that transmission resources of a physical path between the source VTEP and the forwarding device for transmitting the BUM packet are wasted in transmitting multiple copied BUM packets.

The following describes the message transmission method according to the embodiment of the present application in detail with reference to fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a method for transmitting a packet according to an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in fig. 3 includes steps 310 through 340.

310, a source virtual extended local area network tunnel endpoint VTEP selects a target VNI from virtual extended local area network identifiers VNIs recorded in a head-end replication list, where the head-end replication list records a source VTEP that sends a broadcast/unknown unicast/multicast BUM packet carrying the VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs that receive the BUM packet carrying the VNI.

There are various ways for the source VTEP to select the target VNI, and this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the source VTEP may select the target VNI according to a traffic of the BUM packet in a certain time period corresponding to each VNI of the different VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list. For another example, the source VTEP may also determine the target VTEP according to the number of target VTEPs corresponding to the VNI. The specific selection can be found in the following description.

And 320, the source VTEP determines a source VTEP corresponding to the target VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI by querying the head-end replication list.

For example, based on the head-end replication list shown in table 1, the source VTEP may determine that the plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the BUM packet carrying the VNI ID of 10 are VTEP1, VTEP2, and VTEP 3.

330, the source VTEP establishes a point-to-multipoint P2MP label forwarding tunnel for the target BUM packet carrying the target VNI according to the source VTEP corresponding to the target VNI and the plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNIs.

Optionally, the Label used by the P2MP Label forwarding tunnel forwarding packet may be a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Label, and may also be a new Label type specified in a future packet forwarding Protocol, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

When the label is MPLS, the P2MP label forwarding Tunnel may be an MPLS point-to-multipoint Traffic engineering Tunnel (MPLS P2MP Traffic Engine Tunnel).

It should be noted that, the above manner for establishing the P2MP label forwarding tunnel based on the source VTEP and the target VTEP may refer to a manner for establishing a label forwarding tunnel in the prior art, and for brevity, no further description is provided here.

340, the source VTEP sends the target BUM packet to a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI through the P2MP label forwarding tunnel.

Correspondingly, the forwarding device located on the P2MP label forwarding tunnel forwards the destination BUM message based on the specification of the conventional label forwarding protocol, that is, when the BUM message needs to be forwarded from a plurality of egress ports of the forwarding device, the destination BUM needs to be copied.

The P2MP label forwarding tunnel may be a shared label forwarding tunnel or a label forwarding tunnel dedicated to a VNI. The two label forwarding tunnels are described separately below.

One, shared label forwarding tunnel.

That is, different VNIs in the head-end replication list may share one label forwarding tunnel. In other words, the target VNI includes different VNIs, and the end node of the P2MP label forwarding path includes a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to each of the VNIs.

For different VNIs, the target VTEPs corresponding to each VNI may not be identical, and at this time, in order to enable the BUM packets carrying different VNIs to be sent to the target VTEP, the end node of the P2MP label forwarding path should include a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to each VNI in the VNIs, or it may be understood that the end node of the P2MP label forwarding path is a union of sets of a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to each VNI in the VNIs.

For example, table 2 shows another possible implementation manner of the head-end copy list, where table 2 includes two different VNI IDs, that is, VNI ID10 and VNI ID20, where a source VTEP carrying a BUM packet with VNI ID10 is VTEP a, target VTEPs is VTEP1 and VTEP2, a source VTEP carrying a BUM packet with VNI ID20 is VTEP a, and target VTEP is VTEP 2.

If a shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel needs to be established for the BUM packet carrying VNI ID10 and VNI ID20, respectively, the end node of the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel includes VTEP1 and VTEP 2.

TABLE 2

VNI ID	Source VTEP	Target VTEP
				10	VTEP a	VTEP 1
10	VTEP a	VTEP 2
			20	VTEP a	VTEP 2

It should be noted that, in such a case that the multiple target VTEPs corresponding to each of the different VNIs not identical, if the forwarding tunnel transmits the BUM packet according to the shared P2MP label, the BUM packet may be forwarded to the target VTEP that does not correspond.

For example, as shown in fig. 4, source VTEP110 establishes shared P2MP label-forwarding tunnel 410 for VNI ID10 and VNI ID20 based on the head-end replication list shown in table 2. When the BUM packet carrying the VNI ID20 is forwarded through the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel 410, the packet is forwarded to the VTEP1, but the VTEP1 does not need to receive the BUM packet carrying the VNI ID20, at this time, since the VTEP1 does not need to receive the BUM packet carrying the VNI ID20, that is, the VTEP1 does not store the VNI ID20, the VTEP1 directly discards the BUM packet carrying the VNI ID 20.

Optionally, the above packet transmission method based on the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel may be applied to multiple VNIs with low BUM packet traffic, that is, when the traffic of the BUM packet corresponding to the multiple VNIs low, even when the BUM packet without the correspondence relationship is sent to the target node (for example, the BUM packet carrying the VNI ID20 is sent to the VTEP1 in the foregoing), the waste of transmission resources is limited.

That is, the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a first set of VNIs, and the selecting, by the source VTEP, a target VNI from the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list includes: the source VTEP selects the target VNI from the first VNI set according to the BUM message traffic corresponding to each VNI in the first VNI set, wherein the flow of the BUM message corresponding to each VNI in the target VNI is lower than that of the BUM message corresponding to each VNI in other VNIs except the target VNI in the first VNI set in a preset time period.

The preset time period may be a time period in a historical time period, or may be a current time period, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

For example, a traffic threshold may be set, the traffic of the BUM packet corresponding to the VNI in the first set is compared with the traffic threshold, and the VNI corresponding to the BUM packet lower than the traffic threshold is used as the target VNI. For another example, a preset VNI number may be set, and the preset VNI number is selected from the first set, and a determination that the flow of the BUM packet corresponding to the VNI is low is the target VNI. The embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited to this. For another example, a traffic threshold (e.g., a first traffic threshold) may be configured for each VNI in the head-end replication list (or the second set of VNIs), and a VNI in the head-end replication list, in which the traffic of the BUM packet corresponding to the VNI is lower than the traffic threshold corresponding to the VNI, is taken as the target VNI.

It should be noted that, when the source VTEP selects the target VNI to establish the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel, the flow of the BUM packet corresponding to the VNI is taken as a reference factor for selecting the VNI, the number of target VTEPs corresponding to the VNI is also taken as a reference factor, and the two reference factors may be combined to select the target VNI. For example, when the number of target VTEPs corresponding to the VNI is used as a reference factor, a plurality of VNIs with approximately the same target VTEP (or with more overlapping target VTEPs) may be selected as the target VNIs.

Second, the dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel.

That is, only the BUM packet carrying a specific VNI is transmitted in the dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel. Or, the target VNI is a VNI, the P2MP label forwarding tunnel transmitting the BUM packet carrying the target VNI in the foregoing may be understood as a dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel.

When the source VTEP selects the target VNI to establish the dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel, the flow rate of the BUM packet corresponding to the VNI may also be used as a reference factor for selecting the target VNI, the number of the target VTEPs corresponding to the VNI may also be used as a reference factor, and the two reference factors may also be combined to select the target VNI. For example, taking the number of target VTEPs corresponding to the VNI as a reference factor, the target VNI with the smallest number of target VTEPs corresponding to the VNI may be selected to avoid that the BUM packet is transmitted through the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel, and when the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel corresponds to many target VTEPs, the BUM is copied in multiple copies, and the cost for transmitting the BUM packet is increased.

When the flow of the BUM message is taken as a reference factor for selecting the target VNI, a dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel may be established for the larger flow of the BUM message within a preset time period. Because the flow of such BUM messages is generally large, if such BUM messages are transmitted through the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel each time, the increased flow of the BUM messages may be large, resulting in high overhead caused by transmitting the BUM messages.

It should be noted that, there are various ways to select the target VNI from the first set to establish the dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel, for example, a traffic threshold may be set, the traffic of the BUM packet corresponding to the VNI in the first set is compared with the traffic threshold, and the VNI corresponding to the BUM packet higher than the traffic threshold is used as the target VNI. For another example, a preset VNI number may be set, and the preset VNI number is selected from the first set, and a determination that the flow of the BUM packet corresponding to the VNI is high is the target VNI. For another example, a traffic threshold (e.g., a third traffic threshold) may be configured for each VNI in the head-end replication list (or the third set of VNIs), and a VNI in the head-end replication list, in which the traffic of the BUM packet corresponding to the VNI is lower than the third traffic threshold corresponding to the VNI, is taken as the target VNI. The embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited to this.

Of course, if there are multiple VNIs selected from the first set that satisfy the above conditions, the source VTEP may establish a dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel for each VNI.

For example, as shown in fig. 5, source VTEP110 establishes a dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel 510 for VNI ID10 based on the head-end replication list shown in table 1. And when forwarding the BUM packet carrying VNI ID10 through the dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel 510, the packet will be forwarded to VTEP1, VTEP2, and VTEP 3.

In the embodiment of the application, a dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel is configured for the BUM packet corresponding to the VNI, so as to reduce transmission overhead when the BUM packet is transmitted.

And thirdly, the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel is combined with the special P2MP label forwarding tunnel for use.

Since the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel and the dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel have respective advantages, the two P2MP label forwarding tunnels can be used in combination, or the type of the P2MP label forwarding tunnel used for transmitting the BUM packet carrying a certain VNI can be dynamically adjusted, which is beneficial to balance between transmission overhead and network maintenance pressure.

For example, a BUM message originally transmitted through the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel may establish a dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel after meeting the conversion condition. The conversion condition may be that a flow of the BUM packet corresponding to a VNI in a first preset time period is higher than a first preset flow threshold.

I.e. the target VNI comprises a first VNI, the method further comprising: if the flow of the BUM message corresponding to the first VNI is higher than a second flow threshold within a first preset time period, the source VTEP determines a source VTEP corresponding to the first VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI by querying the head-end replication list; the source VTEP establishes a special P2MP label forwarding tunnel for the BUM message carrying the first VNI according to the source VTEP corresponding to the first VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI; and the source VTEP forwards the BUM message carrying the first VNI to a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI through the special P2MP label forwarding tunnel.

For another example, after the BUM packet originally transmitted through the dedicated P2MP label forwarding tunnel satisfies the conversion condition, the BUM packet may be forwarded through the shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel. The conversion condition may be that the flow of the BUM packet corresponding to a VNI in the second preset time period is lower than a second preset flow threshold.

Namely, the method further comprises: and if the flow of the BUM message corresponding to the first VNI in a second preset time period is lower than a second flow threshold, the source VTEP forwards the BUM message corresponding to the first VNI through an originally established shared P2MP label forwarding tunnel. The P2MP label forwarding tunnel is shared, that is, the P2MP label forwarding tunnel that transmits BUM packets including multiple VNIs before the first preset time period in the foregoing.

The first flow threshold may be equal to the second flow threshold, and the first flow threshold may be higher than the second flow threshold.

It should be noted that, for convenience of description, the first preset time period is earlier in time than the second preset time period, but this is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

The method of the embodiment of the present application is described above in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 5, and the apparatus of the embodiment of the present application is described below in detail with reference to fig. 6 to 7. It should be noted that the apparatuses shown in fig. 6 to fig. 7 can implement the steps in the above method, and are not described herein again for brevity.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for transmitting a packet according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 600 shown in fig. 6 includes a processing module 610 and a transmitting module 620.

A processing module 610, configured to select a target VNI from a virtual extended local area network identifier VNI recorded in a head-end replication list, where the head-end replication list records a source VTEP that sends a broadcast/unknown unicast/multicast BUM packet carrying the VNI and multiple target VTEPs that receive the BUM packet carrying the VNI;

the processing module 610 is further configured to determine a source VTEP corresponding to the target VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI by querying the head-end replication list;

the processing module 610 is further configured to establish a point-to-multipoint P2MP label forwarding tunnel for a target BUM packet carrying the target VNI according to a source VTEP corresponding to the target VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI;

a sending module 620, configured to send the target BUM packet to multiple target VTEPs corresponding to the target VNI through the P2MP label forwarding tunnel established by the processing module.

Optionally, the target VNI includes a plurality of different VNIs, and the end node of the P2MP label forwarding path includes a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to each of the plurality of VNIs.

Optionally, the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a first set of VNIs, and the processing module is further configured to: and selecting the target VNI from the first VNI set according to the BUM message traffic corresponding to each VNI in the first VNI set, wherein the flow of the BUM message corresponding to each VNI in the target VNI is lower than that of the BUM message corresponding to each VNI in other VNIs except the target VNI in the first VNI set in a preset time period.

Optionally, the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a second set of VNIs, and the processing module is further configured to:

Optionally, the target VNI comprises a first VNI, the apparatus further comprising: if the flow of the BUM packet corresponding to the first VNI is higher than a second flow threshold within a preset time period, the processing module determines a source VTEP corresponding to the first VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI by querying the head-end replication list;

Optionally, the target VNI is one VNI, and the VNI recorded in the head-end replication list belongs to a third set of VNIs, and the processing module is further configured to: and selecting the target VNI from the third VNI set according to the flow of the BUM message corresponding to the third VNI set, wherein the flow of the BUM message corresponding to the target VNI is higher than the flow of the BUM messages corresponding to other VNIs except the target VNI in the third VNI set in a preset time period.

Optionally, the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a fourth set of VNIs,

the processing module is further configured to:

selecting the target VNI from the fourth VNI set according to the BUM message traffic corresponding to each VNI in the fourth VNI set and the third traffic threshold corresponding to each VNI in the fourth VNI set.

In an alternative embodiment, the processing module 610 may function as the processor 720 in the VTEP700, and the sending module 620 may be the input/output interface 730 in the VTEP 700. The VTEP700 may also include a memory 710, as shown in particular in fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a VTEP of an embodiment of the present application. VTEP700 shown in fig. 7 may include: memory 710, processor 720, and input/output interface 730. The memory 710, the processor 720 and the input/output interface 730 are connected via an internal connection path, the memory 710 is used for storing instructions, and the processor 720 is used for executing the instructions stored in the memory 720 to control the input/output interface 730 to receive input data and information and output data such as operation results.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware or instructions in the form of software in the processor 720. The method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory 710, and the processor 720 reads the information in the memory 710 and performs the steps of the method in combination with the hardware. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It will also be appreciated that in embodiments of the present application, the memory may comprise both read-only memory and random access memory, and may provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the processor may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the processor may also store information of the device type.

It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a, from which B can be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may be determined from a and/or other information.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" herein is merely one type of association relationship that describes an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

It should be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be read by a computer or a data storage device including one or more available media integrated servers, data centers, and the like. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application 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 application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting a message, comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the target VNI comprises a different plurality of VNIs, and wherein the P2MP label end node of the forwarding path comprises a plurality of target VTEPs for each of the plurality of VNIs.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a first set of VNIs,

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a second set of VNIs,

5. The method of any of claims 2-4, wherein the target VNI comprises a first VNI, the method further comprising:

if the flow of the BUM message corresponding to the first VNI is higher than a second flow threshold value within a preset time period, the source VTEP determines a source VTEP corresponding to the first VNI and a plurality of target VTEPs corresponding to the first VNI by querying the head-end replication list;

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the target VNI is one VNI, and the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a third set of VNIs,

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a VNI recorded in the head-end replication list belongs to a fourth set of VNIs,

8. An apparatus for transmitting messages, comprising:

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the target VNI comprises a different plurality of VNIs, and wherein a last node of the P2MP label forwarding path comprises a plurality of target VTEPs for each of the plurality of VNIs.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a VNI recorded in the head-end replication list belongs to a first set of VNIs,

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a second set of VNIs,

the processing module is further configured to:

12. The apparatus of any of claims 9-11, wherein the target VNI comprises a first VNI, the apparatus further comprising:

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the target VNI is one VNI, and the VNIs recorded in the head-end replication list belong to a third set of VNIs,

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein a VNI recorded in the head-end replication list belongs to a fourth set of VNIs,

the processing module is further configured to:

15. A virtual extended local area network tunnel endpoint, VTEP, comprising a processor and a memory, the memory for storing a computer program, the processor for invoking and running the computer program from the memory, such that the VTEP performs the method of any of claims 1-7.