JPH11215152A - Switching hub with default vlan constituting function and vlan server - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a switching hub with default VLAN(virtual local area network) constituting function which can connect any host to a specific VLAN even when the host is not registered in the switch hub. SOLUTION: A registered address storing section 12 stores the address used by a host to be connected for communication and the information indicating the correspondence to the VLAN to which the host belongs and a switching element control means 11 gives the information necessary for switching packets to a packet switching element 13 based on the information. When a packet is received from a host having an address which is not yet registered in the storing section 12, the control means 11 gives the information required for switching the host to a specific VLAN to the switching element 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a VLAN (Virt)
The present invention relates to a switching hub and a VLAN server having a ual Local Area Network (virtual network) configuration function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A switching hub having an automatic VLAN distribution function based on a source address is known. This switching hub has a registration table for storing in advance the addresses of hosts (terminals) that may be connected. When the switching hub receives the packet, the destination port of the packet is automatically determined based on the source address and destination address of the received packet and the registration table.

[0003] Therefore, by using one switching hub, a plurality of VLANs can be constructed, thereby limiting the broadcast domain (broadcast range) and operating the network more efficiently. It can be carried out. Further, since the addresses of the respective hosts are registered in the switching hub in advance, the respective hosts can always participate in the same VLAN without depending on the port to which they are physically connected.

[0004]

The above-described conventional switching hub has the following problems. (1) Since the automatic VLAN distribution is performed based on the addresses of the connecting hosts, the addresses of all the hosts that may be connected must be registered in the switching hub in advance. Therefore, the amount of work for registering the address becomes enormous in proportion to the number of connected hosts. (2) V based on information other than the address of the host to be connected
Cannot sort LAN. (3) When a plurality of switching hubs are connected and operated, each switching hub uses a VLA based on only the “address of the host to be connected” registered in itself.
Since the distribution of N is performed, the same information must be registered in all the switching hubs.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and provides a switching hub with a default VLAN configuration function that enables a host not previously registered in the switching hub to connect to a specific VLAN. Is to do. Another object of the present invention is to utilize a function of distributing unregistered hosts to a specific VLAN provided by a switching hub having a default VLAN configuration function, and to perform automatic VL based on information other than addresses.
It is to provide a VLAN server which performs AN distribution.

[0006]

The invention according to claim 1 is
When an arbitrary host having an address that is not registered in advance is connected to an arbitrary port, the host
The gist is a switching hub with a default VLAN configuration function, which operates as registered as belonging to a LAN.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a registration address storage unit in which information for associating an address used by a host for communication with a VLAN to which the host belongs is registered, a packet switching element for switching a packet, Based on the information registered in the address storage unit, the packet switching element is provided with information necessary for switching the packet, and a packet is received from a host having an unregistered address in the registered address storage unit. In this case, the host is
A switching element control means for providing information for switching to a LAN to the packet switching element to the packet switching element is provided.

[0008] In the invention according to claim 3, when an arbitrary host having an address which is not registered in advance is connected to an arbitrary port, the host sent from a specific device belonging to the specific VLAN should belong to the specific VLAN. 3. A switching hub with a default VLAN configuration function according to claim 1 or 2, wherein information for associating the address of the host with the VLAN is stored in accordance with a command for specifying the VLAN.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when a host is connected via a specific VLAN, a VLAN to which the host belongs is determined according to the communication content of the host, and information for specifying the determined VLAN is transmitted. A gist of the present invention is a VLAN server that transmits a communication to a switching hub that relays communication with the host.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A. FIG. 1 shows a default VL according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a switching hub 10 with an AN configuration function. As shown in this figure, the switching hub 1 with a default VLAN configuration function according to the present embodiment
0 includes a packet switching element 13 for actually performing a packet switching process, a switching element control means 11 for controlling the packet switching element 13, and a registered address storage unit 12.

The registered address storage unit 12 stores the switching hub 1 with the default VLAN configuration function.
0 stores information indicating the correspondence between the address used by the host connected for communication and the VLAN to which the host belongs. Here, as a representative address used by the host for communication, a MAC (Media Access Control) is used.
Address.

The switching element control means 11 is a means for providing information necessary for switching a packet to the packet switching element 13 based on the above information in the registered address storage section 12.

The packet switching element 13 performs packet switching according to the information provided from the switching element control means 11. Here, the information required by the packet switching element 13 includes information on the host address, the VLAN to which the host belongs, and the port to which the host connects.

The packet switching element 13 cannot switch a packet unless one or both of the destination address and the source address of the received packet are given by the switching element control means 11. In this case, the packet switching element 13 notifies the switching element control means 11 of the information of the received packet. Switching element control means 1
1 gives new information necessary for packet switching to the packet switching element 13 based on the content of the notified packet and the information in the registered address storage unit 12.

Next, referring to the flowchart shown in FIG.
The operation of the present embodiment will be described.

As described above, the switching element control means 11 gives information necessary for switching a packet to the packet switching element 13 based on the information in the registered address storage section 12. However, when the switching hub 10 with the default VLAN configuration function receives a packet, information on one or both of the destination address and the source address of the packet is given to the packet switching element 13 by the switching element control means 11. Something like that can happen. In this case, the packet switching element 13
Cannot switch packets. Therefore,
The packet switching element 13 notifies the information of the received packet to the switching element control means 11 (step A1).

Upon receiving this notification, the switching element control means 11 first checks whether or not the source address of the packet is registered in the registered address storage unit 12 (step A2). If registered, the device corresponding to the source address is notified to the packet switching element 13 as belonging to the VLAN registered in the registered address storage unit 12 (step A4), and the process proceeds to step A6.

On the other hand, if the source address is not registered in the registered address storage unit 12, the switching element control means 11 next checks an internal flag as to whether or not the default VLAN configuration function is valid (step S1). A
3). If the default VLAN configuration function is not valid, it determines that the unregistered address cannot participate in any VLAN, and notifies the packet switching element 13 of a request to discard the packet (step A9).

On the other hand, if the default VLAN configuration function is valid, the source address is changed to the default V
Packet switching element 1 as belonging to LAN
3 (step A5), and the process proceeds to step A6.

In step A6, the switching element control means 11 checks whether the destination address of the packet is a multicast (including broadcast) address. If the destination address of the packet is a multicast address, the switching element control means 11 sends the same VLAN as the device corresponding to the source address.
Request the packet switching element 13 to broadcast the packet to a port belonging to the group, and end the processing of the packet (step A8).

On the other hand, if the destination address of the packet is not a multicast address, the switching element control means 11 checks whether or not the destination address of the packet is registered in the registered address storage unit 12 as another VLAN (see FIG. 4). Step A7). If the destination address of the packet is registered as another VLAN, communication between different VLANs is not permitted, so that a packet discard request is sent to the packet switching element 1.
3 is notified (step A9). On the other hand, if the destination address of the packet is not registered as another VLAN, the packet switching element 13 is requested to transmit the packet to the port connected to the destination host (step A8), and the processing of the packet is performed. finish.

Next, a more specific operation example of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, only the addresses A01 and A02 are stored in the registered address storage unit 12 as hosts of the VLAN1. On the other hand, the hosts 2 and 3 have addresses A11 and A11, respectively.
And each uses a default V depending on the communication line.
It is connected to a switching hub 10 with a LAN configuration function.

The operation when the hosts 2 and 3 try to transmit and receive packets via the switching hub 10 with the default VLAN configuration function in such a configuration will be described.

Assuming that the default VLAN is enabled by the internal flag of the switching element control means 11, the address A11 (host 2)
(Host 3) default VLA
When the switching hub 10 with the N configuration function receives the signal,
After notifying the packet switching element 13 that the address A11 belongs to the default VLAN, the packet is transferred to a port to which another host belonging to the default VLAN is connected.

The same processing is performed when a packet addressed to address A11 is received from address A12.

After the address All and the address A12 are notified to the packet switching element 13, the host having the address A11 and the host having the address A12 can communicate with each other without passing through the switching element control means 11.

As described above, according to this embodiment, even if the host has no address registered in advance,
By connecting to any port of the mainframe, a specific V
It can be made to participate in LAN and perform communication.

B. Second Embodiment FIG. 4 shows a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment includes a switching hub 10A with a default VLAN configuration function, a host 4, and a VLAN server 5. The switching hub 10A with a default VLAN configuration function includes an input device 14, a data processing unit 11A that operates under program control,
A registration address storage unit 12 for storing correspondence information between addresses and VLANs, and a packet switching element 13 for actually performing packet switching processing are provided. Also,
The data processing unit 11A includes a communication unit 121, a control command interpretation unit 122, and a switching element control unit 123.

Here, the switching element control means 123, the registered address storage unit 12, and the packet switching element 13 of the data processing means 11A correspond to the switching element control means 11, the registered address storage unit 12, and the packet switching element 13 in FIG. 1, respectively. doing.

The control command interpreting means 122 in the data processing means 11A is connected to the input device 14 or the communication means 1.
The control command is received from the control address 21 and information is added, deleted, or changed in the registered address storage unit 12 according to the content.

Here, the control command is the default VLAN
It is issued by the user of the switching hub with configuration function 10A, and is notified to the control command interpreting means 122 via the input device 14 or the communication means 121. This control instruction includes information necessary for rewriting the contents of the registered address storage unit 12.

The communication means 121 in the data processing means 11A is used for communication between the host 4 and the VLAN server 5 and the switching hub 10A having the default VLAN configuration function. The main purpose of this communication is to pass a control command to the control command interpreting means 122 and change or update the contents of the registered address storage unit 12 via the network.

When a packet addressed to the switching hub 10A with the default VLAN configuration function is received, the packet switching element 13 notifies the communication means 121 of the packet. The communication unit 121 converts the received packet into a control command format, and passes it to the control command interpretation unit 122.

The host 4 has communication means 42 for transmitting and receiving packets, and data processing means 41 for interpreting the contents of the received packet and generating the contents of the packet to be transmitted to another host.

The VLAN server 5 includes communication means 52 for transmitting and receiving packets, and VLAN distribution means 51 for determining which VLAN the host communicating with the VLAN server should ultimately belong to.

The host 4 and the VLAN server 5 are connected to a switching hub 10A having a default VLAN configuration function via a communication line. The VLAN server 5 may be implemented as a program that operates inside the switching hub 10 with the default VLAN configuration function.

Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The registered address storage unit 12 stores only information that the VLAN server 5 belongs to the default VLAN.

The host 4 that wants to join the VLAN
First, a connection with the VLAN server 5 is made. Host 4
Regardless of the port of the switching hub 10A with the default VLAN configuration function to be physically connected, the default V
The LAN configuration function enables connection to the VLAN server 5. The reason is that the VLAN server 5 receiving the packet from the host 4 determines the VLAN to which the host 4 belongs based on the communication content. The information for determining which VLAN should belong to includes the type of the upper communication protocol, the network number of the upper communication protocol, the type and name of the VLAN to which the host 4 wants to connect, and the like. In order to improve security, more advanced authentication may be performed between the VLAN server 5 and the host 4.

After determining the VLAN to which the host 4 belongs, the VLAN server 5 notifies the switching hub 10A with the default VLAN configuration function of the determination. The switching hub 10A with the default VLAN configuration function that has received the notification by the communication unit 121 registers the address of the host 4 and the VLAN in the registered address storage unit 12 by the control command interpretation unit 122. The contents are notified to the packet switching element 14 by the switching element control means 123, and thereafter, the host 4
N will participate.

According to the present embodiment, by automatically combining with the function of the VLAN server, the VLAN can be automatically sorted by information other than the address. Further, according to the present embodiment, even in a network in which a plurality of switching hubs exist, a single VLAN
Management can be unified.

[0041]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) It is not necessary to register all hosts that may be connected to the switching hub with the switching hub. Because, for unregistered hosts,
This is because the switching hub operates to belong to one specific VLAN. (2) By combining with a VLAN server, VLANs can be automatically sorted based on information other than addresses. This is because the VLAN server determines the VLAN to which the host belongs based on the communication content with the connected host, and then notifies the switching hub of the content. (3) When a plurality of switching hubs are connected,
It is not necessary to register the combination of the address and the VLAN in all the switching hubs, and the unified management of the automatic distribution of the VLAN can be performed. This is because even if there are a plurality of switching hubs, if there is one VLAN server, the VLAN can be distributed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a switching hub according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a specific operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Switching hub with default VLAN configuration function 11 Switching element control means 12 Registered address storage unit 13 Packet switching element 2 Host 3 Host 10A Switching hub with default VLAN configuration function 14 Input device 11A Data processing means 121 Communication means 122 Control command interpretation means 123 Switching element control means 4 Host 41 Data processing means 42 Communication means 5 VLAN server 51 VLAN distribution means 52 Communication means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A default operation in which, when an arbitrary host having an address that is not registered in advance is connected to an arbitrary port, the host operates as if it is registered to belong to a specific VLAN. Switching hub with VLAN configuration function. 2. A registration address storage unit in which information for associating an address used by a host for communication with a VLAN to which the host belongs is registered, a packet switching element for switching a packet, and a packet registered in the registration address storage unit. Based on the information
The packet switching element is provided with information necessary for switching a packet, and when a packet is received from a host having an unregistered address in the registered address storage unit, the host is set to a specific VLA.
Switching element control means for providing information for switching to N to the packet switching element. A switching hub with a default VLAN configuration function. 3. When an arbitrary host having an address that is not registered in advance is connected to an arbitrary port, a command is transmitted from a specific device belonging to the specific VLAN and specifies a VLAN to which the host belongs. 3. The switching hub with a default VLAN configuration function according to claim 1, wherein information for associating the address of the host with the VLAN is stored. 4. When a host is connected via a specific VLAN, a VLAN to which the host belongs is determined in accordance with the communication content of the host, and information designating the determined VLAN is transmitted to the host. A VLAN server for transmitting data to a relaying switching hub.