System and method of using atomic flow counters in data center switching

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer-readable medium, storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
• for a given flow entry in a flow table associated with a packet flow, providing a first atomic counter associated with a first color and a second atomic counter associated with a second color;
• for a first coloring time interval, marking traffic in the packet flow from a tenant to a fabric as the first color and incrementing the first atomic counter;
• at a conclusion of the first coloring time interval and for a second coloring time interval, marking the traffic in the packet flow from the tenant to the fabric as the second color and incrementing the second atomic counter;
• and
• comparing first packet counts associated with the first color at an ingress point with second packet counts associated with the first color at an egress point to the fabric;
• incrementing both the first atomic counter and the second atomic counter for a packet in the packet flow due to the packet being within a window that straddles an interval boundary between the first coloring time interval and the second coloring time interval.

A computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• for a given flow entry in a flow table associated with a packet flow, providing a first atomic counter associated with a first color and a second atomic counter associated with a second color;
• for a first coloring time interval, marking traffic in the packet flow from a tenant to a fabric as the first color and incrementing the first atomic counter;
• at a conclusion of the first coloring time interval and for a second coloring time interval, marking the traffic in the packet flow from the tenant to the fabric as the second color and incrementing the second atomic counter;
• and
• comparing first packet counts associated with the first color at an ingress point with second packet counts associated with the first color at an egress point to the fabric;
• incrementing both the first atomic counter and the second atomic counter for a packet in the packet flow due to the packet being within a window that straddles an interval boundary between the first coloring time interval and the second coloring time interval.