# US 10,374,942 B2 · Link aggregation group management

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- Number: US 10,374,942 B2
- Document ID: US10374942B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/697,273
- Filed: 2017-09-06
- Published: 2019-03-07
- Granted: 2019-08-06
- Earliest claimed: 2017-09-06
- Assignees: Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.
- Applicants: LENOVO Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) PTE. LTD.
- Inventors: Venkatesan Selvaraj; Aksh Mittal
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10374942B2

## CPC

- H04L 41/0886: {Fully automatic configuration}
- H04L 41/0893: Assignment of logical groups to network elements
- H04L 41/0895: Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
- H04L 43/10: Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
- H04L 45/02: Topology update or discovery
- H04L 45/245: {Link aggregation, e.g. trunking}
- H04L 47/41: by acting on aggregated flows or links
- H04L 47/828: {Allocation of resources per group of connections, e.g. per group of users}
- H04L 47/125: by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
- Y02D 30/00: Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
- Y02D 30/50: in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- Y02D: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE

## Abstract

An apparatus, a method, a system, and computer program product are disclosed for link aggregation group management. A method includes receiving an identifier from a device connected to a first port of a first switch, determining whether a second switch has a connection to the device on a first port of the second switch based on the identifier for the device, and autonomously configuring a link aggregation group comprising the first port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch in response to determining that the device is connected to the first port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus comprising:
a device module that receives, at a first switch, an identifier from a host device connected to a first port of the first switch, the identifier uniquely identifying the host device on a network;
a connection module that determines whether a second switch has a connection to the host device on a first port of the second switch based on the identifier for the host device;
a group module that autonomously configures a link aggregation group comprising the first port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch in response to determining that the host device is connected to the first port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch; and
an error module that:
detects that the connection to the host device is down on the first port of the first switch;
provides a notification that the connection to the host device is down on the first port of the first switch; and
autonomously removes the first port of the first switch from the link aggregation group,
wherein:
the device module detects that the connection to the host device is changed to a second port of the first switch;
the connection module sends a port identifier for the second port to the second switch in response to detecting that the connection to the host device is changed to the second port of the first switch; and
the group module autonomously updates the link aggregation group, based on the identifier for the host device, such that the link aggregation group comprises the second port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch, and
wherein said modules comprise one or more of hardware circuits, programmable hardware devices, and a processor executing code.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the connection module checks the second switch at periodic intervals to determine whether the host device is connected to a second port of the second switch instead of the first port of the second switch; and
the group module autonomously updates the link aggregation group such that the link aggregation group comprises the first port of the first switch and the second port of the second switch in response to determining that the host device is connected to the second port of the second switch.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the group module maintains a mapping of ports of the first switch to link aggregation groups comprising the ports of the first switch and corresponding ports of the second switch.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the group module autonomously configures the link aggregation group free of input from a user.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the device module, the connection module, and the group module are located on one or more of the first switch and the second switch.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first switch and the second switch are communicatively coupled to each other via an inter-switch link, the inter-switch link comprising a plurality of network connections.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the identifier for the host device connected to the first switch and the second switch is a hostname for the host device.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more of:
the first switch and the second switch have link layer discovery protocol (“LLDP”) enabled; and
the host device connected to the first switch and the second switch has link layer discovery protocol (“LLDP”) enabled.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the link aggregation group comprises one of a virtual link aggregation group, a multichassis link aggregation group, an etherchannel, and a virtual port channel.

### Claim 10

A method comprising:
receiving, at a first switch, an identifier from a host device connected to a first port of the first switch, the identifier uniquely identifying the host device on a network;
determining whether a second switch has a connection to the host device on a first port of the second switch based on the identifier for the host device;
autonomously configuring a link aggregation group comprising the first port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch in response to determining that the host device is connected to the first port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch;
detecting that the connection to the host device is down on the first port of the first switch;
providing a notification that the connection to the host device is down on the first port of the first switch;
autonomously removing the first port of the first switch from the link aggregation group;
detecting that the connection to the host device is changed to a second port of the first switch;
sending a port identifier for the second port to the second switch in response to detecting that the connection to the host device is changed to the second port of the first switch; and
autonomously updating the link aggregation group such that the link aggregation group comprises the second port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, further comprising:
checking the second switch at periodic intervals to determine whether the host device is connected to a second port of the second switch instead of the first port of the second switch; and
autonomously updating the link aggregation group such that the link aggregation group comprises the first port of the first switch and the second port of the second switch in response to determining that the host device is connected to the second port of the second switch.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, further comprising maintaining a mapping of ports of the first switch to link aggregation groups comprising the ports of the first switch and corresponding ports of the second switch.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, further comprising autonomously configuring the link aggregation group free of input from a user.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving, the determining, and the autonomously configuring are performed at one or more of the first switch and the second switch.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the identifier for the host device connected to the first switch and the second switch is a hostname for the host device.

### Claim 16

A program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that stores code executable by a processor, the executable code comprising code to perform:
receiving, at a first switch, an identifier from a host device connected to a first port of the first switch, the identifier uniquely identifying the host device on a network;
determining whether a second switch has a connection to the host device on a first port of the second switch based on the identifier for the host device;
autonomously configuring a link aggregation group comprising the first port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch in response to determining that the host device is connected to the first port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch;
detecting that the connection to the host device is down on the first port of the first switch;
providing a notification that the connection to the host device is down on the first port of the first switch;
autonomously removing the first port of the first switch from the link aggregation group;
detecting that the connection to the host device is changed to a second port of the first switch;
sending a port identifier for the second port to the second switch in response to detecting that the connection to the host device is changed to the second port of the first switch; and
autonomously updating the link aggregation group such that the link aggregation group comprises the second port of the first switch and the first port of the second switch.