# US 10,481,933 B2 · Enabling virtual machines access to switches configured by different management entities > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,481,933 B2 - Document ID: US10481933B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/467,001 - Filed: 2014-08-23 - Published: 2016-02-25 - Granted: 2019-11-19 - Earliest claimed: 2014-08-22 - Assignees: Nicira, Inc. - Applicants: Nicira, Inc. - Inventors: Sachin Thakkar; ChiHsiang Su; Jia Yu; Piyush Kothari; Nilesh Ramchandra Nipane - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10481933B2 ## CPC - G06F 9/45558: {Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects} - G06F 9/50: Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU] - G06F 11/2033: {switching over of hardware resources} - H04L 41/0806: for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play - H04L 41/0813: characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings - H04L 41/082: the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality - H04L 41/0886: {Fully automatic configuration} - H04L 41/0897: by horizontal or vertical scaling of resources, or by migrating entities, e.g. virtual resources or entities - H04L 41/12: Discovery or management of network topologies - H04L 43/0876: Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level - H04L 49/70: {Virtual switches} - G06F 11/1484: {involving virtual machines} - G06F 11/2035: {without idle spare hardware} - G06F 11/2097: {maintaining the standby controller/processing unit updated (initialisation or re-synchronisation thereof G06F11/1658 and subgroups)} - G06F 2009/4557: {Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing} - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract A method of configuring a plurality of logical forwarding elements (LFEs) on a physical computing device comprising virtualization software and a plurality of data compute nodes (DCNs) is provided. The method provisions a first LFE configured and managed by a network manager of a datacenter on the physical computing device, the first LFE for performing OSI L3)packet forwarding between DCNs on one or more hosts, the first LFE comprising a plurality of logical ports configured and managed by the network manager, each logical port of the first LFE for connecting a DCN to a logical network configured and managed by the network manager. The method provisions a second LFE configured and managed by a compute manager of the datacenter on the physical computing device, the second LFE for performing OSI L3 packet forwarding between DCNs on one or more hosts, the second LFE comprising a plurality of logical port groups configured and managed by the compute manager, each logical port of the second LFE for connecting a DCN to a logical network configured and managed by the compute manager. The method configures a first DCN in the plurality of DCNs by the compute manager to connect to a logical network configured and managed by the network manager through a port of the first LFE. The method configures a second DCN in the plurality of DCNs by the compute manager to connect to a logical network configured and managed by the compute manager through a port of the second LFE. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A physical computing device in a datacenter comprising a plurality of computing devices, a compute manager server, and a network manager server, the computing device comprising: a set of processing units; a non-transitory machine readable medium storing sets of instructions for: defining a plurality of data compute nodes (DCNs) managed by the compute manager server, wherein the network manager server does not manage any DCNs; defining a first logical forwarding element (LFE) comprising a first plurality of logical ports, wherein defining the first LFE comprises receiving configuration data from the network manager server to configure the first plurality of logical ports; defining a second LFE comprising a second plurality of logical ports, wherein defining the second LFE comprises receiving configuration data from the compute manager server to configure the second plurality of logical ports; and based on configuration data received from the compute manager server, connecting a first DCN to a first logical network through the first plurality of logical ports, and connecting a second DCN to a second logical network through the second plurality of logical ports. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The physical computing device of claim 1 further comprising concurrently connecting a third DCN to (i) the first logical network through the first plurality of logical ports and (ii) the second logical network through the second plurality of logical ports. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The physical computing device of claim 1 further comprising a virtualization software, wherein the virtualization software provides a set of read-only parameters of the first LFE from the network manager server to the compute manager server, to enable the compute manager server to generate the configuration data for connecting DCNs to the first LFE. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The physical computing device of claim 3, wherein the set of read-only parameters of the first LFE comprising a unique identification of the first LFE. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The physical computing device of claim 4, wherein the unique identification of the first LFE is a universal unique identification (UUID) of the LFE. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The physical computing device of claim 3, wherein the set of read-only parameters of the first LFE further comprising a list of physical network interface controllers (PNICs) connected to the first LFE. ### Claim 7 (depends on 3) The physical computing device of claim 3, wherein the set of read-only parameters of the first LFE comprising a unique identification and a type of the first logical network, wherein the first logical network is configured by the network manager server. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The physical computing device of claim 7, wherein the unique identification of the first logical network is a universal unique identification (UUID) of the first logical network, wherein the type of network identifies a format of packets communicated in the first logical network. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The physical computing device of claim 1, wherein the first LFE is associated with a first set of transport zones, each transport zone in the first set of transport zone identifying a section of the logical network configured by the network manager server, wherein the second LFE is associated with a second set of transport zones, each transport zone in the second set of transport zones identifying a section of the logical network configured by the compute manager server. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The physical computing device of claim 9, wherein the set of read-only parameters of the first LFE comprising a unique identification of each transport zone in the first set of transport zones. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The physical computing device of claim 1, wherein a DCN is a virtual machine (VM). ### Claim 12 For a datacenter comprising a plurality of computing devices, a compute manager server, and a network manager server, a method comprising: provisioning a plurality of data compute nodes (DCNs) managed by the compute manager server, wherein the network manager server does not manage any DCNs; provisioning a first logical forwarding element (LFE) comprising a first plurality of logical ports, wherein provisioning the first LFE comprises receiving configuration data from the network manager server to configure the first plurality of logical ports; provisioning a second LFE comprising a second plurality of logical ports, wherein provisioning the second LFE comprises receiving configuration data from the compute manager server to configure the second plurality of logical ports; and based on configuration data received from the compute manager server, connecting a first DCN to a first logical network through the first plurality of logical ports, and connecting a second DCN to a second logical network through the second plurality of logical ports. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12 further comprising concurrently connecting a third DCN to (i) the first logical network through the first plurality of logical ports and (ii) the second logical network through the second plurality of logical ports. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12 further comprising providing a set of read-only parameters of the first LFE from the network manager server to the compute manager server, to enable the compute manager server to generate the configuration data for connecting DCNs to the first LFE. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the set of read-only parameters of the first LFE comprising a unique identification of the first LFE. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the unique identification of the first LFE is a universal unique identification (UUID) of the LFE. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the set of read-only parameters of the first LFE further comprising a list of physical network interface controllers (PNICs) connected to the first LFE. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the set of read-only parameters of the first LFE comprising a unique identification and a type of the first logical network, wherein the first logical network is configured by the network manager server. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein the unique identification of the first logical network is a universal unique identification (UUID) of the first logical network, wherein the type of network identifies a format of packets communicated in the first logical network. ### Claim 20 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the first LFE is associated with a first set of transport zones, each transport zone in the first set of transport zone identifying a section of the logical network configured by the network manager server, wherein the second LFE is associated with a second set of transport zones, each transport zone in the second set of transport zones identifying a section of the logical network configured by the compute manager server. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20, wherein the set of read-only parameters of the first LFE comprising a unique identification of each transport zone in the first set of transport zones. ### Claim 22 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein a DCN is a virtual machine (VM).