Directed graph based span computation and configuration dispatching

A method of determining spans of logical entities in a network comprising a plurality of logical network entities and a plurality of forwarding elements that implement the logical network entities, wherein the span of each logical network entity comprises a set of forwarding elements that require configuration data for the logical entity, the method comprising:

• identifying (i) a set of the logical network entities with an assigned span and (ii) dependencies between the logical network entities, wherein each dependency between a first logical network entity and a second logical network entity specifies that any forwarding elements in the span of the first logical network entity are included in the span of the second logical network entity;
• determining a span of each logical network entity of the plurality of logical network entities based on the assigned spans of the set of logical network entities and the dependencies between the logical network entities;
• grouping logical network entities that have a same determined span together into groups of logical network entities;
• storing the span of each group in order to avoid storing multiple copies of a same span record for each individual logical network entity in the group, thereby reducing the number of stored span records;
• distributing configuration data for each logical network entity to the set of forwarding elements in the span of the group to which the logical network entity belongs;
• receiving a network configuration change resulting in a new dependency between a first particular logical network entity and a second particular logical network entity, wherein the first particular logical network entity belongs to a first group and the second particular logical network entity belongs to a second group;
• determining whether the new dependency will result in a merger between the first group and the second group;
• and
• when the first group and the second group are determined to be merged, updating the stored span for each of the first and second groups to reflect the merger.

A method of determining spans of logical entities in a network comprising a plurality of logical network entities and a plurality of forwarding elements that implement the logical network entities, wherein the span of each logical network entity comprises a set of forwarding elements that require configuration data for the logical entity, the method comprising:

• identifying (i) a set of the logical network entities with an assigned span and (ii) dependencies between the logical network entities, wherein each dependency between a first logical network entity and a second logical network entity specifies that any forwarding elements in the span of the first logical network entity are included in the span of the second logical network entity;
• determining a span of each logical network entity of the plurality of logical network entities based on the assigned spans of the set of logical network entities and the dependencies between the logical network entities;
• grouping logical network entities that have a same determined span together into groups of logical network entities;
• storing the span of each group in order to avoid storing multiple copies of a same span record for each individual logical network entity in the group, thereby reducing the number of stored span records;
• distributing configuration data for each logical network entity to the set of forwarding elements in the span of the group to which the logical network entity belongs;
• receiving a network configuration change resulting in a removal of a dependency between a first particular logical network entity and a second particular logical network entity, wherein the first particular logical network entity and the second particular logical network entity belong to a same particular group;
• determining whether the removal of the dependency will cause the particular group to split into one or more groups;
• and
• when the particular group is determined to be split, updating the span of each of the one or more groups to reflect the split.

A method of determining spans of logical entities in a network comprising a plurality of logical network entities and a plurality of forwarding elements that implement the logical network entities, wherein the span of each logical network entity comprises a set of forwarding elements that require configuration data for the logical entity, the method comprising:

• identifying (i) a set of the logical network entities with an assigned span, wherein at least one logical network entity in the set of logical network entities having assigned spans is a virtual interface (VIF) that attaches to a logical port of a logical switch, and (ii) dependencies between the logical network entities, wherein each dependency between a first logical network entity and a second logical network entity specifies that any forwarding elements in the span of the first logical network entity are included in the span of the second logical network entity;
• determining a span of each logical network entity of the plurality of logical network entities based on the assigned spans of the set of logical network entities and the dependencies between the logical network entities, wherein determining the span of at least one logical network entity comprises determining that (i) the span of the logical port includes the span of the VIF and (ii) the span of the logical switch includes the span of the logical port;
• grouping logical network entities that have a same determined span together into groups of logical network entities;
• storing the span of each group in order to avoid storing multiple copies of a same span record for each individual logical network entity in the group, thereby reducing the number of stored span records;
• and
• distributing configuration data for each logical network entity to the set of forwarding elements in the span of the group to which the logical network entity belongs.

A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program which when executed by at least one processing unit determines spans of logical entities in a network comprising a plurality of logical network entities and a plurality of forwarding elements that implement the logical network entities, wherein the span of each logical network entity comprises a set of forwarding elements that require configuration data for the logical entity, the program comprising sets of instructions for:

• identifying (i) a set of the logical network entities with an assigned span and (ii) dependencies between the logical network entities, wherein each dependency between a first logical network entity and a second logical network entity specifies that any forwarding elements in the span of the first logical network entity are included in the span of the second logical network entity;
• determining a span of each logical network entity of the plurality of logical network entities based on the assigned spans of the set of logical network entities and the dependencies between the logical network entities;
• grouping logical network entities that have a same determined span together into groups of logical network entities;
• storing the span of each group in order to avoid storing multiple copies of a same span record for each individual logical network entity in the group, thereby reducing the number of stored span records;
• and
• distributing configuration data for each logical network entity to the set of forwarding elements in the span of the group to which the logical network entity belongs.

A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program which when executed by at least one processing unit determines spans of logical entities in a network comprising a plurality of logical network entities and a plurality of forwarding elements that implement the logical network entities, wherein the span of each logical network entity comprises a set of forwarding elements that require configuration data for the logical entity, the program comprising sets of instructions for:

• identifying (i) a set of the logical network entities with an assigned span, wherein at least one logical network entity in the set of logical network entities having assigned spans is a virtual interface (VIF) that attaches to a logical port of a logical switch, and (ii) dependencies between the logical network entities, wherein each dependency between a first logical network entity and a second logical network entity specifies that any forwarding elements in the span of the first logical network entity are included in the span of the second logical network entity;
• determining a span of each logical network entity of the plurality of logical network entities based on the assigned spans of the set of logical network entities and the dependencies between the logical network entities, wherein determining the span of at least one logical network entity comprises determining that (i) the span of the logical port includes the span of the VIF and (ii) the span of the logical switch includes the span of the logical port;
• grouping logical network entities that have a same determined span together into groups of logical network entities;
• storing the span of each group in order to avoid storing multiple copies of a same span record for each individual logical network entity in the group, thereby reducing the number of stored span records;
• and
• distributing configuration data for each logical network entity to the set of forwarding elements in the span of the group to which the logical network entity belongs.