Hardware address consistency management

A method for transporting network traffic, the method comprising:

• obtaining a request to instantiate a router, the request including an address of a specified client device;
• instantiating a VPN tunnel interface within the router based on a tunnel network namespace;
• instantiating one or more virtual peers corresponding to the VPN tunnel interface;
• instantiating one or more virtual interfaces corresponding to the one or more virtual peers;
• configuring the tunnel network namespace to route the network traffic from the specified client device to a specified virtual peer of the one or more virtual peers via the VPN tunnel interface, the routing being based on a source address;
• establishing a connection between a client device and a VPN process of the router;
• and
• transporting a traffic flow to and from the client device through a VPN tunnel via the VPN tunnel interface, the one or more virtual peers, and the one or more virtual interfaces, based on the configured tunnel network namespace.

A system for communicating with a plurality of client devices, the system comprising:

• a router having a default network namespace, a virtual private network (VPN) process, a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel interface, one or more virtual peers, and one or more virtual interfaces;
• a VPN tunnel;
• and
• a router controller configured to:
• trigger an instantiation of the VPN tunnel interface within the router based on a tunnel network namespace;
• trigger an instantiation of the one or more virtual peers, within the tunnel network namespace, corresponding to the VPN tunnel interface;
• trigger an instantiation of the one or more virtual interfaces, corresponding to the one or more virtual peers, within the default network namespace;
• and
• configure the tunnel network namespace to route network traffic from a specified one of the client devices to a specified virtual peer of the one or more virtual peers via the VPN tunnel interface, the routing being based on a source address;
• wherein the router and the router controller are cooperatively configured to establish a connection between the specified client device and the virtual private network (VPN) process and transport a traffic flow to and from the specified client device through the VPN tunnel via the VPN tunnel interface, the one or more virtual peers, and the one or more virtual interfaces, based on the configured tunnel network namespace, and wherein one of said virtual peers encapsulates the traffic flow using an existing media access control (MAC) address of the specified client device.

A system for communicating with a plurality of client devices, the system comprising:

• a router having a default network namespace, a virtual private network (VPN) process, a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel interface, one or more virtual peers, and one or more virtual interfaces;
• a VPN tunnel;
• and
• a router controller configured to:
• obtain a request to instantiate the router, the request including an address of a specified client device of the client devices;
• trigger an instantiation of the VPN tunnel interface within the router based on a tunnel network namespace;
• trigger an instantiation of the one or more virtual peers, within the tunnel network namespace, corresponding to the VPN tunnel interface;
• trigger an instantiation of the one or more virtual interfaces, corresponding to the one or more virtual peers, within the default network namespace;
• and
• configure the tunnel network namespace to route network traffic from the specified client device to a specified virtual peer of the one or more virtual peers via the VPN tunnel interface, the routing being based on a source address;
• wherein the router and the router controller are cooperatively configured to establish a connection between the specified client device and the virtual private network (VPN) process and transport a traffic flow to and from the specified client device through the VPN tunnel via the VPN tunnel interface, the one or more virtual peers, and the one or more virtual interfaces, based on the configured tunnel network namespace.

A router controller for controlling a router, the router having a default network namespace and a virtual private network (VPN) process, and being in communication with a plurality of client devices, the router controller comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• at least one processor, coupled to said memory, and operative to:
• trigger an instantiation of a VPN tunnel interface within the router based on a tunnel network namespace;
• trigger an instantiation of one or more virtual peers, within the tunnel network namespace, corresponding to the VPN tunnel interface;
• trigger an instantiation of one or more virtual interfaces, corresponding to the one or more virtual peers, within the default network namespace;
• configure the tunnel network namespace to route network traffic from a specified one of the client devices to a specified virtual peer of the one or more virtual peers via the VPN tunnel interface, the routing being based on a source address;
• and
• obtain a request to instantiate the router, the request including an address of the specified client device;
• wherein the router controller further configures the router such that the router and the router controller are cooperatively configured to establish a connection between the specified client device and the virtual private network (VPN) process and to transport a traffic flow to and from the specified client device through a VPN tunnel via the VPN tunnel interface, the one or more virtual peers, and the one or more virtual interfaces, based on the configured tunnel network namespace.