US 11,777,899 B1Granted

Hierarchical distributed dynamic host configuration protocol system

AssigneeEquinix, Inc.

InventorsMuhammad Durrani, Syed Hashim Iqbal, Mustafa Arisoylu, Danjue Li, Rizwan Jamal

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Abstract

In general, techniques are described for a hierarchical, distributed DHCP system for managing IP address assignment among distributed networks of computing devices. For example, a system may include a central DHCP server configured to manage a plurality of distributed DHCP servers, each distributed DHCP server configured to perform DHCP using IP addresses allocated from a common prefix for a tenant associated with computing devices managed by multiple DHCP servers. The central DHCP server allocates IP addresses to the distributed DHCP servers, e.g., on an on-demand basis from the common pool and may handle concurrent requests for IP addresses from distributed DHCP servers. Each of the distributed DHCP servers may store records for IP addresses and media access control (MAC) addresses for computing devices managed by that distributed DHCP server, and the DHCP servers may send these records to the central DHCP server to facilitate IP assignment coherency.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A system comprising:

a central dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server;
a first distributed DHCP server and a second distributed DHCP server communicatively coupled to the central DHCP server;
a first area having DHCP operations managed by the first distributed DHCP server, the first area comprising first one or more data centers housing computing devices configured to request Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from the first distributed DHCP server;
and
a second area having DHCP operations managed by the second distributed DHCP server, the second area comprising second one or more data centers housing computing devices configured to request IP addresses from the second distributed DHCP server,
wherein the centralized DHCP server is configured to:
obtain an association of an IP subnet with a tenant, wherein the tenant is associated with a first computing device of the computing devices in the first area and the tenant is associated with a second computing device of the computing devices in the second area, wherein the first computing device is configured to initially execute a virtual machine (VM);
generate a first record associating a first IP address from a common IP subnet to the first computing device and generate a second record associating a second IP address from the common IP subnet to the second computing device;
send the first record to the first distributed DHCP server;
send the first record to the second distributed DHCP server;
and
send the second record to the second distributed DHCP server,
wherein the first distributed DHCP server is configured to assign, in response to a DHCP request from the first computing device, based on the first record, the first IP address to the VM executed by the first computing device,
wherein the second distributed DHCP server is configured to assign, in response to a first DHCP request from the second computing device, based on the second record, the second IP address to the second computing device, and
wherein in response to the VM migrating from the first computing device to the second computing device such that the VM subsequently executes on the second computing device, the second distributed DHCP server is configured to assign, in response to a second DHCP request from the second computing device and based on the first record, the first IP address to the VM when executed by the second computing device.

12 more elements

A central dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server communicatively coupled to a first distributed DHCP server and a second distributed DHCP server, the central DHCP server comprising:

processing circuitry coupled to memory, the processing circuitry configured to:
obtain an association of an Internet Protocol (IP) subnet with a tenant, wherein the tenant is associated with a first computing device of a plurality of computing devices in a first area and the tenant is associated with a second computing device of a plurality of computing devices in a second area, wherein the first computing device is configured to initially execute a virtual machine (VM), wherein the first area has DHCP operations managed by the first distributed DHCP server and the second area has DHCP operations managed by the second distributed DHCP server;
generate a first record associating a first IP address from a common IP subnet to the first computing device and generate a second record associating a second IP address from the common IP subnet to the second computing device;
send the first record to the first distributed DHCP server;
send the first record to the second distributed DHCP server;
and
send and the second record to the second distributed DHCP server,
wherein the first distributed DHCP server assigns, in response to a first DHCP request from the first computing device, based on the first record, the first IP address to the VM executed by the first computing device,
wherein the second distributed DHCP server is configured to assign, in response to a first DHCP request from the second computing device, based on the second record, the second IP address to the second computing device, and
wherein in response to the VM migrating from the first computing device to the second computing device such that the VM subsequently executes on the second computing device, the second distributed DHCP server assigns, in response to a second DHCP request from the second computing device and based on the first record, the first IP address to the VM when executed by the second computing device.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/132,986Filed 23 Dec 2020 · us provisional application
Priority: 24 Jan 2020
Granted: 3 Oct 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

H04L 61/5014
Internet protocol [IP] addresses: using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]
H04L 61/103
Of different types: across network layers, e.g. resolution of network layer into physical layer addresses or address resolution protocol [ARP]
H04L 61/5046
Address allocation: resolving address allocation conflicts; Testing of addresses
H04L 61/5061
Address allocation: pools of addresses