Packet flow in a cloud infrastructure based on cached and non-cached configuration information

A system comprising:

• a virtual network hosted on a physical network, wherein the virtual network comprises a virtual network interface card (VNIC) and a compute instance;
• the physical network comprises a host machine, a network virtualization device (NVD), and one or more servers;
• the host machine is connected with the NVD and hosts the compute instance;
• the NVD hosts the VNIC, wherein the NVD includes a cache, wherein the cache stores flow information for first flows of packets to and from the compute instance;
• and
• the one or more servers host a network interface service, wherein the one or more servers of the physical network are distinct from the NVD, and wherein the network interface service is configured to maintain configuration information for second flows of packets across the virtual network, generate updated flow information for the NVD based on the configuration information, and to send a first packet on the virtual network based on the configuration information;
• wherein the NVD is configured to:
• receive, by the VNIC, the first packet from the compute instance;
• determine, by the VNIC, first-packet flow information is unavailable from the cache of the NVD, wherein the first-packet flow information is particular to sending the first packet on the virtual network;
• send, by the VNIC, the first packet to the network interface service;
• and
• receive the updated flow information from the network interface service;
• and
• store the updated flow information in the cache.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, upon execution on a network virtualization device (NVD), cause the NVD to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, by a virtual network interface card (VNIC) of a virtual network, a first packet from a compute instance, wherein:
• the virtual network is hosted on a physical network, wherein the virtual network comprises the VNIC and the compute instance;
• the physical network comprises a host machine, the NVD and one or more servers;
• the host machine is connected with the NVD and hosts the compute instance;
• the NVD hosts the VNIC, wherein the NVD includes a cache, wherein the cache stores flow information for first flows of packets to and from the compute instance;
• and
• the one or more servers host a network interface service, wherein the one or more servers of the physical network are distinct from the NVD, and wherein the network interface service is configured to maintain configuration information for second flows of packets across the virtual network, generate updated flow information for the NVD based on the configuration information, and to send the first packet on the virtual network based on the configuration information;
• determining, by the VNIC, first-packet flow information is unavailable from the cache of the NVD, wherein the first-packet flow information is particular to sending the first packet on the virtual network;
• sending, by the VNIC and via the NVD, the first packet to the network interface service;
• receiving, by the NVD, the updated flow information from the network interface service;
• and
• storing, by the NVD, the updated flow information in the cache.