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US 2019/0097947 A1Published application
Redundant inline-bypass switch
AssigneeGigamon Inc.
InventorsZbigniew SUFLETA, Hung NGUYEN
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An inline-bypass switch system includes: a first inline-bypass switch appliance having a first bypass component, a first switch coupled to the first bypass component, and a first controller; and a second inline-bypass switch appliance having a second bypass component, a second switch coupled to the second bypass component, and a second controller; wherein the first controller in the first inline-bypass switch appliance is configured to provide a state signal that is associated with a state of the first inline-bypass switch appliance; and wherein the second controller in the second inline-bypass switch appliance is configured to control the second bypass component based at least in part on the state signal.
Claims18
A method comprising:
- receiving, at a network appliance, a plurality of packets and a state signal from another network node that is external to the network appliance and that is coupled to a source node, the state signal being indicative of a state of the other network node;
- forwarding the plurality of packets by the network appliance based on the state signal, wherein the forwarding includes:
- in response to the state signal being indicative of a first state, forwarding a first packet within the first network switch appliance to a communication component in the network appliance without sending the first packet to an inline tool that is external to the network appliance, the communication component being configured to transmit the packets onto a network connection for communication to a destination node, and
- in response to the state signal being indicative of a second state, forwarding a second packet by the network appliance to the inline tool and subsequently receiving the second packet at the communication component of the network switch appliance from the inline tool;
- and
- transmitting the plurality of packets, including the first packet and the second packet, by the communication component of the network appliance, onto the network connection for communication to the destination node.
3 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a first communication port through which to receive a packet from a network appliance;
- a second communication port through which to forward the packet from the apparatus to a destination node;
- a third communication port through which to forward the packet from the apparatus to an inline tool that is external to the apparatus and the network appliance;
- a fourth communication port through which to receive the packet from the inline tool after the packet has been forwarded from the appliance to the inline tool;
- and
- a state signal input separate from the first, second, third and fourth communication ports, to receive a state signal indicative of a state of a network appliance that is external to the apparatus and that is coupled to the source node;
- and
- a controller configured to control the apparatus based on the state of the state signal such that, during operation of the apparatus, if the state signal is indicative of a first state, the packet is forwarded from the first communication port to the second communication port via the third communication port, the inline tool and the third communication port for communication to the destination node, but if the state signal is indicative of a second state, the packet is forwarded from the first communication port to the second communication port for communication to the destination node without routing the packet through the inline tool.
5 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a first communication component configured to receive a packet from a source node;
- a second communication component configured to forward the packet to a network appliance that is remote from the apparatus on a selective basis depending on a state of the apparatus;
- a controller configured to transmit a state signal indicative of the state of the apparatus from the apparatus to network appliance, the state signal being capable of indicating a first state according to which the packets, after receipt by the network appliance from the apparatus, are to be provided by the network appliance to an inline tool that is coupled locally to the network appliance and that is separate from the apparatus, for processing by the inline tool, the state signal further being capable of indicating a second state according to which the packets, after receipt by the network appliance from the apparatus, are to be passed through the network appliance and not processed by the inline tool;
- and
- a state signal output configured to transmit the state signal from the apparatus to the network appliance.
2 more elements
A non-transitory storage medium having instructions stored therein, execution of which in a network appliance causes the network appliance to perform operations comprising:
- inputting a plurality of packets and a state signal from another network node that is external to the network appliance and that is coupled to a source node, the state signal being indicative of a state of the other network node;
- forwarding the plurality of packets based on the state signal, wherein the forwarding includes:
- in response to the state signal being indicative of a first state, forwarding a first packet within the first network switch appliance to a communication component in the network appliance without sending the first packet to an inline tool that is external to the network appliance, the communication component being configured to transmit the packets onto a network connection for communication to a destination node, and
- in response to the state signal being indicative of a second state, forwarding a second packet by the network appliance to the inline tool and subsequently receiving the second packet at the communication component of the network switch appliance from the inline tool;
- and
- transmitting the plurality of packets, including the first packet and the second packet, by the communication component of the network appliance, onto the network connection for communication to the destination node.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.