Method and apparatus for selective packet Mirroring
AssigneeRedback Networks Inc.
InventorsPeter Arberg, Ravi Chandra, Michail Krupkin
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for selectively packet mirroring is described. A method in a network element comprises selectively mirroring packets, the packets being associated with a first virtual path, the first virtual path indicating a first physical path and a first virtual path identifier and the selectively mirrored packets forwarded in accordance with a second virtual path, said second virtual path indicating a second physical path and a second virtual path identifier.
Claims39
A method in a network element comprising:
- duplicating a packet associated with a virtual path, said virtual path associated with a physical path and a virtual path identifier;
- determining if processing of the original packet satisfies a mirroring criteria, wherein the mirroring criteria includes one or more of forwarded, dropped, denied and allowed;
- deleting the duplicate packet only if the original packet does not satisfy the mirroring criteria;
- and
- if the original packet satisfies the mirroring criteria, then forwarding the duplicate packet as indicated by a mirror path associated with the virtual path, said mirror path indicating a virtual egress path.
A network element comprising:
- a control card to receive a first set of configurations that indicate a first virtual path and a second virtual path, a second set of configurations that indicate the first virtual path as a mirroring path, a set of one or more mirroring criteria, and a third set of configurations that associate the second virtual path with the mirroring criteria, said first set of configurations to indicate a physical path for the first virtual path;
- and
- a set of one or more line cards coupled with the control card, a first of the set of line cards to receive the set of mirroring criteria and the second virtual path, the first line card having a set of instructions to cause the first line card to duplicate a packet of a stream of packets and then to forward the duplicate packet in accordance with the set of mirroring criteria along a mirroring path only if the original packet satisfies the set of mirroring criteria, wherein the set of mirroring criteria includes one or more of forwarded, dropped, denied and allowed.
A network comprising:
- a first host transmitting a stream of packets;
- a first network element communicatively coupled with the first host, receiving the stream of packets, duplicating each packet of the stream of packets, for each packet of the stream of packets whose processing satisfies a mirroring criteria, forwarding their corresponding duplicate packet along an egress path indicated as a mirror path, and for each of the stream of packets whose processing does not satisfy the mirroring criteria, clearing their corresponding duplicate packet, wherein the mirroring criteria includes one or more of forwarded, dropped, denied and allowed;
- and
- a second host communicatively coupled with the first network element, the second host receiving those duplicate packets forwarded along the mirror path.
A set of one or more machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a set of one or more processors, cause said set of processors to perform operations comprising:
- classifying a duplicate packet based on processing of an original packet to select a set of forwarding information for the duplicate packet, said duplicate packet being a duplicate of said original packet;
- and
- forwarding the duplicate packet in accordance with the set of forwarding information conforming to the classification of the duplicate packet if the original packet satisfied a mirroring criteria, wherein the mirroring criteria includes one or more of forwarded, dropped, denied and allowed, the set of forwarding information retrieved from a mirror classification structure that has stored therein classifications and corresponding forwarding information.
A set of one or more machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a set of one or more processors, cause said set of processors to perform operations comprising:
- duplicating a packet of a stream of packets;
- and
- selectively forwarding the duplicate packet in accordance with a first set of forwarding information used for packet mirroring based on whether processing of the original packet satisfies a set of mirroring criteria, wherein the set of mirroring criteria includes one or more of forwarded, dropped, denied and allowed, said first set of forwarding information being different than a second set of forwarding information used to forward the original packet, the first set of forwarding information retrieved from a mirror classification structure.
A set of one or more machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a set of one or more processors, cause said set of processors to perform operations comprising:
- duplicating a packet associated with a virtual path, said virtual path associated with a physical path and a virtual path identifier;
- determining if processing of the original packet satisfies a mirroring criteria, wherein the mirroring criteria includes one or more of forwarded, dropped, denied and allowed;
- deleting the duplicate packet only if the original packet does not satisfy the mirroring criteria;
- and
- if the original packet satisfies the mirroring criteria, then forwarding the duplicate packet as indicated by a mirror path associated with the virtual path, said mirror path indicating a virtual egress path.
A method comprising:
- selectively mirroring, in a single network element, on a per-packet basis, a stream of packets by performing the following for each original packet of the stream,
- duplicating the original packet to create a duplicate packet,
- determining whether processing of the original packet satisfies a set of mirroring criteria, wherein said set of mirroring criteria includes one or more of forwarded, dropped, denied and allowed, and
- forwarding on a mirror path or dropping the duplicate packet based on said determining.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.