Scalable architecture for enterprise extension in a cloud topology

A method of sending a packet received from a source in a private enterprise network to a destination in a cloud network allocated to the private enterprise network, said method comprising:

• receiving, by a logical customer edge router in a Cloud Data Center in the cloud network, a packet from a source in the private enterprise network, wherein the logical customer edge router is located in a logical network in the cloud network comprising resources allocated to the private enterprise network;
• querying, by the logical customer edge router, a directory server for the destination's cloud IP address and location IP address;
• encapsulating, by the logical customer edge router, the received packet when the logical customer edge router determines the destination is within the logical network, wherein the received packet is encapsulated with the destination's corresponding cloud IP header;
• further encapsulating, by the logical customer edge router , the received packet with the destination's corresponding location IP header;
• forwarding, by the logical customer edge router, the received packet to the destination, wherein the Cloud Data Center forwards the received packet through the destination location IP address to the destination cloud IP address.

A method of forwarding a packet originating from a source in a cloud network allocated to a private enterprise network, said method comprising:

• receiving, by a hypervisor in a server hosting a source virtual machine, a packet, the virtual machine being located in a logical network in the cloud network comprising resources allocated to the private enterprise network;
• querying, by the hypervisor, a directory server in the logical network for a destination address when the packet's destination address is not in a virtual routing and forwarding table at the server,
• encapsulating, by the hypervisor, the packet with a cloud IP header, the cloud IP header corresponding to the destination's cloud IP address received from the directory server;
• further encapsulating, by the hypervisor, the packet with a location IP header, the location IP header corresponding to the destination's cloud IP address received from the directory server;
• and
• forwarding, by the hypervisor, the packet to the location IP address.

A system extending a private enterprise network to a logical network in a cloud network comprising resources allocated to the private enterprise network, the system comprising:

• a series of servers in the logical network sharing the same IP address space as the private enterprise network, at least one server including:
• a virtual machine comprising resources on said server allocated to the private enterprise network, and
• a hypervisor hosting the virtual machine, and
• a logical customer edge router in the logical network sharing the same IP address space as the private enterprise network connecting the logical network to the private enterprise network;
• and
• at least a customer edge router in the private enterprise network.