Managing resources for IP networking
AssigneeCisco Technology, Inc.
InventorsBenjamin A. Tober, Matthew H. Harper, Leonard Schwartz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Resources for IP networking are managed. A field is added to an operating system kernel software procedure. The field references a virtual router context. Packet processing software code is modified to cause the packet processing software code to execute in accordance with the virtual router context.
Claims13
A method for using a network device having an operating system instance that operates in a plurality of routing contexts, the method comprising:
- associating a first network with a first routing context and a second network with a second routing context, wherein the first context is isolated from the second context;
- enabling a first application running on the operating system instance of the network device to select the first routing context by associating the first application with a first routing context number;
- enabling a second application running on the operating system instance of the network device to select the second routing context by associating the second application with a second routing context number;
- receiving, at the same networking address of the network device, a first message originating from the first network and a second message originating from the second network by the network device;
- at a packet ingress processing module in the network device, assigning to the first message either the first routing context number or the second routing context number based on one of a source network interface and a source application socket;
- and
- providing heritability of the first routing context number, wherein the heritability assigns to a child application of the first application a default routing context associated with the first routing context.
A system for use with a first network that is associated with a first routing context, and a second network that is associated with a second routing context, the system comprising:
- a network device that receives messages from both the first network and second network at a networking address,
- wherein the network device is configured
- to enable a first application to select the first routing context by associating the first application with a first routing request number, and
- to enable a second application to select the second routing context by associating the second application with a second routing context number, and the network device tags the messages to maintain the association with a routing context while being processed by the network device,
- the network device implementing a process that assigns either the first routing context number or the second routing context number to at least one of the messages received by the network device at a packet ingress processing module in the network device,
- wherein the process inherits a default routing context associated with the first routing context when the process is created by the first routing context;
- and
- a plurality of processors residing in the network device implementing a distributed host, wherein a processor of the plurality of processors implements multiple hosts.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.