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US 9,806,950 B2Granted
System and method for automatically detecting and configuring server uplink network interface
AssigneeCisco Technology, Inc.
InventorsMilton Y. Xu, Padmanabhan Krishnan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and a method for automatically detecting and configuring server uplink network interfaces in a network environment. An exemplary method includes receiving a discovery packet from a network element on a network interface of a server connected to the network element; evaluating the discovery packet to determine whether the network element possesses virtual bridging capabilities; and configuring the network interface of the server as an uplink interface for communicating with a network when the discovery packet indicates that the network element possesses virtual bridging capabilities.
Claims14
A method, comprising:
- receiving a discovery packet from a network element on a network interface of a server connected to the network element;
- evaluating the discovery packet to determine whether the network element possesses virtual bridging capabilities;
- and
- the server automatically and without user intervention configuring the network interface of the server based on results of the evaluating, wherein the automatically configuring comprises configuring the network interface of the server as an uplink interface for communicating with a network when the discovery packet indicates that the network element possesses virtual bridging capabilities, wherein the configuring includes configuring the network interface to run virtual station interface (VSI) Discovery and Configuration Protocol (VDP);
- wherein the discovery packet is a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) packet, and evaluating the discovery packet includes evaluating an Ethernet Virtual Bridging (EVB) Type-Length-Value (TLV) of the LLDP packet;
- and
- wherein the network interface of the server is configured as the uplink interface when the EVB TLV indicates that the network element is an EVB Bridge.
4 more elements
Non-transitory media comprising logic that includes instructions for execution and when executed by a processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:
- receiving a discovery packet from a network element on a network interface of a server connected to the network element;
- evaluating the discovery packet to determine whether the network element possesses virtual bridging capabilities;
- and
- the server automatically and without user intervention configuring the network interface of the server based on results of the evaluating, wherein the automatically configuring comprises configuring the network interface of the server as an uplink interface for communicating with a network when the discovery packet indicates that the network element possesses virtual bridging capabilities, wherein the configuring includes configuring the network interface to run virtual station interface (VSI) Discovery and Configuration Protocol (VDP);
- wherein the discovery packet is a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) packet, and evaluating the discovery packet includes evaluating an Ethernet Virtual Bridging (EVB) Type-Length-Value (TLV) of the LLDP packet;
- and
- wherein the network interface of the server is configured as the uplink interface when the EVB TLV indicates that the network element is an EVB Bridge.
4 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a memory element for storing data;
- and
- a processor operable to execute instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and the memory element cooperate such that the apparatus is configured for:
- receiving a discovery packet from a network element on a network interface of a server connected to the network element;
- evaluating the discovery packet to determine whether the network element possesses virtual bridging capabilities;
- and
- the server automatically and without user intervention configuring the network interface of the server based on results of the evaluating, wherein the automatically configuring comprises configuring the network interface of the server as an uplink interface for communicating with a network when the discovery packet indicates that the network element possesses virtual bridging capabilities, wherein the configuring includes configuring the network interface to run virtual station interface (VSI) Discovery and Configuration Protocol (VDP);
- wherein the discovery packet is a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) packet, and evaluating the discovery packet includes evaluating an Ethernet Virtual Bridging (EVB) Type-Length-Value (TLV) of the LLDP packet;
- and
- wherein the network interface of the server is configured as the uplink interface when the EVB TLV indicates that the network element is an EVB Bridge.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.