Patent ID: 9571388
Date: 2017-02-14
CPC Classifications: G06F,H04L

Claim:
1. A method comprising: initializing a first virtual machine in a control unit of a network device that operates as a logically separate routing engine assigned to one or more packet forwarding components of the network device to form a logical device, the first virtual machine including a first kernel with a first guest operating system, and a first set of control processes for the logical device; initializing a second virtual machine in the control unit of the network device that operates as a routing engine for the network device, the second virtual machine including a second kernel with a second guest operating system, and a second set of control processes for the network device that map assignments of the packet forwarding components to the first virtual machine; initializing a third virtual machine in the control unit of the network device that operates as a chassis manager, the third virtual machine including a third kernel with a third guest operating system, and a chassis management process for the network device and the logical device; executing, by the first virtual machine, a first routing control process to control routing functionality for the logical device and a first chassis shell process to facilitate management of the packet forwarding components for the logical device via the chassis management process in the third virtual machine; and executing, by the second virtual machine, a second routing control process to control routing functionality for the network device and a second chassis shell process to facilitate management of the packet forwarding components for the network device via the chassis management process in the third virtual machine.