Patent ID: 9596192
Date: 2017-03-14
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. A system for transmission of control data between a network switch and a switch controller, the system comprising: a server; a switch comprising a port coupled to the server by a link in a network; and a centralized switch controller remote from the switch and coupled to the switch by a secure link, the switch controller configured to manage a plurality of network switches including the network switch, and control switch configurations, the switch controller including control logic configured to perform a method comprising: configuring a plurality of control data packets by the switch controller, the plurality of control data packets configured for communication between the network switch and the switch controller, the plurality of control data packets configured to be transmitted by the switch controller as a control data packet group in a defined order, the control data packet group configured to control one or more functions related to a configuration of the network switch and/or routing functions of the network switch, wherein configuring includes grouping the plurality of control data packets into the control data packet group and assigning a group identifier to each control data packet header, the group identifier including a sequence number in each of the plurality of control data packets indicating an order of control data packet transmission relative to one or more other control data packets in the control data packet group, the group identifier indicating the control data packet group to which the plurality of control data packets belongs and indicating a total number control data packets in the control data packet group; storing the plurality of control data packets in an outbound replay buffer in communication with the switch controller, the outbound replay buffer implemented independent of other buffers and on an outbound path from the switch controller to the switch; transmitting the plurality of control data packets to the network switch over a secure link between the switch controller and the network switch; and responsive to determining that one or more control data packets were not received by the network switch, retrieving the one or more control data packets from the outbound replay buffer and re-transmitting the one or more control data packets to the network switch.