Patent ID: 9110703
Filing Date: 2015-08-18
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of processing packets, the method comprising: receiving, at a virtual switch, a packet from an external switch, the virtual switch being hosted by a computer system hosting the virtual switch and a plurality of virtual machines; determining, by the virtual switch, whether the received packet includes a bit set to indicate that the received packet is a learning packet to instruct the virtual switch to perform a single routing action and no other routing action in response to another received packet having a packet signature identical to the packet signature determined from the learning packet, wherein the bit is set by the external switch in response to a determination by the external switch that the packet is approved to be forwarded by the virtual switch to a destination and no other routing action is to be applied to the packet; in response to a determination that the received packet is a learning packet, the virtual switch storing, in a packet signature cache of the virtual switch, the determined packet signature of the learning packet; receiving, at the virtual switch a packet from a virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, and determining the packet signature of the packet received from the virtual machine; determining whether the packet signature of the packet received from the virtual machine matches a stored packet signature in the packet signature cache; in response to a determination that the packet signature of the packet received from the virtual machine matches a stored packet signature, performing the single routing action, wherein the single routing action is forwarding the packet received from the virtual machine directly to a destination virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines; and in response to determining that the packet signature of the packet received from the virtual machine does not match a stored packet signature, forwarding the packet received from the virtual machine to the external switch.