Method To Provide Broadcast/Multicast Support In Public Cloud

What is this patent about?

’240 is related to the field of network virtualization, specifically addressing the challenge of providing broadcast and multicast support in cloud environments where traditional Layer 2 broadcast/multicast is often unavailable. The background involves the need for high availability and scalability in network security devices, particularly in public clouds like Azure, AWS, and GCP, which often lack native broadcast/multicast capabilities required for cluster control link (CCL) subnets.

The underlying idea behind ’240 is to create a static peer group of VXLAN tunnel endpoints (VTEPs) within network security devices to emulate broadcast/multicast functionality. Instead of relying on native broadcast/multicast, the invention uses unicast to discover available VTEPs within the defined peer group and establish a mesh network. This allows network security devices to communicate and maintain stateful high availability even in environments without native broadcast/multicast support.

The claims of ’240 focus on defining a static peer group of two or more VXLAN tunnel endpoints (VTEPs), each having a data interface. Based on this peer group, an overlay network is defined. A network security device then discovers available VTEPs within the static peer group and establishes a mesh network of these VTEPs. The claims also cover scenarios where the VTEPs reside in different networks, such as a private cloud and a public cloud.

In practice, the invention involves configuring network security devices with a pre-defined list of VTEPs that are allowed to communicate within the cluster. When a device needs to send a broadcast message, it actually sends multiple unicast messages to each member of the static peer group. This mimics broadcast without relying on the underlying network's broadcast capabilities. The mesh network ensures that each VTEP can reach every other VTEP in the group, enabling reliable communication for cluster control and data synchronization.

This approach differs from prior solutions that rely on static IP configuration or IP multicast groups for VTEP discovery, both of which are problematic in many cloud environments. By using a static peer group and unicast-based discovery, ’240 provides a more flexible and reliable way to achieve broadcast/multicast functionality in environments where these features are not natively supported. The VXLAN encapsulation allows the overlay network to operate independently of the underlying network infrastructure, further enhancing its portability and applicability across different cloud providers and on-premises networks.