FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The present subject matter relates to communication in Fibre Channel
over Ethernet (FCoE) networks and, particularly, but not exclusively, to forwardin5 g
FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) control packets in FCoE networks.
BACKGROUND
[0002] With advancement in networking technology, networks supporting
different technologies are often integrated for availing the advantages associated with
10 each of the technologies. For example, in a typical data centre, computing devices
interconnected via a communication network based on Ethernet technology can be
seen integrated with a Storage Area Network (SAN) supporting Fibre Channel (FC)
technology.
[0003] The Ethernet technology provides for a lossless network and the Fibre
15 channel technology facilitates an efficient high-speed transmission of data between
devices. In order to integrate the aforementioned networks, Fibre Channel over
Ethernet protocol (FCoE) technology has been recently developed. The FCoE
technology enables integration of the lossless Ethernet based communication network
and the SAN network and facilitates transmission of data between devices present
20 across the networks.
SUMMARY
[0004] This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to
communication in Fibre Channel over Ethernet protocol (FCoE) networks. This
summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter
25 nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the claimed subject
matter.
3
[0005] In one implementation, a method for forwarding FCoE Initialization
Protocol (FIP) control packets is disclosed. The method comprises, analyzing, by a
gateway, a FIP control packet to determine a type of the FIP control packet. Further, a
predetermined operation to be performed on the FIP control packet is ascertained
based on a predetermined parsing rule, where the predetermined operation results i5 n
at least one of an establishment of a connection and a tear down of a connection, and
where the predetermined parsing rule corresponds to the type of the FIP control
packet. The method further comprises, forwarding the FIP control packet to a port of
the gateway for performing the predetermined operation based on the FIP control
10 packet, where the port is one of one or more ports configured for performing the
predetermined operation.
[0006] In another implementation, a gateway is disclosed. The gateway
includes a processor and a packet processing module coupled to the processor. In an
implementation, the packet processing module analyzes a FIP control packet to
15 determine a type of the FIP control packet. The packet processing module further
determines a predetermined operation to be performed based on a predetermined
parsing rule, where the predetermined operation results in at least one of an
establishment of a connection and a tear down of a connection, and where the
predetermined parsing rule corresponds to the type of the FIP control packet. The
20 packet processing module further forwards the FIP control packet to a port of the
gateway for performing the predetermined operation based on the FIP control packet,
where the port pertains to one or more ports configured for performing the
predetermined operation.
[0007] In accordance with another implementation of the present subject
25 matter, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having embodied thereon a
computer program for executing a method is disclosed. The method comprises,
analyzing, by a gateway, a FIP control packet to determine a type of the FIP control
packet. Further, a predetermined operation to be performed is determined based on a
4
predetermined parsing rule, where the predetermined operation results in at least one
of an establishment of a connection and a tear down of a connection, and where the
predetermined parsing rule corresponds to the type of the FIP control packet. The
method further comprises, forwarding the FIP control packet to a port of the gateway
for performing the predetermined operation based on the FIP control packet, wher5 e
the port pertains to one or more ports configured for performing the predetermined
operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0008] The detailed description is provided with reference to the
10 accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number
identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers
are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some
embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the
present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and with reference
15 to the accompanying figures, in which:
[0009] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary network environment
implementation for communication in FCOE networks, according to an embodiment
of the present subject matter; and
[0010] Figure 2 illustrates a method for communication in FCoE networks,
20 according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0011] Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) technology facilitates
transmission of Fibre Channel (FC) packets pertaining to FC technology over
Ethernet networks. Thus, a Storage Area Network (SAN) implementing the FC
25 technology can be integrated with an Ethernet network implementing the FCoE
technology. The Ethernet network implementing the FCoE technology may also be
referred to as an FCoE network. Owing to the integration of the FCoE network and
5
the SAN, complexity associated with implementing the aforementioned networks in
parallel is greatly reduced. For instance, deployment of large number of different
hardware, such as routers, switches, gateways, host bus adapter (HBA's), and network
interface cards (NIC's), associated with each of the networks is reduced. Thus,
integration of the SAN and the FCoE networks has proved to be a viable an5 d
economical solution in an environment, such as an enterprise environment or data
center.
[0012] Computing devices, for example, laptops, servers, and workstation
computers, interconnected via the FCoE network are referred to as FCoE devices or
10 Enodes. As may be understood, the Enodes may seek to communicate with one or
more of the computing and data storage devices present in the SAN. The computing
devices, for example, data servers and databases, and storage devices, for example,
tapes and disks, present in the SAN and operating on the FC technology are also
referred to as FC nodes. The Enodes and the FC nodes may communicate with each
15 other through one or more network devices. For example, an Enode may establish a
connection with an FC node or an FC node may establish a connection with another
FC node. As may be understood, for establishing the connection, one or more FCoE
Initialization Protocol (FIP) control packets are exchanged between the Enodes and
the FC nodes via the network device.
20 [0013] In order to facilitate communication between the Enodes and the FC
nodes, network devices, such as gateways, FC switches, and Fibre Channel
forwarders (FCFs), may be deployed. Such network devices facilitate exchange of
FIP control packets between one or more Enodes and/or FC nodes seeking to
establish a connection. As may be understood, different network devices may be
25 deployed for handling the FIP control packets pertaining to different type of
connections. For example, an N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) gateway may be
deployed for facilitating establishment of a connection between an Enode and an FC
node. Similarly, an FCF may be deployed for connecting two FC switches over the
6
FCoE network. Further, in order to maintain security in such an integrated network
environment, another network device, such as an FCoE transit switch may be
deployed. The FCoE transit switch prevents unauthorized access to the FC nodes by
inspecting the FIP control packets received from the Enodes.
[0014] As may be gathered, for facilitating establishment of the differen5 t
types of connection and for maintaining security in such an integrated network
environment, large number of different network devices may be deployed. However,
deployment, management, and maintenance of the network devices may prove to be a
cumbersome task. For instance, in SANs, each network device is assigned a domain
10 identity (ID) and the overall architecture of the SAN is such that it supports a limited
number of domain identities (ID's). Thus, deployment of the network devices may
result in reducing the scalability of the SAN network.
[0015] In a known technique, a single network device configured for
supporting connections between different entities may be deployed. However, the
15 network device may provide support for a single connection at any given time. As a
result, in a case where support for a different connection is to be provided, the
network device may have to be rebooted. The rebooting of the network device may
result in a tear down, i.e., disconnection of an existing connection supported by the
network device, which may lead to loss of data being exchanged over the connection.
20 As a result, data transmission over the existing connection may be interrupted and
may lead to loss of data.
[0016] The present subject matter describes systems and methods for
communication in FCoE networks. In accordance with the present subject matter, a
gateway is described. In an embodiment, the gateway may simultaneously render
25 support for facilitating establishment of the different types of connection based on a
plurality of predetermined parsing rules. As a result, deployment of different network
devices for rendering support to the different connections may be averted.
7
[0017] In operation, the gateway may receive a FIP control packet for
establishing a connection. For example, the FIP control packet may be received from
an Enode seeking to establish a connection with an FC node. In another example, the
FIP control packet may be received from an FC switch seeking to establish a
connection with another FC switch5 .
[0018] In an implementation, the gateway may implement FIP snooping, i.e.,
authenticate the FIP control packet based on either a compliance or a non-compliance
to a set of predetermined Access Control Lists (ACLs). The ACLs may be understood
as predefined permissions for allowing or dropping the FIP control packets from the
10 Enodes and the FC nodes. In a case where the authentication is successful, the FIP
control packet may be analyzed to determine a type of the FIP control packet. In an
example, one or more fields of the FIP control packet may be analyzed for
determining the type of the packet.
[0019] Continuing with the present implementation, upon determining the
15 type of the FIP control packet, a predetermined operation may be determined based
on a predetermined parsing rule corresponding to the type of the FIP control packet.
The predetermined operation may be understood as an operation which may result in
either establishment of a connection or a tear down of a connection. Examples of the
predetermined operations may include, but are not limited to, facilitating an ENode to
20 connect with an FC node, facilitating two FC switches to connect with each other,
and facilitating an FC node to connect with the ENode.
[0020] The predetermined parsing rule may be understood as instructions for
performing a predetermined operation based on one or more parameters of the FIP
control packet. For example, in a case where a type of the FIP control packet is
25 Multicast discovery Solicitation (MDS), the corresponding parsing rule may include
instructions for performing a predetermined operation based on an "F' bit specified in
the MDS packet. For instance, if the F bit is set, i.e., the value of the F bit is 1, the
predetermined parsing rule may include instructions for establishing a connection
8
between two FC switches. In another case where a value of the F bit is zero, the
predetermined parsing rule may include instructions for establishing a connection
between an Enode and an FC node.
[0021] Subsequently, the FIP control packet may be forwarded to a port of the
gateway for performing the predetermined operation based on the FIP control packet5 .
In an example, the port may pertain to one or more ports which are configured for
performing the predetermined operation. In an example, an entity, such as an Enode,
an FC node, and a network device may be configured on the port on which the FIP
control packet is forwarded. The FIP control packet may then be transmitted to the
10 entity configured on the port.
[0022] As will be clear from the foregoing description, one or more
predetermined operations based on the predetermined parsing rules corresponding to
the type of the FIP control packet may be performed by the gateway. As a result,
rebooting of the gateway is averted. Thus, the gateway renders simultaneous support
15 for handling the FIP control packets pertaining to different types of connections in the
integrated environment. Further, no domain ID is required to be assigned to the
gateway thereby maintaining the scalability of a SAN in which the gateway is
deployed.
[0023] It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate the
20 principles of the present subject matter. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled
in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly
described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and
are included within its spirit and scope. Further, all examples recited herein are
principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in
25 understanding the principles of the present subject matter and the concepts
contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being
without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all
statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present subject
9
matter, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents
thereof.
[0024] The manner in which the systems and the methods for communication
in FCoE networks shall be implemented has been explained in details with respect to
the Figures 1 and 2. While aspects of described systems and methods fo5 r
communication between FC switches can be implemented in any number of different
computing systems, transmission environments, and/or configurations, the
embodiments are described in the context of the following exemplary system(s).
[0025] Figure 1 illustrates a network environment 100 for communication in
10 FCoE networks. The network environment 100 includes one or more computing
devices 102-1, 102-2, …., and 102-N, communicating with each other through a
network 104. The computing devices 102-1, 102-2, …, and 102-N are hereinafter
collectively referred to as computing devices 102 and individually referred to as
computing device 102. Each of the computing devices 102 works on a
15 communication protocol as defined by the network 104 to which the computing
devices 102 are communicatively coupled. The network 104 may be a wireless
network, or a combination of wired and wireless networks. The network 104 can be a
collection of individual networks, interconnected with each other and functioning as a
single large network (e.g., the internet or an intranet). For example, the network 104
20 may be a Local Area Network (LAN), a lossless 10G Ethernet network, and the like.
Further, depending on the technology, the network 104 may include various network
entities, such as gateways, routers; however, such details have been omitted for ease
of understanding.
[0026] In an implementation, the network 104 may be an Ethernet based
25 communication network implementing Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
technology for facilitating the computing devices 102 to access resources pertaining
to a Storage Area Network (SAN) 106. In said implementation, the computing
devices 102 are hereinafter collectively referred to as Enodes 102, and individually
10
referred to as the Enode 102. The SAN 106 may be understood as a network
interconnecting various data storage devices and processing devices, such as data
servers and databases (not shown in figure). The data storage devices and the
processing devices present in the SAN 106 are hereinafter collectively referred to as
FC nodes and individually referred to as FC node. Further, the SAN 106 ma5 y
implement Fibre Channel (FC) technology for data transmission between the FC
nodes present in the SAN 106.
[0027] The network environment 100 further includes a gateway 108
comprising a plurality of ports for facilitating communication between the Enodes
10 102 and the FC nodes. As may be understood, the network environment 110 may
include a plurality of gateways 108, however, the detail description has been
described with reference to the gateway 108 for the sake of brevity.
[0028] In an implementation, the gateway 108 includes one or more
processor(s) 112, I/O interface(s) 114, and a memory 116 coupled to the processor(s)
15 112. The processor(s) 112 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors,
microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units,
state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on
operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the processor(s) 112 are
configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory
20 116.
[0029] The functions of the various elements shown in the figures, including
any functional blocks labeled as “processor(s)”, may be provided through the use of
dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association
with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions may be
25 provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a
plurality of individual processors, some of which may be shared. Moreover, explicit
use of the term “processor” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware
capable of executing software, and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital
11
signal processor (DSP) hardware, network processor, application specific integrated
circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), read only memory (ROM) for
storing software, random access memory (RAM), and non volatile storage. Other
hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included.
[0030] The I/O interface(s) 114 may include a variety of software an5 d
hardware interfaces, for example, interfaces for peripheral device(s), such as data
input output devices, referred to as I/O devices, storage devices, network devices, etc.
The I/O device(s) may include Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, Ethernet ports, host
bus adaptors, etc., and their corresponding device drivers. The I/O interface(s) 114
10 facilitate the communication of the gateway 108 with various networks, such as the
communication network 104 and various communication and computing devices,
such as the FC switch 110.
[0031] The memory 116 may include any computer-readable medium known
in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random access
15 memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or non-volatile
memory, such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash
memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes. In one implementation, the
gateway 108 also includes module(s) 118 and data 120.
[0032] The module(s) 118, amongst other things, include routines, programs,
20 objects, components, data structures, etc., which perform particular tasks or
implement particular abstract data types. The module(s) 118 may also be
implemented as, signal processor(s), state machine(s), logic circuitries, and/or any
other device or component that manipulate signals based on operational instructions.
[0033] Further, the module(s) 118 can be implemented in hardware,
25 instructions executed by a processing unit, or by a combination thereof. The
processing unit can comprise a computer, a processor, such as the processor 108, a
state machine, a logic array or any other suitable devices capable of processing
12
instructions. The processing unit can be a general-purpose processor which executes
instructions to cause the general-purpose processor to perform the required tasks or,
the processing unit can be dedicated to perform the required functions.
[0034] In another aspect of the present subject matter, the module(s) 118 may
be machine-readable instructions (software) which, when executed by 5 a
processor/processing unit, perform any of the described functionalities. The machinereadable
instructions may be stored on an electronic memory device, hard disk,
optical disk or other machine-readable storage medium or non-transitory medium. In
one implementation, the machine-readable instructions can be also be downloaded to
10 the storage medium via a network connection.
[0035] The module(s) 118 further includes an authentication module 122, a
packet processing module 124, and other module(s) 126. The other module(s) 126
may include programs or coded instructions that supplement applications and
functions of the gateway 108.
15 [0036] The data 120 serves, amongst other things, serves as a repository for
storing data processed, received, associated, and generated by one or more of the
module(s) 118. The data 120 includes, for example, authentication data 128, frame
processing data 130, and other data 132. The other data 132 includes data generated
as a result of the execution of one or more modules in the other module(s) 126.
20 [0037] In an implementation, the gateway 108 comprises a set of
predetermined ACLs stored in the authentication data 128. The ACLs may be
understood as predefined permissions for allowing or dropping network traffic, i.e.,
control traffic and data traffic, from the Enodes 102 and the FC nodes. An example of
the ACLs has been provided below in table 1:
25 Table 1
# Event(s) that results in ACL changes ACL Description
13
1 1. User manually configures an FCF.
2. A new FCF is learnt from control
traffic.
1. Drop all frames from FCF
with FCF as S-MAC on port
roles are ‘Edge’.
2. Accept all FIP frames with
D-MAC as FCF MAC on
‘Edge’, ‘Enode’, ‘Mixed’ or
‘VE’ roles.
3. Drop all FIP frames with DMAC
as FCF MAC on ‘FCF’
role.
4. Drop all FCoE data traffic if
the traffic is from an unexpected
FCF.
5. Allow FCoE frames with SMAC
as FCF, D-MAC as VNMAC
on ‘FCF’, ‘Mixed’ or
‘VE’ roles.
6. Drop all FCoE frame with
S-MAC as FCF and D-MAC as
FCF.
2 1. An ENode from 'Edge role' port
establishes a session with NPIV proxy and
load-balance algorithm is based on FCoEPort-
FC-Port pair or FC port based.
2. An Enode from 'Edge role' port
establishes a FIP Snooping session.
Allow all FCoE frames on
Edge role with S-MAC as VNMAC
and D-MAC as FCF.
14
3 FCoE features enabled 1. Allow all FCoE frames on
NP ports with S-ID as wellknown-
port-address.
2. Allow all FCoE frames on F
port with D-ID as well-knownport-
address.
3. Allow all FCoE frames on
TE port with both S-ID and DID
as fabric-well-knownaddress’
4. Allow all FCoE and FIP
traffic on ‘trusted’ role ports.
5. Allow all FIP traffic to DMAC
as all-FCF-MAC on
‘Edge’, ‘Enode’, ‘Mixed’ and
‘VE’ role ports.
6. Allow all FIP traffic to DMAC
as all-Enode-MAC on
‘Mixed’ or ‘FCF’ role ports.
7. Drop all FIP traffic to DMAC
as all-Enode-MAC on
‘VE’ role ports.
4 An ENode from 'Edge role' port
establishes a session with NPIV proxy and
load-balance algorithm is default or
Allow FCoE traffic with DMAC
as FCF MAC and SMAC
as VN-MAC ‘Edge’ role
15
dynamic-reorder. ports.
5 An ENode from 'Enode-only or Trusted or
Mixed role' port establishes a session with
NPIV proxy and load-balance algorithm is
default or dynamic-reorder.
Allow FCoE traffic with DMAC
as FCF MAC and SMAC
as VN-MAC ‘Enode’,
‘Mixed’ or ‘Trusted’ role ports.
6 FC port in NP mode successfully logs into
Fibre Channel switch
Allow FCoE traffic with
Source-ID as NP-Port-ID on
NP ports.
[0038] The table 1 illustrated above may include one or more port roles, for
example, Edge, Enode-only, Mixed, Trusted, FCF-only, and VE, which may be
assigned to the ports of the gateway 108. Based on the port role assigned, the port
may allow or drop packets based on the corresponding ACL description. Further, a5 s
may be understood, the set of ACLs may be modified based on one or more events
specified in the table 1. In an implementation, one or more ports of the gateway 108
may be assigned the port role Mixed. In Mixed port role, the ports may be configured
to handle the control packets from the Enodes 102, the FC nodes, and other network
10 device.
[0039] In operation, the authentication module 122 may receive a FIP control
packet through a port, from among the one or more ports, of the gateway 108. The
FIP control packet, as may be understood, may be received from an entity seeking to
establish a connection with another entity. For example, the authentication module
15 122 may receive the FIP control packet from an Enode 102-1 seeking to establish a
connection with an FC node present in the SAN 106.
[0040] The authentication module 122 may then authenticate the FIP control
packet based on the set of predetermined ACLs. For example, in a case where the FIP
16
control packet is in compliance with the permissions specified in the ACLs, the
authentication module 122 may not drop the FIP control packet. In another case,
where the FIP control packet is not in compliance with the permissions specified in
the ACLs, the authentication module 122 may drop the FIP control packet. The
authentication of the FIP control packet may also be referred to as FIP snooping5 .
[0041] In an implementation, upon successful authentication of the FIP
control packet, the packet processing module 124 may analyze the FIP control packet
to determine a type of the FIP control packet. Examples of the type of the FIP control
packet may include, but are not limited to, a Multicast Discovery Solicitation (MDS),
10 a Unicast Discovery Solicitation (UDS), a Multicast Discovery
Advertisement(MDA), a Unicast Discovery Advertisement (UDA), a Clear Virtual
Links(CVL), a ELP, a SW_ACC, a SW_RJT, a FLOGI, a LS_ACC, and a LS_RJT.
In said implementation, the packet processing module 124 may analyze one or more
fields of the FIP control packet for determining the type of the FIP control packet. For
15 example, the packet processing module 124 may analyze a 'type' field of the FIP
control packet for determining the type of the FIP control packet.
[0042] Thereafter, the packet processing module 124 may determine a
predetermined operation to be performed based on a predetermined parsing rule
corresponding to the type of the FIP control packet. In an implementation, a plurality
20 of predetermined parsing rule corresponding to the different types of the FIP control
packet may be stored in the frame processing data 130. The predetermined parsing
rule may be understood as instructions for performing a predetermined operation
based on one or more parameters of the FIP control packet. In said implementation,
the packet processing module 124 may retrieve the predetermined parsing rule from
25 the frame processing data 130 based on the type of the FIP control packet. Thereafter,
the packet processing module 124 may determine the predetermined operation to be
performed based on the parameters specified in the FIP control packet. Examples of
the predetermined operations may include, but are not limited to, facilitating
17
establishment of a connection between the Enode 102-1 and the FC node and
facilitating establishment of a connection between two FC switches (not shown in
figure). Examples of the parameters may include, but are not limited to, a destination
Media Access Control (MAC) address specified in the FIP control packet, a bit of the
FIP control packet, and the type of the FIP control packet. For example, in a cas5 e
where the FIP control packet is an MDA packet, the predetermined operation to be
performed may be based on the destination MAC address specified in the FIP control
packet. In a case where the destination MAC address is "ALL FCF MAC", the packet
processing module 124 may ascertain the predetermined operation to be facilitating
10 an FC switch to establish a connection with another FC switch over the network 104.
In another case, where the destination MAC address is "MAC ALL ENODE MAC",
the packet processing module 124 may ascertain the predetermined operation to be
facilitating an FC node to establish a connection with the Enode.
[0043] Subsequently, the packet processing module 124 may transmit the FIP
15 control packet to a port of the gateway 108 for performing the predetermined
operation. Thus, the gateway 108 simultaneously renders support for facilitating
different types of connection based on the predetermined parsing rule corresponding
to the type of the FIP control packet.
[0044] Figure 2 illustrates a method 200 for communication in FCoE
20 networks, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. The order
in which the method 200 is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation,
and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to
implement the method 200, or an alternative method. Additionally, individual blocks
may be deleted from the method without departing from the spirit and scope of the
25 subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any
suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.
[0045] The method(s) may be described in the general context of computer
executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include
18
routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules,
functions, etc., that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data
types. The method may also be practiced in a distributed computing environment
where functions are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a
communications network. In a distributed computing environment, compute5 r
executable instructions may be located in both local and remote computer storage
media, including memory storage devices.
[0046] A person skilled in the art will readily recognize that steps of the
method 200 can be performed by programmed computers. Herein, some
10 embodiments are also intended to cover program storage devices, for example, digital
data storage media, which are machine or computer readable and encode machineexecutable
or computer-executable programs of instructions, wherein said
instructions perform some or all of the steps of the described method. The program
storage devices may be, for example, digital memories, magnetic storage media, such
15 as a magnetic disks and magnetic tapes, hard drives, or optically readable digital data
storage media. The embodiments are also intended to cover all the communication
networks and communication devices configured to perform said steps of the
exemplary method.
[0047] At block 202, a FIP control packet is received by a gateway. In an
20 example, the FIP control packet may be received through a port from amongst a
plurality of ports of the gateway. In an implementation, the authentication module
122 of the gateway 108 may receive the FIP control packet from the Enode 102-1.
[0048] At block 204, the FIP control packet is authenticated based on a set of
predetermined ACLs. The ACL may be understood as permissions for allowing or
25 dropping control packets received on the ports of the gateway. In a case where the
FIP control packet is in compliance with an ACL corresponding to the port, the FIP
control packet may be authenticated. In another case where the FIP control packet is
not in compliance with the ACL corresponding to the port, the FIP control packet
19
may not be authenticated. In an implementation the authentication module 122 may
authenticate the FIP control packet based on the set of ACLs.
[0049] At block 206, the FIP control packet may be analyzed to determine a
type of the FIP control packet. In the case where the FIP control packet is
successfully authenticated, one or more fields of the FIP control packet may b5 e
analyzed to determine the type of the FIP control packet. In an example, the packet
processing module 124 may analyze the FIP control packet to determine a type of the
FIP control packet.
[0050] At block 208, a predetermined operation to be performed is
10 determined based on a predetermined parsing rule corresponding to the type of the
FIP control packet. The predetermined operation may be understood as an operation
which may result in either establishment or tear-down of a connection. The parsing
rule may be understood as instructions for performing the predetermined operations
based on one or more parameters of the FIP control packet. In an implementation, the
15 packet processing module 124 may determine the predetermined operation based on
the parsing rule corresponding to the type of the FIP control packet.
[0051] At block 210, the FIP control packet is forwarded to a port of the
gateway for performing the predetermined operation based on the FIP control packet.
The port may pertain to one or more ports configured for performing the
20 predetermined operation. In an example, the packet processing module 124 may
forward the FIP control packet to the port of the gateway 108.
[0052] Although implementations for communication in FCoE networks have
been described in a language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be
understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific
25 features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed
as exemplary implementations for communication in FCoE networks.

I/We claim:
1. A method for a gateway (108) for forwarding Fibre Channel over Ethernet
(FCoE) Initialization Protocol (FIP) control packets, the method comprising:
analyzing a FIP control packet to determine a type of the FIP control
packet5 ;
ascertaining a predetermined operation to be performed on the FIP
control packet based on a predetermined parsing rule, wherein the
predetermined operation results in at least one of an establishment of a
connection and a tear down of a connection, and wherein the predetermined
10 parsing rule corresponds to the type of the FIP control packet; and
forwarding the FIP control packet to a port of the gateway (108) for
performing the predetermined operation, wherein the port is one of one or
more ports of the gateway (108) configured for performing the predetermined
operation.
15 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined parsing rule is
based on at least one of a destination MAC address of the FIP control packet,
a predetermined bit of the FIP control packet, and the type of the FIP control
packet.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further comprises
20 authenticating the FIP control packet based on one of a compliance and noncompliance
to a set of predetermined access control lists (ACLs) by the FIP
control packet.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further comprises
creating an ACL based on the predetermined operation.
25 5. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the method further comprises
removing an ACL, from amongst the predetermined ACLs, based on the
predetermined operation.
21
6. A gateway (108) comprising:
a processor (112); and
a packet processing module (124) coupled to the processor (112) to,
analyze a FIP control packet to determine a type of the FIP control
packet5 ;
ascertain a predetermined operation to be performed on the FIP
control packet based on a predetermined parsing rule, wherein the
predetermined operation results in at least one of an establishment of a
connection and a tear down of a connection, and wherein the
10 predetermined parsing rule corresponds to the type of the FIP control
packet; and
forward the FIP control packet to a port of the gateway (108) for
performing the predetermined operation, wherein the port is one of one or
more ports of the gateway (108) configured for performing the
15 predetermined operation.
7. The gateway (108) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the packet processing
module (124) further is to create an access control list (ACL) based on the
predetermined operation.
8. The gateway (108) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the gateway (108) further
20 comprises an authentication module (122) coupled to the processor (112) to
authenticate the FIP control packet based on a set of predetermined access
control lists (ACLs).
9. The gateway (108) as claimed in claim 8, wherein packet processing module
(124) further is to remove an access control list (ACL), from amongst the set
25 of predetermined ACLs based on the predetermined operation.
10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having embodied thereon a
computer program for executing a method comprising:
22
analyzing a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Initialization Protocol
(FIP) control packet to determine a type of the FIP control packet;
ascertaining a predetermined operation to be performed on the FIP
control packet based on a predetermined parsing rule, wherein the
predetermined operation results in at least one of an establishment of 5 a
connection and a tear down of a connection, and wherein the predetermined
parsing rule corresponds to the type of the FIP control packet; and
forwarding the FIP control packet to a port of a gateway (108) for
performing the predetermined operation, wherein the port is one of one or
10 more ports of the gateway (108) configured for performing the predetermined
operation.