API Supporting Server and Key Based Networking

摘要

An application programming interface (API) supporting server and key based networking is described. In an embodiment, the API receives either a key or a server address from a service running on a server in a direct-connect topology and returns data which identifies suitable next hops for transmission of a packet of data which has a destination of the received server address or of a server address which is encoded within the received key. In another embodiment, the key also encodes information specifying alternative server addresses for use in the event that the original server is unreachable. This information may also be used to define servers for replication of the key. A further embodiment describes a method of queuing packets for transmission against multiple links, where the packet is transmitted on the first available link and at this time is removed from the queues for the other links.

主权项

1. A method of transmitting packets between servers in a direct-connect topology, the method comprising, at a server:
receiving, from a service running on the server, data identifying a set of outbound links for use in transmitting a packet from the server to a destination server; placing the packet or a descriptor for the packet in a plurality of queues, wherein each queue is associated with a different one of the outbound links in the set of outbound links; and once the packet is committed for transmission over one of the set of outbound links, removing the packet or descriptor from the queues associated with each of the other outbound links in the set of outbound links.