Using physical location to modify behavior of a distributed virtual network element

Abstract

A system for network virtualization in which physical network resources in different physical contexts are configured to implement one or more distributed logical network elements, at least some of the physical network resources implementing the distributed logical network elements configured according the physical context of those network resources. The local configuration of a physical locale is a version of the logical configuration that is modified specifically for the physical locale. Such modification is based on locale identifiers that are assigned to the physical locales. Some systems use locale-specific information to modify next-hop preference. Some system use locally modified configurations to determine the placement of VMs.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method of deploying machines in a plurality of datacenters, the method comprising:
 based on a set of placement criteria, identifying a first datacenter for deploying a first machines and deploying the first machine in the first datacenter;   based on the set of placement criteria, identifying a second datacenter for deploying a second machines and deploying the second machine in the second datacenter;   configuring a set of forwarding elements in the first and second datacenters to implement a logical network to connect the first and second machines.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the logical network comprises at least two logical switches each of which spans the first and second datacenter, and a logical router that spans the first and second datacenters. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the identifying and deploying are performed by a placement engine, the method further comprising receiving, at the placement engine, identification of the first and second machines as machines that have to be deployed without specification of one of the datacenters as the datacenter for deploying either first or second machine. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  further comprising receiving, at the placement engine, first and second locale information regarding the first and second datacenters, wherein identifying the first and second datacenters for the first and second machines comprises using the first and second locale information to select the first and second datacenters respectively for the first and second machines. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the locale information comprises data regarding operational metrics of the forwarding elements in the first and second datacenters. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein identifying the first and second datacenters for the first and second machines further comprises using first and second sets of requirements for the first and second machines to select the first and second datacenters respectively for the first and second machines. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising sending directives to first and second datacenters to reserve particular network resources in the first and second datacenters for the first and second machines respectively. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising generating forwarding rules to configure forwarding elements in the first and second datacenters to implement a logical forwarding element in the logical network, and distributing the forwarding rules to the forwarding elements in the first and second datacenters. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the forwarding rules specify preferred, forbidden, and reserved forwarding elements in the first and second datacenters to use for forwarding packets through the logical forwarding element. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the forwarding rules are next-hop forwarding rules to use for multi-path forwarding operations. 
     
     
         31 . A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for execution by at least one processor, the program for deploying machines in a plurality of datacenters, the program comprising sets of instructions for:
 based on a set of placement criteria, identifying a first datacenter for deploying a first machines and deploying the first machine in the first datacenter;   based on the set of placement criteria, identifying a second datacenter for deploying a second machines and deploying the second machine in the second datacenter;   directing a set of forwarding elements in the first and second datacenters to be configured to implement a logical network to connect the first and second machines.   
     
     
         32 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the logical network comprises at least two logical switches each of which spans the first and second datacenter, and a logical router that spans the first and second datacenters. 
     
     
         33 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 31 , wherein the program is a placement engine, the program further comprising a set of instructions for receiving, at the placement engine, identification of the first and second machines as machines that have to be deployed without specification of one of the datacenters as the datacenter for deploying either first or second machine. 
     
     
         34 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 33 , the program further comprising a set of instructions for receiving, at the placement engine, first and second locale information regarding the first and second datacenters, wherein the set of instructions for identifying the first and second datacenters for the first and second machines comprises a set of instructions for using the first and second locale information to select the first and second datacenters respectively for the first and second machines. 
     
     
         35 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 34 , wherein the locale information comprises data regarding operational metrics of the forwarding elements in the first and second datacenters. 
     
     
         36 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 34 , wherein the set of instructions for identifying the first and second datacenters for the first and second machines further comprises a set of instructions for using first and second sets of requirements for the first and second machines to select the first and second datacenters respectively for the first and second machines. 
     
     
         37 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 31 , the program further comprising a set of instructions for sending directives to first and second datacenters to reserve particular network resources in the first and second datacenters for the first and second machines respectively. 
     
     
         38 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 31 , the program further comprising sets of instructions for generating forwarding rules to configure forwarding elements in the first and second datacenters to implement a logical forwarding element in the logical network, and distributing the forwarding rules to the forwarding elements in the first and second datacenters. 
     
     
         39 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 38 , wherein the forwarding rules specify preferred, forbidden, and reserved forwarding elements in the first and second datacenters to use for forwarding packets through the logical forwarding element. 
     
     
         40 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 39 , wherein the forwarding rules are next-hop forwarding rules to use for multi-path forwarding operations.