Packet forwarding method and related apparatus

Abstract

This application provides a packet forwarding method and a related apparatus. The method includes: determining whether a flow to which a packet belongs meets a large flow condition; and if the flow to which the packet belongs meets the large flow condition and a flowlet routing table does not include a flowlet entry corresponding to the flow, creating the corresponding flowlet entry in the flowlet routing table, and forwarding the packet based on the created flowlet entry. In the foregoing technical solution, a corresponding flowlet entry may be created only for a large flow, to perform flowlet-based load balancing on the large flow. This can reduce an entry resource used for flowlet-based load balancing, improve balance of multi-path load sharing, and effectively improve a traffic sharing effect of load balancing.

1 . A method, comprising:
 obtaining a first packet belonging to a first flow, wherein the first flow is a large flow; and   creating a first flowlet entry in a flowlet routing table when a first flowlet entry corresponding to the first flow does not exist in the flowlet routing table-.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the flowlet routing table comprises at least one flowlet entry, and the at least one flowlet entry is in a one-to-one correspondence with at least one flow. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein the at least one flowlet entry is a valid entry in the flowlet routing table. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first flowlet entry comprises a first next-hop port. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the first next-hop port is one of a plurality of next-hop ports,
 the plurality of next-hop ports corresponds to a plurality of pieces of path quality, and   the first next-hop port corresponding to a piece of path quality that meets a preset condition.   
     
     
         6 . A method, comprising:
 obtaining a first packet belonging to a first flow, wherein the first flow is a large flow; and   forwarding the first packet based on a first flowlet entry corresponding to a first flow to which the first packet belongs.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein a flowlet routing table comprises at least one flowlet entry, and the at least one flowlet entry is in a one-to-one correspondence with at least one flow. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the at least one flowlet entry is a valid entry in the flowlet routing table. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the first flowlet entry comprises a first next-hop port. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the first next-hop port is one of a plurality of next-hop ports, the plurality of next-hop ports corresponds to a plurality of pieces of path quality, and the first next-hop port corresponding to a piece of path quality that meets a preset condition. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 6 , further comprising:
 obtaining a second packet belonging to a first flow, wherein the first flow is not a large flow; and   forwarding the second packet based on an equal-cost multi-path routing (ECMP) routing table.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 6 , further comprising:
 receiving a third packet belonging to a third flow, wherein the third flow is a large flow; and   forwarding the third packet based on a third flowlet entry when a flowlet routing table comprises a third flowlet entry corresponding to the third flow.   
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 6 , further comprising:
 Creating a third flowlet entry in a flowlet routing table or forwarding a third packet based on an equal-cost multi-path routing (ECMP) routing table when the flowlet routing table does not comprise the third flowlet entry corresponding to a third flow.   
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 6 , further comprising:
 receiving a fourth packet belonging to a fourth flow; and   forwarding the fourth packet based on an equal-cost multi-path routing (ECMP) routing table when the fourth flow is not a large flow.   
     
     
         15 . An apparatus, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions to:
 obtain a first packet belonging to a first flow, wherein the first flow is a large flow; and   forward the first packet based on a first flowlet entry corresponding to a first flow to which the first packet belongs.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus according to  claim 15 , wherein a flowlet routing table comprises at least one flowlet entry, and the at least one flowlet entry is in a one-to-one correspondence with at least one flow. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus according to  claim 16 , wherein the at least one flowlet entry is a valid entry in the flowlet routing table. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus according to  claim 15 , wherein the first flowlet entry comprises a first next-hop port. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus according to  claim 18 , wherein the first next-hop port is one of a plurality of next-hop ports, the plurality of next-hop ports corresponds to a plurality of pieces of path quality, and the first next-hop port corresponding to a piece of path quality that meets a preset condition. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus according to  claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 obtain a second packet belonging to a first flow, wherein the first flow is not a large flow; and   forward the second packet based on a second identifier and an equal-cost multi-path routing (ECMP) routing table.