Logical l3 daemon

Abstract

For a network controller for managing hosts in a network, a method for configuring a host to resolve network addresses is described. The method configures an address resolution module in a host to resolve a network address. The method configures a managed forwarding element in the host to (1) avoid sending a request to resolve the network address to another host by using the address resolution module to resolve the network address and (2) forward packets using the resolved network address.

1 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . For a network controller for managing hosts in a network, a method for configuring a host to resolve network addresses, the method comprising:
 configuring an address resolution module in a host to resolve a network address; and   configuring a managed forwarding element in the host to (i) avoid sending a request to resolve the network address to another host by using the address resolution module to resolve the network address and (ii) forward packets using the resolved network address.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the request to resolve the network address is an address resolution protocol (ARP) request. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23  further comprising configuring the address resolution module to maintain and use a list of address pairs, wherein each pair in the list includes a first address and a second address, the first address being an address to resolve, the second address being an address to which the first address is to be resolved. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the first address is a network layer address and the second address is a data link layer address. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the first address is an Internet Protocol (IP) address and the second address is a Media Access Control (MAC) address. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 25  further comprising configuring the address resolution module to send an address resolution protocol (ARP) request to other hosts in the network to obtain an address to which to resolve the network address when the list does not include an address pair that includes the network address. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the host is a first host and the list is a local list, the method further comprising:
 configuring, in a second host, a global address resolution module to maintain and use a global list of address pairs that are collected from other hosts in the set of hosts; and   configuring the address resolution module to ask the global address resolution module for an address to which to resolve the network address when the local list of the first host does not include an address pair that in includes the network address.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29  further comprising configuring the global address resolution module to send an address resolution protocol (ARP) request to other hosts in the set of hosts to obtain an address to which to resolve the network address when the global list does not include an address pair that includes the network address. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29  further comprising configuring the address resolution module to create or update a particular address pair and update the local list with the particular address pair. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the particular address pair is created or updated when a virtual machine is provisioned in or migrated into the first host. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31  further comprising configuring the address resolution module to send the particular address pair to the global address resolution module. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein using the address resolution module to resolve the network address comprising sending a flow entry that includes the network address, wherein configuring the address resolution module comprises configuring the address resolution module to (i) modify the flow entry to include the resolved network address and (ii) send the modified flow entry to the managed forwarding element. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the address resolution module and the managed switching element are separate software applications running in the host. 
     
     
         36 . For a network controller for managing a set of hosts, a method for configuring a host to provide a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service, the method comprising:
 configuring a DHCP module in a first host to provide a DHCP service;   configuring a managed forwarding element in the first host to (i) use the DHCP module to obtain network addresses and (ii) forward packets using the obtained network addresses; and   configuring a second managed forwarding element in a second host to (i) use the DHCP module to obtain network addresses and (ii) forward packets using the obtained network addresses.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the DHCP module and the managed forwarding element are separate software applications configured in the first host. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein a set of virtual machines (VMs) are provisioned in the first host and communicatively connected to the first managed forwarding element. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein at least one VM of the set of VMs is managed by one user and at least one other VM of the set of VMs is managed by another user, wherein the VMs get the DHCP service from the DHCP module through the first managed forwarding element. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein a set of virtual machines (VMs) are provisioned in the second host and communicatively connected to the second managed forwarding element. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein at least one VM of the set of VMs is managed by one user and at least one other VM of the set of VMs is managed by another user, wherein the VMs get the DHCP service from the DHCP module through the second managed forwarding element.