Claims
- 1. A network node having a plurality of communication ports, the network node comprising:
an interface configuration mechanism operable to receive user commands, the user commands comprising:
an interface class configuration command that configures at least in part an interface class in terms of an interface class identifier and one or more packet forwarding rules; an interface configuration command that configures at least in part a first interface for a specified one of the plurality of communication ports and non-exclusively assigns the interface class identifier to the first interface; and a packet forwarding mechanism operable to apply the one or more packet forwarding rules, which are associated with the interface class identifier, to packets arriving at the first interface.
- 2. The network node of claim 1, wherein the user commands further comprise a second interface configuration command that configures at least in part a second interface for a specified one of the plurality of communication ports in terms of at least the interface class identifier.
- 3. The network node of claim 2, wherein the packet forwarding mechanism is operable to apply the one or more packet forwarding rules to packets arriving at the first interface and packets arriving at the second interface.
- 4. The network node of claim 1, further comprising a first lookup table having a plurality of entries, each entry corresponding to an interface class configuration command and operable to store an interface class identifier in association with data representative of one or more packet forwarding rules.
- 5. The network node of claim 4, further comprising a second lookup table having a plurality of entries, each entry corresponding to an interface configuration command and operable to store an interface class identifier in association with at least a VLAN ID.
- 6. The network node of claim 1, wherein the interface configuration mechanism comprises a Command Line Interface (CLI).
- 7. The network node of claim 1, wherein the user commands further comprise a third interface configuration command that configures at least in part a third interface for a third specified one of the communication ports in terms of at least one or more packet forwarding rules.
- 8. The network node of claim 7, wherein the interface configuration mechanism generates an interface identifier for the third interface when the interface configuration command does not specify an interface class identifier.
- 9. A method for managing a network node, comprising:
identifying an interface class; associating one or more packet forwarding rules with the interface class; establishing at least two interfaces in terms of at least the interface class.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the identifying step comprises assigning a class identifier to the interface class.
- 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the identifying step comprises limiting a maximum number of class identifiers to a predetermined value.
- 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more packet forwarding rules comprise a rule for establishing an access control list (ACL).
- 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more packet forwarding rules comprise a rule for establishing Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees.
- 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more packet forwarding rules comprise a rule for establishing policy routing.
- 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the establishing step comprises providing the class identifier, an IP address, and a subnet mask for a selected physical port of the network node to define a first Layer 3 Interface.
- 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the establishing step comprises providing the class identifier, an IP address, and a subnet mask for a selected physical port of the network node to define a second Layer 3 Interface.
- 17. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
receiving a first packet via a first one of the at least two interfaces; and applying the one or more packet forwarding rules, which are associated with the interface class, to the first packet.
- 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:
receiving a second packet via a second one of the at least two interfaces; and applying the one or more packet forwarding rules, which are associated with the interface class, to the second packet.
- 19. The method of claim 9, wherein the identifying step comprises assigning a class identifier to the interface class and further comprising:
receiving a first packet via a first one of the at least two interfaces; performing a hardware lookup using the class identifier as a key to identify the one or more packet forwarding rules; applying the one or more packet forwarding rules, which are identified through the hardware lookup, to the first packet; receiving a second packet via a second one of the at least two interfaces; performing a hardware lookup using the class identifier as a key to identify the one or more packet forwarding rules; applying the one or more packet forwarding rules, which are identified through the hardware lookup, to the second packet.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is entitled to the benefit of provisional U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 60/385,866, filed Jun. 4, 2002, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60385866 |
Jun 2002 |
US |