Software-defined Networks October 2009 With Martin Casado and Scott Shenker And contributions from many others
Feb 17, 2016
Software-defined NetworksOctober 2009
With Martin Casado and Scott ShenkerAnd contributions from many others
Outline
Trends– Towards “Software-defined Network”– Towards “Slicing” of network infrastructure– Government role
Million of linesof source code
5400 RFCs Barrier to entry
500M gates10Gbytes RAM
Bloated Power Hungry
Many complex functions baked into the infrastructureOSPF, BGP, multicast, differentiated services,Traffic Engineering, NAT, firewalls, MPLS, redundant layers, …
An industry with a “mainframe-mentality”
We have lost our way
Specialized Packet Forwarding Hardware
OperatingSystem
App App App
Routing, management, mobility management, access control, VPNs, …
Operating System
Reality
AppApp
App
Specialized Packet Forwarding Hardware
Specialized Packet Forwarding Hardware
OperatingSystem
App App App
• Lack of competition means glacial innovation• Closed architecture means blurry, closed interfaces
Glacial process of innovation made worse by captive standards process
DeploymentIdea Standardize
Wait 10 years
• Driven by vendors• Consumers largely locked out• Lowest common denominator features• Glacial innovation
Specialized Packet Forwarding Hardware
App
App
App
Specialized Packet Forwarding Hardware
App
App
App
Specialized Packet Forwarding Hardware
App
App
App
Specialized Packet Forwarding Hardware
App
App
App
Specialized Packet Forwarding Hardware
OperatingSystem
OperatingSystem
OperatingSystem
OperatingSystem
OperatingSystem
App
App
App
Network Operating System
App App App
Change is happening in non-traditional markets
App
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
App App
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware Simple Packet
Forwarding Hardware
Network Operating System
1. Open interface to hardware
3. Well-defined open API2. At least one good operating system
Extensible, possibly open-source
The “Software-defined Network”
Slicing the physical network
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
Network Operating System 1
Open interface to hardware
Virtualization or “Slicing” Layer
Network Operating System 2
Network Operating System 3
Network Operating System 4
App App App App App App App App
Many operating systems, orMany versions
Open interface to hardware
Isolated “slices”
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
Consequences
More innovation in network services– Owners, operators, 3rd party developers,
researchers can improve the network– E.g. energy management, data center
management, policy routing, access control, denial of service, mobility
Lower barrier to entry for competition– Healthier market place, new players
Is change likely?
The change has already started
In a nutshell– Driven by cost and control– Started in data centers…. and may spread– Trend is towards an open-source,
software-defined network– Growing interest for cellular and telecom networks
Example: New Data Center
Cost200,000 serversFanout of 20 10,000 switches$5k commercial switch $50M$1k custom-built switch $10M
Savings in 10 data centers = $400M
Control
1.Optimize for features needed2.Customize for services & apps3.Quickly improve and innovate
Large data center operators are moving towards defining their own network in software.
Windows(OS)
Windows(OS)
Linux MacOS
x86(Computer)
Windows(OS)
AppApp
LinuxLinuxMacOS
MacOS
Virtualization layer
App
Controller 1
AppApp
Controller2
Virtualization or “Slicing”
App
OpenFlow
Controller 1NOX(Network OS)
Controller2Network OS
Trend
Computer Industry Network Industry
How can government help?
What NSF is supportingTrials of “Software-defined Network” & OpenFlow
US College Campus Trials– UW, Georgia Tech, Princeton, Rutgers,
UW-Madison, Clemson, Indiana, Stanford– Vendors with prototype OpenFlow:
Cisco, Juniper, HP, NEC, Ciena, Arista, Quanta, ….
National College Backbone Trials
Data Center Clusters (with Google, Yahoo!, HP, etc.)
UW
Stanford
UnivWisconsin
IndianaUniv
Rutgers
Princeton
ClemsonGeorgia
Tech
Internet2NLR
Nationwide OpenFlow Trials
Production deployments before end of 2010
The role of government
When funding new infrastructure– Mandate open interface to equipment
(OpenFlow)– Recommend trials of “software-defined networks”
RiskInvest in the wrong equipment, and we are stuck with “same old” equipment for 10 years
App
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware
App App
Simple Packet Forwarding Hardware Simple Packet
Forwarding Hardware
Network Operating System
Software-defined Wireless NetworksApplies equally to wireless networks
Mobility manager, AAA, billing, MVNO, Wireless service provider, …
WiFi, WiMAX, LTE
Outline
Trends– Towards “Software-defined Network”– Towards “Slicing” of network infrastructure– Government role
Dream– Making available the abundant wireless capacity
around us– Technical trend– Business hurdles
Observations
• We are not short of wireless capacity: It is abundant, but off limits
• Cell phone today = 6 radios• Cell phone in 2020 = 20 radios?
Can we:– Decouple service providers from physical
networks?– Allow user to decide to connect to any or many
wireless networks simultaneously?
WiFi APWiFi AP
WiFi AP
WiMAX
LTEWiMAX
LTE
LTEWiFi AP
My Employer
A home Nationwide infrastructure owners
Service providers in cloud
Slicing Slicing Slicing
Slicing
Open flow-based interface
App App App App App App
“Newco”OS
“Vodafone” OS
“AT&T” OS
Services Services Services
Service Providers and Infrastructure
Thank you!