Tag: Network virtualization

OpenFlow part 2, Cisco’s response

Posted on by Ray in FC, FCoE, Networking, Software Defined Network, Strategic Inflection Points, Strategy

 

organic growth by jurvetson
organic growth by jurvetson

Cisco’s CTO Padmasree Warrior, was interviewed today by NetworkWorld discussing their response to all the recent press on OpenFlow coming out of the Open Networking Summit (see my OpenFlow the next wave in networking post).  Apparently, Cisco is funding a new spin-in company to implement new networking technology congruent with Cisco’s current and future switches and routers.

Spin-in to the rescue

We have seen this act before, Andiamo was another Cisco spin-in company (brought back in ~2002), only this time focused on FC or SAN switching technology.  Andiamo was successful in that it created FC switch technology which allowed Cisco to go after the storage networking market and probably even helped them design and implement FCoE.

This time’s, a little different however. It’s in Cisco’s backyard, so to speak.  The new spin-in is called Insieme and will be focused on “OpenStack switch hardware and distributed data storage”.

Distributed data storage sounds a lot like cloud storage to me.  OpenStack seems to be an open source approach to define cloud computing systems. What all that has to do with software defined networking I am unable to understand.

Nonetheless, Cisco has invested $100M in the startup and have capped their acquisition cost at $750M if it succeeds.

But is it SDN?

Ms. Warrior does go on to discuss that software programmable switches will be integrated across Cisco’s product line sometime in the near future but says that OpenFlow and OpenStack are only two ways to do that. Other ways exist, such as adding  new features to NX-OS today or modifying their Nexus 1000v (software only, VMware based, virtual switch) they have been shipping since 2009.

As for OpenFlow commoditizing networking technology, Ms. Warrior doesn’t believe that any single technology is going to change the leadership in networking.  Programmability is certainly of interest to one segment of users with massive infrastructure but most data centers have no desire to program their own switches.  And in the end, networking success depends as much channels and goto market programs as it does on great technology.

Cisco’s CTO was reluctant to claim that Insieme was their response to SDN but it seems patently evident to the rest of us that it’s at least one of its objectives.  Something like this is a two edged sword, on the one hand it helps Cisco go after and help define the new technology on the other hand it legitimizes the current players.

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Nicira is probably rejoicing today what with all the news coming out of the Summit and the creation of Insieme.  Probably yet another reason not to label it SDN…

OpenFlow, the next wave in networking

Posted on by Ray in Cloud services, Distributed computing, Ethernet, Networking, Server virtualization, Software Defined Network, System effectiveness
OpenFlow Logo (from www.OpenFlow.org)
OpenFlow Logo (from http://www.OpenFlow.org)

Read two articles recently about how OpenFlow‘s Software Defined Networking is going to take over the networking world, just like VMware and it’s brethern have taken over the server world.

Essentially, OpenFlow is a network protocol that separates the control management of a networking switch or router (control plane) from it’s data path activities (data plane).  For most current switches, control management consists of vendor supplied,  special purpose software which differs for each and every vendor and sometimes even varies  across vendor product lines.

In contrast, data path activities are fairly similar for most of today’s switches and is generally implemented in custom hardware so as to be lightening fast.

However, the main problem with today’s routers and switches is that there is no standard way to talk or even modify the control management software to modify it’s data plane activities.

OpenFlow to the rescue

OpenFlow changes all that. First it specifies a protocol or interface between a switches control plane and it’s data plane.  This allows that control plane to run on any server and still provide management for a router or switch data path activities.  By doing this OpenFlow provides Software Defined Networking (SDN).

Once OpenFlow switches and control software are in place, the SDN can better control and manage networking activity to optimize for performance, utilization or any other number of parameters.

Products are starting to come out which support OpenFlow protocols.  For example, a new OpenFlow compatible ethernet switch is available from IBM (their RackSwitch G8264 & G8264T) and HP has recently released OpenFlow software for their ethernet switches (see OpenFlow blog post).  At least some in the industry are starting to see the light.

Google implements OpenFlow

The surprising thing is that one article I read recently is about Google running an OpenFlow network on it’s data center backbone (see Wired’s Google goes with the Flow article).   In the article it discusses how a top Google scientist talked about how they implemented OpenFlow for their internal network architecture at the Open Networking Summit yesterday.

Google’s internal network connects it’s multiple data centers together to provide Google Apps and other web services.  Apparently, Google has been secretly creating/buying OpenFlow networking equipment and creating it’s own OpenFlow software. This new SDN they have constructed has given them the ability to change their internal network backbone in minutes which would have taken days, weeks or even months before. Also, OpenFlow has given Google the ability to simulate network changes ahead of time allowing them to see what potential changes will do for them.

One key metric is that Google now runs their backbone network close to 100% utilized at all times whereas before they worked hard to get it to 30-40% utilization.

Nicira revolutionizes networking

The other article I read was about a startup called Nicira out of Palo Alto, CA which is taking OpenFlow to the next level by defining a Network Virtual Platform (NVP) and Open vSwitches (OVS).

  • A NVP  is a network virtualization platform controller which consists of cluster of x86 servers running the network virtualization control software providing a RESTful web services API and defines/manages virtual networks.
  • An OVS is an Open vSwitch software designed for remote control that either runs as a complete software only service in various hypervisors or as gateway software connecting VLANs running on proprietary vendor hardware to the SDN.

OVS gateway services can be used with current generation switches/routers or be used with high performing, simple L3 switches specifically designed for OpenFlow management.

Nonetheless, with NVP and OVS deployed over your networking hardware it removes many of the limitations inherent in current networking services.  For example, Nicira network virtualization, allows the movement of application workloads across subnets while maintaining L2 adjacency, scalable multi-tenant isolation and the ability to repurpose physical infrastrucuture on demand.

By virtualizing the network, the network switching/router hardware becomes a pool of IP-switching services, available to be repurposed and/or reprogrammed at a moments notice.  Not unlike what VMware did with servers through virtualization.

Customers for Nicira include eBay, RackSpace and AT&T to name just a few.  It seems that networking virtualization is especially valuable to big web services and cloud services companies.

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Virtualization takes on another industry, this time networking and changes it forever.

We really need something like OpenFlow for storage.  Taking storage administration out of the vendor hands and placing it elsewhere.  Defining an open storage management protocol that all storage vendors would honor.

The main problem with storage virtualization today is it’s kind of like VLANs, all vendor specific.   Without, something like a standard protocol, that proscribes a storage management plane’s capabilities and a storage data plane’s capabilities we can not really have storage virtualization.