The Open Networking Foundation:

OpenFlow & SDN from lab to marketIEEE ComSoc SV chapter

July 11, 2012

Dan Pitt, Executive Director

Dan.Pitt@OpenNetworking.org

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Points to cover

• Origins

• The Basics

• Why we exist

• Ambition, scope

• How we operate

• What we’re doing

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Origins

1. Programmatic control of Enterprise networks2. Global policy, directly enforced3. Global vantage point4. OpenFlow

EthaneMartin

Casado

Research Community:How to deploy new ideas?

1. NSF/GENI2. OpenFlow/SDN on 10 campuses3. Research demonstrations4. Now on 100+ campuses5. US, Europe, Asia

Industry Trend:Networks being built this way

1. Data Center Networks2. WANs3. Enterprise and WiFi4. Vendors & startups emerging

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Why we exist

Users

• Solving problems of scale, flexibility, east-west traffic (data centers)

• Solving problems of cost, service introduction (service providers)

• Solving problems of applications, administration, security (enterprises)

Networking

• Catching up to computing (distributed systems, virtualization)

• Becoming part of the computing infrastructure

Standards

• User-led

• Faster

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Carriers

• End-customer monthly bill: unchanged

• Global IP traffic: up 40-50% per year

• CAPEX, OPEX need: down 40-50% per Gb/s per year

• CAPEX, OPEX reality: down 10-20% per year

• Service-creation velocity

Data-center operators

• East-west traffic, already have global view

• Unbelievable scale

Enterprises

• Everything else is virtualized

• Need flexibility to match IT to business needs

Domain problems

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Vertically integrated

Closed, proprietarySlow innovationSmall industry

SpecializedOperating

System

SpecializedHardware

App

App

App

App

App

App

App

App

App

App

AppSpecialized

Applications

HorizontalOpen interfacesRapid innovation

Huge industry

Microprocessor

Open Interface

Linux

MacOS

Windows(OS) or or

Open Interface

Remember mainframes?

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Million of lines

of source code

6,000 RFCs

Billions of gates

Bloated Power Hungry

• Vertically integrated, complex, closed, proprietary

• Networking industry with “mainframe” mindset

Custom Hardware

OS

Routing, management, mobility management, access control, VPNs, …

Feature

Feature

That’s what today’s routers are

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Vertically integrated

Closed, proprietarySlow innovation

App

App

App

App

App

App

App

App

App

App

App

HorizontalOpen interfacesRapid innovation

ControlPlane

ControlPlane

ControlPlane or or

Open Interface

SpecializedControlPlane

SpecializedHardware

SpecializedFeatures

MerchantSwitching Chips

Open Interface

What SDN really is

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Custom Hardware

Custom Hardware

Custom Hardware

Custom Hardware

Custom Hardware

OS

OS

OS

OS

OS

Network OS

Feature Feature

The transition

Feature Feature

Feature Feature

Feature Feature

Feature Feature

Feature Feature

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Network OS1. Open interface to packet forwarding

3. Consistent, well-defined global view

PacketForwarding

PacketForwarding

PacketForwarding

PacketForwarding

PacketForwarding

2. At least one Network OS

probably manyOpen- and closed-

source

Feature Ctl. Program

Separation of control, forwarding planes

FlowTable

“If header = x, send to port 4”“If header = y, overwrite header with z, send to ports 5,6”“If header = ?, send to me”

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Vision

•Make Software-Defined Networking the new norm for networks

Mission

•Foster a vibrant market for SDN products, services, applications, users

Goals

•Create the most relevant standards in record time to support a switching ecosystem based on the OpenFlow protocol

•Accelerate understanding of how to realize the abstractions above OpenFlow

ONF basics

ONF

•is a foundation for the advancement of SDN (including standardization)

•is not a simple SDO

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PacketForwarding

PacketForwarding

PacketForwarding

PacketForwarding

PacketForwarding

Global Network View

Rich environment above OpenFlow

Slicing Layer: FlowVisor

Network OS(s) Control Program D

Virtualization Control Program C

Abstract Network View

Control Program AApps ToolsControl Program B

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A non-profit industry consortium 501(c)(6)

• Incorporated 2010, Launched March 22, 2011

• Funded by member dues

• Open to any org. that pays annual dues, agrees to bylaws, IPR policy

ONF legal

IPR policy

• RAND-Z: royalty-free use of protocol, OpenFlow trademark, logo

• Automatic cross-licensing of all related IP to all other members

• No licensing charges to members

• No protection for non-members

• ONF itself: no IP

• Open interfaces, not open source or reference implementations (yet)

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Operation

• Fast, lean, efficient

• Absent politics AMAP

• A startup ourselves, iterating with customers, agile, learning

ONF principles

Standards creation

• Driven by users and user needs

• Developed by those close to implementation/deployment

• Standardize as little as necessary

• Vendor differentiation without lockin, market fragmentation

• More and more like a software community

• No names on drafts

• Relevant, implementable now; protocol-agnostic eventually

• Rapid real-world experience

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Board of Directors

• Users, not vendors

Executive Director (employee)

• Reports to the Board; vendor neutral

Technical Advisory Group

• Advises Board on fundamental technical issues

Working Groups

• Chartered by the Board

• Chaired by Board appointee

ONF governance

Council of Chairs

Executive Director

Board of Directors

Technical Advisory Group

. . .TechnicalWorkingGroup

MarketEducationActivities

RegionalActivities

TechnicalWorkingGroup

Chairs Council

of Chairs

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• A10 Networks• ADVA Optical• Alcatel-Lucent• Aricent• Argela/Turk Telekom• Big Switch Networks• Broadcom• Brocade• Ciena• Cisco• Citrix• Colt• CompTIA• Cyan Optics• Dell/Force10• Elbrys• Ericsson

• ETRI• Extreme Networks• EZchip• F5 Networks• Freescale Semi• Fujitsu• Gigamon• Goldman Sachs• Hitachi• HP• Huawei• IBM• Infinera• Infoblox• Intel• IP Infusion

7 Board companies, 65 others• Urs Hölzle (Sr. VP, Engineering, Google), chairman• Najam Ahmad (Director, Network Engineering, Facebook)• Adam Bechtel (VP, Infrastructure Group, Yahoo)• Stuart Elby (VP, Network Architecture, Verizon)• Axel Clauberg (VP, IP & Optical, Deutsche Telekom)• Yukio Ito (Sr. VP, Services & Infrastructure, NTT Communications• Clyde Rodriguez (GM, Windows Azure Networking, Microsoft)• Nick McKeown (Professor, EE and CS, Stanford)• Scott Shenker (Professor, EECS, UC Berkeley and ICSI)

• NoviFlow• Oracle• Orange/France Telecom• Pica8• Plexxi Inc.• Radware• Riverbed Technology• Samsung• SK Telecom• Spirent• Telecom Italia• Tencent• Texas Instruments• Vello Systems• VMware• ZTE

• Ixia• Juniper Networks• Korea Telecom• LineRate Systems• LSI• Luxoft• Marvell• Mellanox• Metaswitch Networks• Midokura• NCL Comms K.K.• NEC• Netgear• Netronome• Nicira Networks• Nokia Siemens Netw.

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Evolution path:

• OF 1.0 (03/2010): Most widely used version, MAC, IPv4, single table (from Stanford)

• OF 1.1 (02/2011): MPLS tags/tunnels, multiple tables, counters (from Stanford)

• OF 1.2 (12/2011): IPv6, extensible expression

• OF-Config 1.0 (01/2012): Basic configuration: queues, ports, controller assign

• OF 1.3.0 (04/2012): Tunnels, meters, PBB support, more IPv6

• OF-Config 1.1 (04/2012): Topology discovery, error handling

• OF-Test 1.0 (2H2012): Interoperability & conformance test processes, suites, labs

Goals:

• Widespread adoption, experimentation w/OF 1.3.x

• Accommodate current merchant silicon

• Move beyond limitations of current merchant silicon

OpenFlow standards

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Chartered Working Groups

• Extensibility (chair: Jean Tourrilhes, HP): OpenFlow protocol

• Config-mgmt (chair: Deepak Bansal, Microsoft): basic switch configuration

• Testing-interop (chair: Michael Haugh, Ixia): conformance, interop., benchmarking

• Hybrid (chair: Jan Medved, Cisco): mixed OpenFlow/legacy switches & networks

Technical activities

Discussion Groups

• OpenFlow-Future: forwarding-plane models

• NorthboundAPI: how the network relates to the applications

• NewTransport: OpenFlow for optical, circuits, wireless

• Market Education (chair: Isabelle Guis, Big Switch): marketing, customer value

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ONF now the home of OpenFlow

• Take OpenFlow 1.1 to commercial strength – Job One

• Family of standards: foundation, building blocks, choices

• Protocols; configuration and management; compliance and interoperability

• Development, deployment, experience, feedback

Conclusions

SDN beyond OpenFlow

• SDN abstractions, object models, interactions

• Ecosystem for new features, new players, new business models

Technical standards + market education

• Market pull to drive the ecosystem

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ONF: innovating in technology and standardization

www.OpenNetworking.org

Dan.Pitt@OpenNetworking.org

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