untold story
TRANSCRIPT
The untold story of free software in networking
Stephen Hemminger@networkplumber
Vyatta's Journey
● History● Plan● Potholes ● Lessons learned
History
● Founded 2005● 2007 Debian platform● 2008 XORP Quagga→
● 2012 Brocade acquires Vyatta● 2013 Community version ends● 2014 vRouter 5600 (DPDK) released
“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential”
-- Winston Churchill
Free Software+ Free Publicity+ Free Developers----------------------------= Success
100
75
50
25
0
Market share %
Innovators 2.5 %
Early Adopters 13.5 %
Early Majority 34 %
Late Majority 34 %
Laggards 16 %
Diffusion of Innovations
Free Software gets attentionFree Software gets attention
Free Developers
● Worldwide users● Bugzilla● Forums & Chat● Easy to build
– Git– ISO
Best Documentation was from the community!
Developer dream
Developer reality
Missing Infrastructure
● No Commuity Manager● No Foundation● No Contributor Agreement● No Pull Request process
Roadblocks
● Scale● Effort● Features
Routing at scale
Dataplane Performance
64 128 512 15180
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
6000000LinuxDPDK
Packet Size
Fra
mes
per
Sec
ond Line Rate
Dependence on extinct Quagga
● Missing OSPFv3● BGP threading issues● BGP attributes● Not enough love
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/06/featuritis_vs_t.html
Where are the developers?
Final knockout blows
● Real cost of support● Double the release effort● Per unit licensing● Self competition● Two routing protocol stacks
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”
-- Winston Churchill
Vyatta was in the valley
Time
Legacy Hardware
Software Networking
Open Ecosystem is awesome
● Tools– git, perl, python, ...
● Infrastructure– Debian, Linux
● Surfeit of tools
Package vs Platform
● Packages– Multi-vendor– Decoupled
● Infrastructure– Process– Roadmap– MAINTAINER?
New Technolgy = New Oppurtunities
● DPDK● Yang● Openstack● Open Daylight
Free Software maturity+ Software networking hype+ Multi vendor collaboration----------------------------= New IP
Questions?
The untold story of free software in networking
Stephen Hemminger@networkplumber
When you start on a trip, you end up in a totally unexpected place.
Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/d/drake551817.html#XYhSypwOg9T65HRT.99
Vyatta's Journey
● History● Plan● Potholes ● Lessons learned
This talk covers the history of Vyatta, what happened, what worked and what didn't
History
● Founded 2005● 2007 Debian platform● 2008 XORP Quagga→
● 2012 Brocade acquires Vyatta● 2013 Community version ends● 2014 vRouter 5600 (DPDK) released
“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential”
-- Winston Churchill
Free Software+ Free Publicity+ Free Developers----------------------------= Success
Vyatta wanted to be the RedHat of networking.
Networking is dominated by mature proprietary legacy vendors (mostly Cisco)
100
75
50
25
0
Market share %
Innovators 2.5 %
Early Adopters 13.5 %
Early Majority 34 %
Late Majority 34 %
Laggards 16 %
Diffusion of Innovations
Free Software gets attentionFree Software gets attention
The fundamental issue when breaking into established market is getting noticed.
Free Developers
● Worldwide users● Bugzilla● Forums & Chat● Easy to build
– Git– ISO
Best Documentation was from the community!
Developer dream
Developer reality
Missing Infrastructure
● No Commuity Manager● No Foundation● No Contributor Agreement● No Pull Request process
Roadblocks
● Scale● Effort● Features
Routing at scale
Dataplane Performance
64 128 512 15180
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
6000000LinuxDPDK
Packet Size
Fra
mes
per
Sec
ond Line Rate
Dependence on extinct Quagga
● Missing OSPFv3● BGP threading issues● BGP attributes● Not enough love
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/06/featuritis_vs_t.html
Where are the developers?
Final knockout blows
● Real cost of support● Double the release effort● Per unit licensing● Self competition● Two routing protocol stacks
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”
-- Winston Churchill
Vyatta was in the valley
Time
Legacy Hardware
Software Networking
Open Ecosystem is awesome
● Tools– git, perl, python, ...
● Infrastructure– Debian, Linux
● Surfeit of tools
● Free software platforms like Linux take time● Free software costs can be spread across multiple
vendors● When needs change, users change
Package vs Platform
● Packages– Multi-vendor– Decoupled
● Infrastructure– Process– Roadmap– MAINTAINER?
New Technolgy = New Oppurtunities
● DPDK● Yang● Openstack● Open Daylight
Free Software maturity+ Software networking hype+ Multi vendor collaboration----------------------------= New IP
Questions?
