Clemson OpenFlow Trials
Enabling Network Traffic Measurement and Control over
Campus Ethernet, Wireless Mesh, and Vehicular Networks
Campus Ethernet + Wireless Mesh for Vehicle Access +
Campus Network Operations
PI: Kuang-Ching “KC” Wang
Co-PI: Jim Pepin, CTO
Chief Network Engineer: Dan Schmiedt
Students: Glenn Evans, Sajindra Pradhananga, Aaron Rosen
Bradley Collins, Bob Strecansky
Clemson University
June 17, 2010
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
Scope and Objective
• Scope
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OF Ethernet switches for campus buildings
OF wireless mesh network supporting mobile terminals
OF integration with campus Network Operations Center
Participation in inter-campus OF trials
• Objective is to establish
– GENI connectivity
– Wired and wireless network research infrastructure
• Vehicular networks, mesh networks, network security
– Network operation tools and policies for conducting
research and education experiments on campus network
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
March 17, 2010
2
Staged Deployment Plan
Mar ‘10: ECE Wireless Lab Test Network
• Setup mirrors configuration in any
building closet (Cisco 2970  3560).
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
• Opt-in users to be connected through
standard wall jacks – seamless transition.
March 17, 2010
3
Clemson’s Campus Network Architecture
Access
Distribution
Core
Distribution
Cisco 3560
Switches
Cisco 3750
Stacked
Switches
Cisco 6509
Switches
Cisco 3750
Stacked
Switches
Access
Cisco 3560
Switches
Building
Building
Strode Hall
1G or 10G (using X2/
TwinGig)
10G
L2
L2/3
1G or 10G (usingX2/
TwinGig)
Riggs Hall
Cross-stack etherchannel
Aug. 27-28 2009
EGENI Workshop at
Sponsored by the National Science FoundationStanford
March 17, 2010
L2/3
L2
Cross-stack etherchannel
4
4
Staged Deployment Plan
Today: 3 Buildings Connected, 2 In Progress
iTiger
Stadium Wi-Fi
ECE Security/Architecture/P2P Labs
CS Wireless Labs –
WiMAX/sensor network/
cloud comp./mobile apps
1 GbE
ECE Wireless Labs –
mobile and mesh networks,
cognitive/software defined radio
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
March 17, 2010
CU Police
Surveillance Mesh
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Staged Deployment Plan
Ongoing: Cross-campus OpenFlow Connectivity
GENI
or I2
Clemson
Network
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
March 17, 2010
6
Status, Issues and Solutions
• Deployed in three buildings; opt-in users have regular Internet
via production vlan on OpenFlow switches; graduate students
conducting GENI/OpenFlow experiments on same switch
separate experimental vlan
• Encountered network slowdown to unusable level with high
flows from PlanetLab. Seen only on OpenFlow enabled vlan,
non-OpenFlow vlan on same switch had no problem – solved by
moving high flow nodes to non-OpenFlow vlan
• Encountered routing problem earlier – debugging shows the
problem only occurring when a specific controller script
(routing.py) is used; resolved by using a different controller
script (pyswitch.py)
• Recently enabled OpenFlow over wireless mesh network
running OLSR mesh protocol; more testing is in progress;
scheduled deployment on S. Palmetto St. light poles
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
March 17, 2010
7
Status, Issues and Solutions
• Stanford and GPO suggests migration to 1.0. HP has 1.0
firmware ready, Toroki’s 1.0 firmware will be released by
8/31/2010, Stanford’s reference implementation is
compatible with Toroki hardware but currently does not
support vlan – holding off migration for now
• Central IT investment in research project in declining
budget times
– Prioritization issues
– Co-investment model being worked at local level – not there yet
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
March 17, 2010
8
Potential Vendor Support
• Address scalability issue
– Controller-to-switch still presents bottleneck at high flow condition.
• Start developing reference controller with support for day-to-day
campus production network operation utilities
– Makes NOC’s life easier if there is an OpenFlow controller implementation that
supports their day-to-day utilities in traditional hardware.
• Publish OpenFlow best practice case studies with
configuration/programming examples
– Learning to program OpenFlow still has a steep learning curve. Vendors may
provide tutorials or best-practice examples to help campus adopters
• Incentives for early adopting campuses
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Discounts! (say, for the first K switches per campus)
Work with adopting campuses to develop goal-oriented showcase examples
Dedicated support/tutorials/workshops for campus adoption process
Opportunities for research collaboration
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
March 17, 2010
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