GENI and Software Defined
Networking/OpenFlow for
Universities:
Motivation, Strategy, and Uses
Jim Bottum
Vice Provost and CIO
Kuang-Ching “KC” Wang
Holcombe Department of Electrical
& Computer Engineering
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
1
Outline
• GENI and OpenFlow/SDN: What are they?
• Why bring OpenFlow/SDN to campus?
– For research and education
– For IT operation
• OpenFlow at Clemson
– OpenFlow deployment
– Academic and IT use cases
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
2
Cyberinfrastructure (CI) as University Backbone:
Connecting People, Connecting Technologies
“A university is
an institution of
higher
education and
research”
“Cyberinfrastructure
is the primary
backbone that ties
together innovation
in research,
instruction, and
service to elevate
Clemson to the Top
20”
Wikipedia
Doris Helms
Provost
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
6
Research Areas Leveraging GENI/OpenFlow To Date
• CIO office facilitated creation of cross-department
faculty groups in different areas to explore CI use
– Health care, GIS, transportation, energy, bioscience, arts &
humanities, parks & recreation, architecture.
• 10+ faculty working on funded research using GENI
– Wired/wireless networking, network security, P2P
computing, reconfigurable computing, cloud computing,
automotive & transportation, smart energy grid
• IT + faculty + student team on applied IT research
– Undergraduate creative inquiry teams
– Campus internship program + 4-year IT curriculum
– Porting OpenFlow for IT service, e.g., security data analysis
network, datacenter data transfer, identity management
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
9
Why University Needs More than Fast Networks
• Increasing education service complexity
– Complex education software (e.g., Blackboard)
– Distributed, remote education
• Increasing research demand of IT resources
– With the same or less budget
– CI needs across disciplines
– Demand for cost effective IT infrastructure
• Increasing production service liability
–
–
–
–
In a harsh world
Campus safety and disaster preparedness
Critical applications (internal/external enterprise services)
Security exploits
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
8
… And THE CLOUD is coming!
[Cloud Computing implies that networks are
dynamic things that automatically take you to where
your data may be]
[your network engineers are hiding under their desks]
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
12
External Drivers
• Internet2 Innovation Platform
• Condo of condos
• SC Cloud
• Dell CoE
• HPC in cloud
• Social Media Listening Center
• CU-ICAR automotive research testbed
• E-Health
• Medicaid service delivery
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
13
University has Increasing IT Services
Needing More Sustainable/Reliable Process
Wide area network service distributed
campuses, partner institutes
Data center hosting services
disaster recovery preparedness
Unified campus network
monitoring/management infrastructure
Cyberinfrastructure
across disciplines
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
10
Configuring Network and Compute Hosts
Needs Intensive Labor and Experience
There are at least two problems with that…
The control plane is configurable, but
not arbitrarily changeable
[Networks never evolve…]
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
Each device has its own isolated
control plane
[…they just get more complex.]
July 12 2012
11
OpenFlow/SDN on Campus: Naïve? Brilliant?
Well, it’s not quite that simple. But, consider this…
What is a nightmare to
a network engineer…
SDN lets you leverage this and creates real
engagement between IT and Academics!
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
14
Internet Today is Problematic for R&E, Operation
Vehicle Networks
Core: Ethernet, IP,
MPLS, TE, BGP, OSPF
Protocols used today are
• Very complex! Wireless Access
Sensor/actuator
Networks
Networks
• Not taught in classes!
• Research challenge? No idea!
• Complex to configure!
• OK, GENI will change this.
IP is the narrow
Servers (Data Centers)
Enterprise Networks
waist
• But how, and where to start?
Applications: Numerous
Transports: TCP/UDP/RTP + others
Network:•IP
Why
OpenFlow/SDN is the start?
Link/Physical: Numerous
Protocol Stack View
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
15
First, Identify the Key Strengths of OpenFlow/SDN
SDN/OpenFlow Controllers
Servers (Data Centers)
Enterprise
Networks
Internet
Mobile Networks
Sensor/actuator
Networks
Wireless Access
Networks
• Software Defined Networking (SDN)
–
–
–
–
OpenFlow as one first commercial SDN solution
Network controlled by software controllers – automated operation
Centralized network view – simplified validation and management
Virtualized infrastructure – seamless, secured/isolated sharing
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
16
SDN/OpenFlow From Birth to Maturity
Creation
Trials
Commercialization
Application
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
17
Campus OpenFlow Deployment Strategy
OpenFlow Controllers
Servers (Data Centers)
Enterprise
Networks
Internet
Vehicle Networks
• Be cautious
Sensor/actuator
Networks
Wireless Access
Networks
– Be positive
• It’s our mission
– There’s a learning curve
– You’ll feel worried for a while • We can do this
– We can take risks
– You will need help
– We never run out of brains
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
18
SDN Deployment at Clemson – Our Strategy
• Make it useful
– “Discover “ potential users
– Build a community
• Do it incrementally
– Implement real use cases
– Collaborate with vendors
• Make it sustainable
– IT-academic collaborative operation
– Innovative funding model
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
19
Make It Useful – “Discover” New Users
• They may not know it’s good for them yet!
OpenFlow wireless
OpenFlow Mesh and
Mobility Management
EAGER experiments
Security
w/ Brooks
Clemson
Pervasive P2P
w/ Shen
Clemson
Network Coding
w/ Ramanathan,
UW-Madison
Faculty:
Faculty:10
5
7
8
1
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
Campus operation & expansion
IT Engagement; CI Team
OpenFlow
Data Analysis Network
Campus Trial
w/ CCIT + CI Team
NetFPGA lab
Accelerated Cloud
w/ Smith
Clemson
SDR
w/ Noneaker
Clemson
On-demand VM
Cloud
w/ Goasguen (CS)
Spiral 4
GENI Racks
InstaGENI,
ExoGENI
GENI WiMAX
w/UW-Madison
Student
Student
StudentG:
G:
G:13
11
2
3 UG:
9
UG: 1
78
8
July 12 2012
Engineers: 2
3
5
20
Make It Useful – Data Analysis Networks
• Security group has been asking for distributed analysis solution
• Server group has been asking for application tracking solution
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
21
Make It Useful – Large Data Transport Enhancement
Steroid OpenFlow Service (SOS)
by Aaron Rosen and KC Wang
• Seamless TCP throughput upgrade,
e.g., 2.5 Mbps à 120 Mbps
• Multipath support
• Automatic site agent detection
Upcoming demos of SOS:
• NSF 12th GENI conference,
Kansas City, MO.
• Supercomputing 2011,
Seattle, WA.
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
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Example: SOS Experiment on GENI
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
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Make It Useful – Data Center Disaster Recovery
Application server
Client M’s
Personalization server
Net A
Provider A
OF controller
OpenFlow tunnel
Provider B
OF controller (or non-OF)
Net B
Net C
Net D
Provider A
or partner’s
OF controller
Provider A
or partner’s
OF controller
Client M
• From reactive to proactive networking
– Mobile IP: Distributed, reactive (long latency), requires compatible
agents everywhere, provider-dictated
– OpenFlow: Centralized, proactive, solutions for diverse network
scenarios, opportunities for both provider and client customization
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
24
Campus Incremental Deployment
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
25
Regional OpenFlow Connectivity
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
26
Make It Sustainable – Deep IT Integration
• To facilitate sustained growth and leverage the power of all
parties in University to stay creative, we need a new
model.
– Students
• Graduate research assistants
• Undergraduate “Creative Inquiry” program
• Undergraduate IT internship program + curriculum
– Network engineers
• Support researchers deploy and operate GENI
• Operate GENI in production use
IT
• Innovative institute use cases
– Faculty
• Research
• Teaching
Bottum, Wang
University
Clemson
Research
July 12 2012
Teaching
27
Make it Sustainable – Funding Model
• Research grants + IT support
– NSF GENI OpenFlow Campus Trial project
– CCIT cost share (engineers, space, server, travel)
– Other research grants leveraging OpenFlow network
• Cybersecurity testbed
• Automotive and transportation testbed
• University IT internship program
– Sustained university investment in IT evolution
• Partnerships
– Corporate partnership
– Regional/city partnership (e.g., US-IGNITE)
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
28
FURTHER QUESTIONS
JB@CLEMSON.EDU
KWANG@CLEMSON.EDU
Bottum, Wang
Clemson University
July 12 2012
29