Duke University
SDN Approaches and Uses
GENI CIO Workshop – July 12, 2012
Duke Network – Current State
• Duke’s existing infrastructure has a great deal of
flexibility
– Campus core is 20Gbps today (40Gbps soon)
– External connectivity is 20Gbps today
– Extensive wireless (~3200 802.11n APs) + Wired
– Utilizes MPLS/VRF (VPN Routing and Forwarding)
technologies throughout the campus (multi bldg depts, etc)
• More than 65 VPNs operating today, from PCI to e-PHI
• Custom firewalls can be deployed for any VRF
– IPS/IDS operating at network Interchange Layer
• Inspects traffic in/out of Duke and VRF-to-VRF
Duke Network – Current Operation
MCNC
(Commodity
+ I-2/NLR)
Interchange
Layer
Campus
“Backbone”
Physics
Department
Institute
for
Genome
Sciences &
Policy
Duke
Shared
Cluster
Resource
Duke Network – Current Operation
MCNC
(Commodity
+ I-2/NLR)
Current
Cross-domain
Data Flow
Interchange
Layer
Campus
“Backbone”
Physics
Department
Institute
for
Genome
Sciences &
Policy
Duke
Shared
Cluster
Resource
Duke Network – Limitations
• VRFs (VPNs) are configured by central IT
– We’d like to give scientists more control and
flexibility to create their own private VPNs with
their collaborators on the campus network
• IPS/IDS can add latency and complexity
– We’d like known (safe) transmissions on campus
to proceed without exhaustive security checks
• External “big data” collaborations are the norm
– We’d like to enable faster transmissions + more
flexibility to access resources (cycles, storage)
outside of Duke (without clogging the core network)
Duke Network – SDN Approach
• Leverage existing enterprise infrastructure and
provide a bridge mechanism to enable SDN at the
“edge” and take advantage of VRF capabilities where
SDN is not yet deployed (in the “core”)
– Retain the “rock solid” nature of the production
network, WITHOUT creating a totally separate and
independent physical research network
• Extend Exo-GENI access via SDN capabilities
• Enable “regular traffic” routes + “HOV/express”
routes with planned points of ingress/egress
– Enable scientists to opt-in to SDN connectivity as well
as Exo-GENI capability
Give scientists easy access to virtual slices (network,
computation, storage) whether at Duke or beyond
Duke Network – Current Operation
MCNC
(Commodity
+ I-2/NLR)
RENCI’s Breakable
Experimental
Network (BEN)
Interchange
Layer
SDN Enabled
Only for ExoGENI
Research Project
in CS, with Direct
Connection bypassing Duke
Network
Campus
“Backbone”
Duke CS –
Exo-Geni
Research
Physics
Department
Institute
for
Genome
Sciences &
Policy
Duke
Shared
Cluster
Resource
Duke Network – Future Operation
MCNC
(Commodity
+ I-2/NLR)
RENCI’s Breakable
Experimental
Network (BEN)
Interchange
Layer
SDN Capability Added
to Edge Sites with
Know Use Cases:
Physics (DYNES and
big data transfers
externally), IGSP
(research with ePHI
implications)
Campus
“Backbone”
Duke CS –
Exo-Geni
Research
Physics
Department
Institute
for
Genome
Sciences &
Policy
Duke
Shared
Cluster
Resource
Duke Network – Future Operation
MCNC
(Commodity
+ I-2/NLR)
RENCI’s Breakable
Experimental
Network (BEN)
Interchange
Layer
Future
Cross-domain
Data Flow:
SDN-Mediated
+ Prepositioned-VRFs
to Enable Shortest
Path, bypass
Interchange
Campus
“Backbone”
Pre-positioned
VRF Segment
Duke CS –
Exo-Geni
Research
Physics
Department
Institute
for
Genome
Sciences &
Policy
Duke
Shared
Cluster
Resource
Prepositioned VRFs
• Prepositioned VRFs can be used to connect an
SDN edge endpoint with know collaboration
sites in the core (non-SDN) network
– Traffic routes around campus interchange layer
• Avoids IPS/IDS checks – faster transmission of “big data”
for researchers
• Point-to-point routes mean less traffic in the “core” benefits other university users
– Benefit to the SDN users: potentially higher
bandwidth, lower latency paths
Expressway Links
• Med-/Long-term SDN connections between
known (frequently accessed) end-points
– Establishes direct traffic routes
• Benefits are even greater than prepositioned VRF
(even more direct), but less scalable since SDN
required on both sides and fiber capacity needed
between end-points
– Enables ExoGENI experimentation and access to
compute, storage and network “slices” beyond
Duke to other SDN-enabled sites & ExoGENI racks
Duke Network – Future Operation
MCNC
(Commodity
+ I-2/NLR)
RENCI’s Breakable
Experimental
Network (BEN)
I-2/ION
Future
External
Data Flow:
SDN-Mediated
Interchange
“Expressway”
Layer
Links: Enable Layer2
Transport and
ExoGENI Resource
Access
Campus
“Backbone”
Duke CS –
Exo-Geni
Research
Physics
Department
Institute
for
Genome
Sciences &
Policy
Duke
Shared
Cluster
Resource
External Data Flow
• SDN-enabled edge points can connect through
a (pre-established) set of VPNs in the campus
core (Layer 3) to reach external destinations
• Where Expressway Links exist and connect to
ExoGENI, SDN-enabled edge points can
connect via BEN-ExoGENI (Layer 2) to reach
external destinations