Stanford Clean Slate Program
http://cleanslate.stanford.edu
Packet and Circuit Convergence
with OpenFlow
Guru Parulkar
parulkar@stanford.edu
with Saurav Das (Stanford), Nick McKeown (Stanford),
Preeti Singh (Ciena), Dan Getachew (Ciena), Lyndon Ong (Ciena)
Funded by Cisco, Deutsche Telekom, DoCoMo, Ericsson, Google, LightSpeed, MDV, NEC, NSF, Xilinx
Outline
• OpenFlow/Software Defined Networking
• Unifying packet and circuit networks
• Why providers like it
Internet has many problems
Plenty of evidence and documentation
Internet’s “root cause problem”
It is Closed for Innovations
3
We lost our way
Routing, management, mobility management,
access control, VPNs, …
App
App
App
Operating
System
Specialized Packet
Forwarding Hardware
Million of lines
of source code
5400 RFCs
500M gates
10Gbytes RAM
Bloated
Power Hungry
Many complex functions baked into the infrastructure
OSPF, BGP, multicast, differentiated services,
Traffic Engineering, NAT, firewalls, MPLS, redundant layers, …
An industry with a “mainframe-mentality”
4
OpenFlow: Enable Innovations “within”
the Infrastructure
PC
Net Services
OpenFlow
Switch
sw
hw
Secure
Channel
Flow
Table
API
Controller
• Add/delete flow entries
• Encapsulated packets
• Controller discovery
5
Sliced and Virtualized OpenFlow
Infrastructure
Control Plane
API
Research Team A
Controller
C
Research Team B
Controller
C
Production Net
Controller
C
Control Plane
API
OpenFlow Protocol
FLOWVISOR
OpenFlow Protocol
Isolated
Network
Slices
Physical
Infrastructure
Packet&Circuit
Switches:
wired, wireless,
optical media
6
Example Network Services
• Static “VLANs”
• New routing protocol: unicast, multicast,
multipath, load-balancing
• Network access control
• Mobile VM management
• Mobility and handoff management
• Energy management
• Packet processor (in controller)
• IPvX
• Network measurement and visualization
• …
7
OpenFlow Enabled
Switches/Routers/APs
Juniper MX-series
NEC IP8800
WiMax (NEC)
Cisco Catalyst 3750
(2010)
HP Procurve 5400
Quanta LB4G
Cisco Catalyst 6k
Arista 7100 series
(2010)
WiFi
Ciena CoreDirector
More to follow...
8
OpenFlow as GENI Networking Substrate
9
A nationwide network before end of 2010
European Deployment
Pan-European experimental facility







L2 Packet
Wireless
Routing



L2 Packet
Optics
Content delivery


L2 Packet
Emulation
Wireless
Content
delivery
L2 Packet
Shadow networks



L2 L3Packet
Optics
Content delivery
10
OpenFlow: A Hack to Experiment?
Is there a bigger architecture story
with business implications?
11
OpenFlow: Enable Innovations “within”
the Infrastructure
PC
Net Services
OpenFlow
Switch
sw
hw
Secure
Channel
Flow
Table
API
Controller
• Add/delete flow entries
• Encapsulated packets
• Controller discovery
12
Architecturally what It Means
2. At least one good operating system
Extensible, possibly open-source
3. Well-defined open API
App
App
App
Network Operating System
1. Open interface to hardware
Simple Packet
Forwarding
Hardware
Simple Packet
Forwarding
Hardware
Simple Packet
Forwarding
Hardware
Simple Packet
Forwarding
Hardware
Simple Packet
Forwarding
Hardware
13
Packet and Circuit Convergence
with OpenFlow
14
Motivation
IP & Transport Networks (Carrier’s view)
C
D
• are separate networks managed and operated
C
independently
D
C
D
C
D
• resulting in duplication of functions and
resources in multiple layers
C
C
• and significantDC capex and opex burdens
D
C
D
D
D
… well known
C
D
D
D
D
Convergence is hard
… Two networks have
very different architectures
… previous attempts assumed
networks remain the same
We believe true convergence will come about from
architectural change!
Software Defined Networking
Research Goal:
Packet and Circuit Flows Commonly
Controlled & Managed
UCP
D
Flow
Network
D
D
Simple,
network
of Flow
Switches
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
… that switch at different granularities: packet, time-slot, lambda & fiber
OpenFlow & Circuit Switches
PacketFlows
Switch MAC
Port src
MAC Eth
dst
type
VLAN IP
ID
Src
IP
Dst
IP
Prot
TCP
TCP
sport dport
Action
Exploit the cross-connect table in circuit switches
Circuit Flows
In
Port
VCG Starting Signal
In
Lambda
Time-Slot Type
Out
Port
VCG Starting Signal
Out
Lambda
Time-Slot Type
The Flow Abstraction presents a unifying abstraction
… blurring distinction between underlying packet and circuit
and regarding both as flows in a flow-switched network
OpenFlow Example
IP 11.12.0.0
VLAN1025
IP11.13.0.0TC
P80
+ VLAN2, P1
+ VLAN2, P2
VLAN2
VCG 3
VCG3
P1 VC4 1
P2 VC4 4
P1 VC4 10
+ VLAN7, P2
VLAN7
VCG5
VCG5
P3 STS192 1
OpenFlow
(software)
R
A
S
OpenFlow
(software)
R
A
S
IN
Packet
Packet Switch Fabric
OUT
TDM
VCG3
VCG5
Switch Fabric
GE
ports
Circuit
Switch Fabric
TDM
ports
Converged packets &
dynamic circuits opens
up new capabilities
Network
Recovery
Congestion
Routing
Control
Traffic
QoS
Engineering Power
Mgmt
VPNs
Discovery
Example Application
Congestion
Control
..via Variable Bandwidth Packet Links
OpenFlow Demo at SC09
Demo Video
http://www.openflowswitch.org/wk/index.php/PAC.C
Why providers want it
24
New Generation Providers Already
Buy into It
In a nutshell
– Driven by cost and control
– Started in data centers….
What New Generation Providers have been
Doing Within the Datacenters
• Buy bare metal switches
• Write their own control/management
applications on a common platform
25
Example: New Data Center
Cost
Control
200,000 servers
Fanout of 20 a 10,000 switches
$5k commercial switch a $50M
$1k custom-built switch a $10M
1. Optimize for features needed
2. Customize for services & apps
3. Quickly improve and innovate
Savings in 10 data centers = $400M
The value prop applies to enterprise and service provider networks 26
Going Forward
• They want to apply this approach to other
parts of their infrastructure
• Work together to bring this change at a
bigger scale
Another way to look at it …
“Meeting of Minds” with Providers
2. At least one good operating system
Extensible, possibly open-source
3. Well-defined open API
App
App
App
Network Operating System
1. Open interface to hardware
Simple Packet
Forwarding
Hardware
Simple Packet
Forwarding
Hardware
Simple Packet
Forwarding
Hardware
Simple Packet
Forwarding
Hardware
Simple Packet
Forwarding
Hardware
28
Consequences
• More innovation in network services
– Owners, operators, 3rd party developers, researchers
can improve the network
– E.g. energy management, data center management,
policy routing, access control, denial of service,
mobility
• Lower barrier to entry for competition
– Healthier market place with reducing Capex&OpEx
29
Ecosystem Coming Together
Role for Everyone to Contribute
• Researchers and R&E Networks
• Providers: old and new
The Value Chain
– Google, Amazon, Yahoo!, (Microsoft, Facebook),
– DT, DoCoMo, BT (Level3, Verizon, …)
• Box vendors
– Enterprise and backbone
– Packet and circuit (electronic and photonics)
– Incumbents and startups
• Chip vendors
– Broadcom, Dune, Marvell, ….
30
OpenFlow As Networking Substrate
• A platform for innovations
– Within enterprise, backbone, & data center
networks
• Providers already buy into this vision
– For their own reasons
• Opportunities
– Eco system is coming together
– Time to engage
31
Thank You!!
32