Software-Defined Network Switch Reference Design at IDF
September 11, 2013, Intel Developer Forum, San Francisco—Recep Ozdag from Intel and Gershon Schatzberg from Wind River presented a reference design for software-defined network platform switches.
Software-defined networking expands the network virtualization to network functions and enables data-control plane separation. Virtualization has driven utilization rates in datacenters to over 50 percent and has enabled large improvements in machine productivity. Virtualizing the network enables greater agility and flexibility in deploying services and optimizing operations.
The network is now considered as one big switch, which allows overlays and rapid reconfiguration. The switches are unaware of the virtual machines, and just direct the data traffic to the requested end point. Hardware acceleration can increase the point-to-point data rates and reduce overall network traffic by reducing the number of hops through tunneling aware Ethernet links.
On top of the improvements in traffic flow, a software-defined network can eliminate special function boxes by moving functions like load balancing, content filtering, and security into additional virtual machines in the network. The SDN can replace fixed function servers with standard commodity hardware and open SDN software. Finally, running applications on virtual machines allows the separation of data and controls for greater flexibility and fewer tiers in the network.
The Open Network Platform (ONP) is a SDN-optimized reference top of rack platform based on an extensible software framework. The various tools are widely supported by a full ecosystem of value contributors which include software and hardware developers, integrators, service providers, etc. The base design includes an Ethernet switch, communications platform, and a lot of Ethernet ports. There are a number of configurations for the various functions, and a roadmap to move to other configurations in the future.
The hardware is supported with Open Network Software (ONS) to abstract the data plane and provide a networking control plane protocols suite. The software supports the standard OpenFlow interfaces as well as management interfaces like XML-RPC, SNMP, and NETCONF. CLI is available for legacy compatibility. The various package and tools facilitate system-level simulations and provide unit, subsystem, and system test environments and regression suites.
The architectural components for system integration and bring-up includes drivers for flash file systems, OS bring-up, and i2c as well as infrastructure components such as SQLite, CML-RPC server engine. The tools enable platform integration and link generic objects to specific implementations. For example, enumerate all ports, sensors, and drivers in the system.
An Application Development kit allows integration of third-party apps into the ONS binary, similar to installing an app on a smart phone. The ADK includes a full development environment, tools, documentation of the system architecture and APIs, and some sample code for reference. The ADK is extensible for new protocols and features without impacting existing modules. The virtual switch is supported by a silicon adaptation layer and includes its own APIs. See www.intel.com/onp and http://www.windriver.com/announces/open-network-software/
