We have all heard about the Cloud and, in general, we understand its advantages and disadvantages. But what really happens behind the curtains?
More recently, the concept of Software-Defined Networks (SDN) began to interlace with the Cloud, especially on its IaaS strand (Infrastructure as a Service), for providing computer networks as a service, either as an end in itself or as a means for supplying other resources to be consumed (e.g. virtual machines or network functions).
Especially, but not exclusively, in the telecommunications operators sector, another concept emerged: Network Functions Virtualization (NFV).
NFV allows the use of Cloud, SDN and modern virtualization technologies in order to execute and manage services and network functions in standard servers, increasing homogeneity in data centers and reducing maintenance and operational costs.
At the end of this presentation, the audience will get to know the basics of these three concepts and some examples from the real world. They will know about the the present and a possible future.
2. A little bit about my journey so far
• Computer and Telematics Engineering (MSc) student at the University of Aveiro
• “Part-time” Researcher at IEETA: Human-Computer Interaction
• Android app Wrkout developer and designer
• MSc dissertation at Instituto de Telecomunicações: Cloud/SDN
• Researcher at Instituto de Telecomunicações: NFV
• Software Engineer at Intel: NFV
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3. Cloud, SDN, NFV
• Three big subjects in a single presentation? Hmm…
• I will give you just enough context and pointers
• So you can become an expert on your own time
• Let’s start!
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4. Cloud
• Who talks about Cloud anymore?
4Google Trends for “cloud” [1]
5. Cloud
• Who talks about Cloud anymore?
5Google Trends for “cloud computing” [2]
6. Cloud
• Mature and mainstream technology
• But still being improved over time
• Is being applied to more diverse use cases
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7. Cloud
• The official definition of Cloud Computing from NIST has the following
essential characteristics [3]:
• On-demand self-service
• Broad network access
• Resource pooling
• Rapid elasticity
• Measured service
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8. Cloud
• Recognized possible Service Models in Cloud Computing [3]:
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS):
• OpenStack (open-source project umbrella)
• Amazon AWS (closed-source public cloud)
• Microsoft Azure (closed-source public cloud)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) [4]
• OpenShift Origin (open-source project)
• Cloud Foundry (open-source project)
• Amazon AWS Elastic Beanstalk (closed-source public cloud)
• Microsoft Azure Web Sites (closed-source public cloud)
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• G Suite by Google Cloud (closed-source public cloud)
• Oh, so many others!
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10. Cloud – OpenStack
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• Started around 2010 as a joint project of Rackspace and NASA
• Open-source project umbrella: dozens of official projects today
• Initially used only in private clouds, it now powers public clouds, small
to large enterprises, banks or research centers, and even partly telcos
[5];
11. Cloud – OpenStack
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• Three main pillars of resources:
Get more information at the OpenStack Software Overview [6]
18. SDN
• Some form of SDN has been around for a long time
• SDN game-changers from 2008/2009:
• OpenFlow [10]
• Martin Casado et. al work [11][12]
• Core idea: Decouple the control plane from the data plane
• Thus express the intended state of your network in a centralized way
• The latest OpenFlow specification, 1.5.1, is available at [13]
• The SDN Architecture from ONF is available at [14]
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21. SDN – OpenDaylight
• The most proliferated SDN Controller available
• Open-source project
• Includes many different sub-projects, for different purposes and use-cases
[16]
• Supports many different “southbound” protocols, such as:
• OpenFlow
• OVSDB
• OpFlex
• LISP
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24. SDN – Open vSwitch
• Production quality, multilayer virtual switch
• Open-source project
• OpenFlow protocol support
• The most widely used networking backend in OpenStack (Neutron) [5]
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27. NFV
• The term was coined in 2012, with the introductory paper on NFV [18]
• The main objective is to replace custom network functions with highly
virtualized functions that can be run in standard high-volume servers
• Benefits include [18]:
• Reduced costs
• Shorter Time to Market
• Resource sharing
• Flexible service targeting
• Enables new eco-systems of participation and development
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29. NFV
• Projects directly or indirectly related to NFV:
• OSM
• OPEN-O
• OPNFV
• ONP
• DPDK
• FD.io
• collectd
• OpenStack
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30. NFV
Use cases [21]:
• Use Case #1: Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure as a Service
• Use Case #2: Virtual Network Function as a Service (VNFaaS)
• Use Case #3: Virtual Network Platform as a Service (VNPaaS)
• Use Case #4: VNF Forwarding Graphs
• Use Case #5: Virtualization of Mobile Core Network and IMS
• Use Case #6 :Virtualization of the Mobile Base Station
• Use Case #7: Virtualization of the Home Environment
• Use Case #8: Virtualization of CDNs (vCDN)
• Use Case #9: Fixed Access Network Functions Virtualization
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31. Cloud, SDN, NFV
• Even though they define different scopes, criteria and objectives
• They also relate to each other in many different ways
• An example of where we can identify the three subjects:
• ETSI NFV use case #4 (VNF Forwarding Graphs) can be leveraged using Service
Function Chaining (SFC), implemented using SDN and made available for
consumption in an OpenStack Cloud (itself ETSI NFV use case #1).
• To learn more about SFCs in OpenStack, check [23] and [24].
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32. Cloud, SDN, NFV – Where to start?
No single best formula - but here’s my advice:
• Start by installing and breaking ONP and OpenStack
• Choose Open vSwitch as the networking backend, and break it too
• Understand the promise of NFV in more detail by reading official
specifications [19,20,21] and installing/breaking relevant projects
• Be curious: read the code (and hack it), code reviews, comments, mailing list
discussions – you will never be stuck waiting for more knowledge
• Consider active participation, which may include proactively reaching out to
your mentors or professors in order to get involved in something worthwhile
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33. Need more knowledge?
• Intel® Developer Zone [25]
• Intel® Cloud Builders University [26]
• Intel® Network Builders University [27]
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34. References (1)
• [1] Google Trends for “cloud”, https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=2006-09-28%202016-10-28&q=cloud
• [2] Google Trends for “cloud computing”, https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=2006-09-28%202016-10-
28&q=cloud%20computing
• [3] The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing (Special Publication 800-145),
http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication800-145.pdf
• [4] Ref containing the list of PaaS, from Intel TODOs
• [5] OpenStack User Survey – April 2016, https://www.openstack.org/assets/survey/April-2016-User-Survey-Report.pdf
• [6] OpenStack Software Overview, https://www.openstack.org/software/
• [7] OpenStack Project Navigator, https://www.openstack.org/software/project-navigator/
• [8] OpenStack Foundation YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/OpenStackFoundation
• [9] Google Trends for “software-defined networking”: https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=2006-09-28%202016-10-
28&q=software-defined%20networking
• [10] OpenFlow: Enabling Innovation in Campus Networks, http://archive.openflow.org/documents/openflow-wp-latest.pdf
• [11] FlowVisor: A Network Virtualization Layer, http://archive.openflow.org/downloads/technicalreports/openflow-tr-2009-1-
flowvisor.pdf
• [12] Martin Casado’s publications, http://yuba.stanford.edu/~casado/publications.html
• [13] OpenFlow Switch Specification Version 1.5.1, https://www.opennetworking.org/images/stories/downloads/sdn-resources/onf-
specifications/openflow/openflow-switch-v1.5.1.pdf
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35. References (2)
• [14] SDN Architecture, https://www.opennetworking.org/images/stories/downloads/sdn-resources/technical-
reports/TR_SDN_ARCH_1.0_06062014.pdf
• [15] OVN: Open Virtual Network for Open vSwitch, http://openvswitch.org/support/slides/OVN-Vancouver.pdf
• [16] OpenDaylight Project list, https://wiki.opendaylight.org/view/Project_list
• [17] Google Trends for “network functions virtualization”: https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=2011-09-28%202016-10-
28&q=network%20functions%20virtualization
• [18] Network Functions Virtualisation, https://portal.etsi.org/NFV/NFV_White_Paper.pdf
• [19] Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) Architectural Framework (GS NFV 002 - V1.2.1),
http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/nfv/001_099/002/01.02.01_60/gs_nfv002v010201p.pdf
• [20] Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) Management and Orchestration (GS NFV-MAN 001 - V1.1.1),
http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/NFV-MAN/001_099/001/01.01.01_60/gs_nfv-man001v010101p.pdf
• [21] Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) Use Cases (GS NFV 001 V1.1.1),
http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/nfv/001_099/001/01.01.01_60/gs_nfv001v010101p.pdf
• [22] IETF SFC WG documents, https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/sfc/documents/
• [23] Wiki page for openstack/networking-sfc, https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/Neutron/ServiceInsertionAndChaining
• [24] Empower your NFV Services through Service Function Chaining and SFC Graphs,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PnZiFRPLWE
• [25] Intel® Developer Zone, https://software.intel.com
• [26] Intel® Cloud Builders University, https://builders.intel.com/university/cloudbuilders
• [27] Intel® Network Builders University, https://builders.intel.com/university/networkbuilders
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36. Thank you,
let me know your questions!
Or simply find me online as igordcard.