Contrail is an open source software defined networking (SDN) solution from Juniper Networks that provides both a virtual network controller and the ability to configure physical network hardware. It runs on commodity x86 servers, with at least three servers needed for the Contrail controllers and two or more additional servers for the data plane. Contrail can be used to create, modify and manage virtual networks for OpenStack or VMware, as well as control physical top-of-rack switches and other devices.

1. Software Defined Networking
That Works
featuringContrail from Juniper Networks
Episode 1 – Contrail Basics
Dave Unger, Sr. Solutions Architect
BlueChipTek, Inc.
dunger@bluechiptek.com / @bctdaveu

2. Episode 1 – Contrail Basics
• What Contrail is
• Where Contrail fits into data center
networks
• What you can do with Contrail

3. What Contrail Is
• Software
• OpenContrail
– Open Source
– Apache 2.0 license
• Contrail Networking and Contrail Cloud
– Commercial packages distributed by Juniper

4. Where Contrail Fits In
• Runs on commodity x86 servers
• At least one virtual machine or physical server
• Typically three servers for Contrail controllers,
a.k.a. network control plane
• Two or more other servers for data plane
• At least five servers total for a small production
deployment

5. What Contrail Is
• Virtual Networking Controller
– Control plane and data plane for virtual
networks
– Configuration tool managing physical network
hardware
– Or both

6. Virtual Networks
• OpenStack or Vmware
• Contrail controller servers are control plane
• Contrail vrouters on hypervisor hosts are data
plane

7. Virtual Networks – Contrail Competitors
OpenStack
• Neutron
• VMware NSX
• PlumGRID IO Visor
• Midokura MidoNet
VMware
• dvswitch
• VMware NSX
• PlumGRID IO Visor
• Midokura MidoNet

8. Virtual Networks
• Basic functionality
– Create, modify and tear down networks
– Control how virtual machines communicate over virtual
networks
• Advanced functionality
– Enable complex environments to be spun up or down
– LBaaS, NAT, firewall services, packet capture, etc.

9. Physical Networks
• Control ToR switches using OVSDB protocol
– Load balancers, firewalls, IPS, network taps
– NAS, block or object storage
– Physical servers
• Databases (Oracle, MySQL, MongoDB)
– Anything outside of the virtual environment

10. Recap
• Contrail is software. OpenContrail is Open Source.
Contrail Networking and Contrail Cloud are
commercial distributions.
• Contrail runs on commodity x86 servers. You need at
least five servers for a small, production environment.
• Contrail powers virtual networks. It can also manage
the configurations of physical ToR switches.

11. Thanks for watching
Dave Unger, Sr. Solutions Architect
dunger@bluechiptek.com / @bctdaveu
or
bct-sales@bluechiptek.com / @BlueChipTek
Download these slides from
http://www.slideshare.net/bctmarketing/contrail-basics