OpenFlow, SDN, and NFV

OpenFlow

• An open standard to innovative protocols in production networks
  • provides a standardized hook to allow us to run experiments, without requiring vendors(供应商) to expose the internal workings of their network devices
• The standard communications interface defined between the control and forwarding(转发) layers of an Software-Defined-Network (SDN) architecture

The Evolution

OpenFlow Architecture

• Separate datapath and control path
• Programmability(可编程)
  • Enable innovation/differentiation
  • Accelerate new features and services introduction
• Abstraction
  • Decouple: Hardware & Software
  • Control plane & forwarding,
  • Physical & logical configuration
• Centralized Intelligence

General Misconceptions

• SDN is:
  • OpenFlow?
  • Standard southbound API?
  • Centralization of control plane?
  • Separation of control and data plane?
• Is sdn a mechanism?
• In reality, SDN is a framework to solve a set of problems while OpenFlow is an open API that provides a standard interface for programming the data plane switches.

What is SDN?

• Centralization of control of the network via,
• Separation of control logic to off-device compute, that
• Enables automation and orchestration of network services via,
• Open programmatic interfaces.

SDN Benefits

• Efficiency
  • optimize existing applications, services and infrastructure
• Scalability(可扩展性)
  • rapidly grow existing applications and services
• Innovation
  • create and deliver new types of applications and services and business models

Why do we need SDN?

• Network virtualization (datacenter and cloud)
• Orchestration (cloud)
• Programmable (enterprise)
• Dynamic scaling (cloud)
• Automation – (datacenter and cloud)

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• Visibility - monitor resources, connectivity
• Performance (datacenter and cloud)
• Multi-tenancy (data center and cloud)
• Service integration (Enterprise)

Network Function Virtualization (NFV)

• Decouples functions like a firewall or encryption from dedicated hardware and moves the function to virtual servers.
• Refers to the strategy of virtualizing network functions moving from separate proprietary(所有权) pieces of hardware to software running on virtual servers using standard hardware.

NFV Innovations

NFV and SDN Relationship

• Concept of NFV originated from SDN
• NFV and SDN are complementary(补充)
• Both have similar goals but different approaches
• Virtualization alone provides many of the required feature for both NFV and SDN