SDN Open source, from your world passing by

In recent years, Linux-led open source projects in the IT industry, the emergence of a lot of good open source projects. Now everyone is talking about open source, after just understand the software open source, and heard the hardware open source, as if now do not say open source is not enough bigge. So, why open source? There is also an open-source boom in the field of networking, and today we're going to go around Sdn, NFV, and what we've done with open source.

What the traditional network does
in the traditional network industry, standard-setting and vendor-specific technology implementations are not in tune. Like the IETF, these institutions define the relevant standards for networks and storage, and vendors implement their solutions accordingly, but it seems that two of normal work processes often result in compatibility issues due to the diversity of implementations (which can damage the originally defined criteria).

In order to achieve compatibility between the various black boxes, the supplier had to spend several weeks on various related projects. The engineers then open a "Plug fests" conference to test and verify the interoperability of hardware and software (which is really a very fulfilling job). But the process of establishing standards and proving operability for each new application is absolutely absurd and impractical in an era of efficiency supremacy. So why is standardizing software and hardware in the network still a common practice?

This is partly because network standardization has been going on for over 30 years. Previously, these network standards were driven by telecom use cases, and the downside risk of a failed system that had been deployed was catastrophic and therefore could not be overlooked. However, the tedious process of redefining standardization will delay the time that suppliers bring their products to market. Since the firmware is modified, the software needs to be re-tested and validated, which delays the release of the product.

Today, Linux has become the mainstream operating system for servers, but not for the network. This is due in part to the autocracy of network providers and the implementation of network applications and services, network operating systems (OSS), and black-box implementations of hardware. In traditional networks, data planes and control planes are implemented through routers and switch firmware. These two planes coordinate work, the data plane is responsible for forwarding the data flow, through some protocols (including Vxlan, GRE) to handle multiple conversations, connect and manage remote clients. The control plane is responsible for processing the signal flow, defining how the router handles incoming packets by using routing tables and implementing packet prioritization, such as QoS for differentiated services.

Conversely, the whole system is essentially a black box.

Software defined Networking (SDN) is a network solution dedicated to changing this approach. SDN separates the control plane from the data plane and implements the control plane with software, which is no longer a black box implementation. This means that network applications, network operating systems, and hardware can come from different vendors, as long as they can communicate using interfaces that are deployed on white boxes or "Brite" boxes that are mutually agreed upon. The white box switch is a ready-made commercial switch chip that contains open SDN software to run Web applications.

Well-fed Linux
as Linux enters the network operating system (standard-based x86 server), communication between the network application and the network operating system has been using the standard Linux protocol, which is open. Linux changes the network landscape as a network operating system, because applications running on Linux-enabled switches no longer require an IETF standard for interaction, like any application running on a Linux server in the datacenter.

The control plane opens the door to the fundamental innovation of cyberspace through an open interface. The new generation of Web applications was previously limited to Asics, which took several years to design and manufacture, and can now be re-conceived as a small product because the Linux switch became the mainstream operating system.

The data plane completes the functions discussed above, such as transmitting data, handling multiple conversations through some protocols, and connecting and managing remote clients. However, the data plane is still more or less constrained by Asics and firmware. The reason is that vendors that control the data plane, such as brocade and Intel, keep the interface between the network operating system and the business chip off-state or restrict access.

Although Linux as a network operating system, its development tools and libraries are widely used, but the development of Web applications is still more complex. Aside from complexity, it doesn't seem that Linux experts are working together in the global community to solve the problem. For traditional networks, developers often develop on closed-source platforms that few companies have mastered.

Traditional Web applications must be written separately for each supported network operating system. But for Linux, Web applications can be run anywhere, once they are written. Cyclic operations previously spent on platforms (such as interoperability testing) can be redirected to address long-standing network problems (subject to firmware/asics), opening up a new generation of software-based network Tools (automation, security, overlays, Fabric Managers). While traditional networks have no pan-data-centric awareness, Linux opens the door to a new generation of network virtualization solutions that leverage the power of fabric and overlay to provide network operators with full control over physical and virtual environments.

SDN are you in the dry forest?
SDN Solutions Achieve the same goals by encapsulating low-level protocols to higher levels of objects. Network virtualization solutions enable interoperability of their own virtual networks.

Cloud operators are connecting to the cloud through the following scenarios: Between two disparate systems, between two geographically dispersed data centers, between public and private clouds, and typically using standard protocols like BGP to connect to two cloud infrastructures.

Our Future pinch  
The monopoly of traditional networks is about to be disrupted by suppliers and replaced by more flexible and innovative software. Switches running Linux will resolve legacy firmware/asics issues. New entrants use open source and commodity components to make it easier for end users to gain market share. The transition from a traditional standard to a decoupling model is ultimately a win for both end users and the industry as a whole.

This article is reproduced from: Sdnlab , the original link: http://www.sdnlab.com/13048.html

SDN Open source, from your world passing by