Nicira network virtualization architecture: Is it the online version of VMware? (1)

This month, Nicira Networks suddenly released a new network virtualization architecture and software, announcing the success of copying VMware in the server field. The company has been carefully planning its own development. After four years of operation, it not only released a network virtualization platform, but also published the names of several mainstream companies that have deployed their network virtualization architecture in the production environment, including AT&T, Rackspace, eBay, NTT, and Fidelity. In this article, Nicira CTO and co-founder Martin Casado and sales Vice President Alan S. Cohen introduced the company's network virtualization architecture.

Nicira Networks positions itself as a network virtualization company. What is your definition of network virtualization?

Martin Casado: in my opinion, network virtualization includes three components. In the virtualization process, the final result must conform to the initial idea. In a virtualized network, the final solution must be able to provide a network similar to the original network; otherwise, it will have an impact on the workload in this new field.

During x86 server virtualization, the operating system does not know that it is running on a non-physical host. Network virtualization requires the establishment of a logical network on the physical network, and it has the same performance as the physical network.

The second part is that the management of the Logical Network and the physical network must be implemented programmatically. In server virtualization, the server virtualizes computing, storage, and memory. If any changes or new virtual machines occur within the server, all deployments must be completed automatically. The same is true for network virtualization. You need to create Logical Networks, port them to virtual machines, and automatically complete all deployment and modification when the environment changes.

The last part is that network virtualization must be compatible with all hardware. It should support all vendors. Virtualization must be coupled, And the decoupling process must be independent of the underlying hardware. Network virtualization only creates a logical network view and maps it to the physical view.

Alan S. Cohen: When people talk about other methods, such as OpenFlow, they still mean hardware. Network virtualization is different from OpenFlow.

What is Nicira's Distributed Virtual Network Infrastructure DVNI? What are the similarities and differences between it and other network virtualization architecture software-defined networks?

Casado: A Software Defined network is just a common example, that is, control and data separation. You can use this method to run a backbone grid or wireless network. The Software Defined network and network virtualization are different. It is just a way to create a network.

DVNI is a network virtualization solution. Its intelligent part is located at the edge of the network. It is controlled through a Software Defined network, allowing you to create a logical network completely independent of the hardware. OpenFlow solutions are also trying to simulate the same thing, but they must use OpenFlow hardware. We do not require you to change the existing hardware or upgrade the hardware. In addition, even if you want to upgrade, you do not need to use an OpenFlow-compatible design. It can be OpenFlow or not.

Another obvious difference is that we introduced a new address space, which means that our logical network is very similar to the physical network. Even if the physical network is a layer-3 network, we can implement a layer-2 network for you. If it is a L2 network, we can also implement a l3 network for you. We are not bound by physical networks.

Currently, most network virtualization solutions do not provide virtual networks. They only provide the subnet of the existing network, that is, the so-called "slice" technology. VLANs are part of the Slicing Technology-they use existing networks to provide you with a portion of the network.

A VLAN can only provide you with a small part of the network. Instead of providing you with only a part of the network, we provide you with a complete new network and will fully comply with your requirements. If you use an IPv4 infrastructure, your virtual machine cannot send IPv6 traffic. You cannot change the Logical Network view or physical network.

However, through our method, even if you deploy an IPv4 infrastructure, we allow virtual machines to use IPv6. We introduced a brand new network.

Can you go into more detail on the Edge intelligence of network virtualization architecture?

Casado: Nicira is the main promoter of Open vSwitch. This kind of intelligence can be either in the Open vSwitch of the server or in the top-level rack. In this release, it is located in Open vSwitch. on the server, we deployed Open vSwitch, which supports Xen, KVM, and VMware. The Open vSwitch is managed by the Controller. A group of L2 and L3 networks can be created between the physical network and the Server Virtual Machine hypervisor. In this way, we can create a virtual network that allows us to run any type of virtual machines on any hardware.

What can the Nicira network virtualization platform actually do?

Casado: DVNI is a common architecture method that enables you to achieve Edge intelligence. The Network virtualization platform is a product; it is an instance for implementing DVNI.

This article describes network virtualization released by Nicira this month. Its relationship with OpenFlow is: Is Nicira a network virtualization architecture of VMware online? 2) I will continue to explain how Nicira abstracts physical networks? Major customers of Nicira network virtualization.