Nicira network virtualization architecture: Is it the online version of VMware? (2)

Nicira network virtualization architecture: Is it the online version of VMware? 1) It introduces network virtualization released by Nicira this month, and its relationship with OpenFlow. This article will continue to introduce how Nicira abstracts physical networks? Major customers of Nicira network virtualization.

How do you abstract a physical network? Is OpenFlow used?

Casado: A group of servers are used as controllers for these edge devices-Open vswitches or top-level rack switches. This communication is implemented through OpenFlow. Since Open vSwitch is developed by ourselves, it has nothing to do with OpenFlow. It may adopt other protocols, but the customer will not feel the difference during the period.

The key to this new view is smart EDGE networks. We correspond this virtual network view to the physical network view. When data packets leave the virtual machine, we query the virtual network, map them to the physical network, and then send the data packets to the physical network. Then, it is transmitted from the physical network to the virtual network for more processing.

It works very similar to the Virtual Machine Management Program on the server. It manages virtual address spaces and maps them to physical address spaces. However, we manage these virtual network address spaces and map them to the physical address spaces at the edge of the network in real time.

In an IT organization, who are your customers? Network architect or virtualization administrator?

Casado: We mainly target cloud architects. Cloud architects understand the importance of networks in cloud architecture. We are also working with some network architects who are indeed very forward-looking.

Cohen: We found that some service providers are already using cloud computing, and many companies are planning to apply Cloud Technologies. There are various types of technical teams, as long as they are related personnel with server virtualization technology and storage and network experience. However, at the enterprise level, it is still in the initial stage. In the future, more and more people will begin to transform their infrastructure teams into such cloud teams. They will break the existing technical isolated islands, such as "I Am a server engineer, I am a storage engineer, and I am a network engineer ".

Do you need to establish cooperation with network hardware suppliers?

Casado: We don't need it. This will be two different problem areas. In the end, Microsoft and VMware will launch similar methods. Network hardware will truly become the foundation and a structure. This structure must be competitive in terms of price, QoS, scalability, and latency. In the market, it provides features such as resource allocation, security policies, QoS policies, and isolation, which are completely different from those of virtual networks.

As long as there are still some virtualization hardware, it is not the real virtualization. In the past, virtualization had to be separated from virtualization hardware due to its features. In my opinion, the hardware must change and become more suitable for virtualization, just as Intel's Hardware has changed for VMware, I think there is no need to establish a close relationship between network virtualization companies and hardware companies.

You have published some important customers such as AT&T, Rackspace, Fidelity, eBay, and NTT ). What is the scale of their solutions?

Casado: I cannot disclose specific figures because this is the customer's secret. However, I can tell you that it involves hundreds of services and thousands of virtual machines. The scale of applications is not one or two racks, but hundreds of thousands of servers.

Do you pay special attention to the cloud provider network? At present, which enterprises need such abstraction and control?

Casado: I think the focus is on Virtualization, not cloud. People generally accept the concept of server virtualization, that is, virtualization of your server, and then to a certain extent to achieve operational flexibility and vendor autonomy. But the reality is that after you perform server virtualization, you can only get limited operation flexibility and vendor autonomy, especially for the network. Our main focus is on Virtualized data centers, but not limited to cloud models. The value lies in the ability to open up all the potential of server virtualization.

Cohen: because we have software models, customers do not need to buy large devices. We can start with an enterprise. The question is: Do enterprises recognize such needs and problems? The question is not whether enterprises accept such value positioning, but whether they are in the maturity of virtualization.