1. Thesis presentation February-July 2014
SDN-OpenFlow interface for OPS nodes enabling intra-Data Centre network virtualization
Thesis presentation
February-July 2014
Author: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Supervisors – Nicola Calabretta and Salvatore Spadaro
Assistant Supervisors – Miao Wang and Fernando Agraz
Alejandro Ferrer Delgado

2. DCN - Data Centre Networks
Requirements
Flexibility - Scalability
Programmability - Low-complexity
Granularity - Automation
Traditional data centre network architecture
Ref: Figure 2.1 Traditional data centre network architecture (p11)
Reference: Based on Lightness Architecture Design Deliverable D2.2 Figure 2.1 Traditional data centre network architecture (p11)
Electrical Engineering - ECO

3. Network virtualization
Create virtual networks decoupled from underlying hardware
Provide a logical abstraction of hardware/network resources
This allows:
Network devices only responsible for forwarding packets
Easier deployment/management of services & resources
Increased flexibility and sharing of resources
Network virtualization consists of instantiating many distinct logical networks on top of a single, shared, physical network infrastructure so that, at the end, the abstraction of the network is decoupled from the underlying physical equipment.
NV: creates logical, virtual networks decoupled from the underlying network hardware to ensure the network can better integrate with and support increasingly virtual environments
Electrical Engineering - ECO

4. SDN – Highlights Control and forwarding functions are separated
Decouple Control functions from network devices.
Multiple devices controlled by one entity
This allows:
Centralized network intelligence in Software Controllers
Programmability through Open Interfaces to:
High level Applications
Physical or Virtual Network elements
Abstraction of network state, elements & resources
Electrical Engineering - ECO

5. OpenFlow Protocol Protocol for communicating the control plane
and the data plane switches of a SDN
The basic transport unit: Flows
Not (only) packets Not (only) circuits BOTH
OpenFlow Switch specifications
The first release with optical support: v1.4
Latest release: v1.3.4
The OpenFlow Standard is the first open standard communications interface defined between the control and forwarding layers of an SDN architecture. The OpenFlow Standard allows direct access to and manipulation of the forwarding plane of network devices such as switches, both physical and virtual
A flow can be defined as any combination of L2,L3 and L4 packet header, as well as L1/L0 circuit flows.
When we use the abstraction of a flow in a packet switched network, we effectively blur the distinction
between packets and circuits and regard them both simply as flows in a flow switched network.
Note: It’s possible to implement SDN with a protocol different to OpenFlow. In other words; OF means SDN, but SDN doesn’t necessarily imply OF
Ref: OpenFlow switch specification v1.3.3 (P8) Sept 2013
Reference: OpenFlow switch specification v (P8) Sept 2013
Electrical Engineering - ECO

6. OPS-OCS hybrid DCN: EU Lightness Project
App Layer
NorthBound Interface
Control Layer
SouthBound Interface
Infrastructure Layer
REF: Figure 2.3: Overall LIGHTNESS DCN architecture ( p20)
Deliverable D2.2
Design document for the proposed network architecture
Due date: 31/07/2013
Submission date: 13/09/2013
Reference: Based on Lightness Architecture Design Deliverable D2.2 Figure 2.3: Overall LIGHTNESS DCN architecture ( p20)
Electrical Engineering - ECO

7. Objective of this Thesis1
How to abstract the OPS? 2
How to programmatically control the OPS? 3
How to implement the OpenFlow communication? 4
How to convert OpenFlow messages into OPS instructions?
Fig. 2: Control architecture (P2)
Experimental Assessment of an SDN-based Control of OPS
Switching Nodes for Intra-Data Center Interconnect
F. Agraz(1), W. Miao(2), A. Ferrer(1),(2), G. Bernini(3), H.J.S. Dorren(2), N. Calabretta(2), N. Ciulli(3),J. Perelló(1), S. Peng(4), G. Zervas(4), D. Simeonidou(4), G. Junyent(1), S. Spadaro(1)
(1)Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
(2)Eindhoven University of Technology
(3)Nextworks,(4)University of Bristol
Reference: Experimental Assessment of an SDN-based Control of OPS Switching Nodes for Intra-Data Center Interconnect
Authors: S.Spadaro, F.Agraz, N.Calabretta, W.Miao, A.Ferrer et al.
Electrical Engineering - ECO

8. Abstraction of the OPS: Information Model
Challenge 1
Abstraction of the OPS: Information Model
Electrical Engineering - ECO

9. Challenge 1: OPS node Resources mapped: Number of Modules
Number of Input Ports
Number of Wavelengths
Number of OutPut Ports
Switching Matrix
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

10. Challenge 1: FPGA Resources managed by the FPGA Purpose Look-Up Table
Flows assigned
Counters
Per Port Counters
Per Flow Counters
Purpose
Perform forwarding decisions for the OPS according to them
User FPGA
PCI interface
USB port
Electrical Engineering - ECO

11. Challenge 1: Information Model
Every OPS has 1+ Modules
Every Module has
1 LUT
1 InputPorts
1+ Wavelength
1+ OutputPorts
The LUT has a set capacity
Every Wavelength can be assigned - 0 to 4 flows
Every flow has associated 2 counters:
- # packets Rx
- # packets ReTx
Define which capabilities of the OPS need to be visible for the Control plane
Define which capabilities of the OPS need to be visible for the Agent
Decide how to abstract and organize them
Define a method to store and manage it (XML file)
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

12. Control the OPS Programmatically
Challenge 2
Control the OPS Programmatically
Electrical Engineering - ECO

13. Challenge 2: Cagent
Software to programmatically interact with the FPGA
written in C
Using the FPGA libraries
Connected through USB
Uses the Information Model
C Agent
Information Model
The Modules will be discussed in the following slides.
The interfaces:
TLS – (Transport Layer Security, over TCP) The actual OpenFlow Channel
UDP socket – allows the communication between a program written in Java and another written in C without using JNI, JNA, JNAerator, BridJ,…
- It’s not the FASTEST solution (performance-wise), but it’s the fastest, simplest and most adaptable to develop.
USB – Allows the control of the FPGA through the use of the libraries and .dll provided by the board manufacturer
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

14. Implement the OpenFlow Channel
Challenge 3
Implement the OpenFlow Channel
Electrical Engineering - ECO

15. OpenDaylight Controller
Challenge 3: JavaAgent
OpenDaylight Controller
OpenFlow Protocol 1.0*
Software to communicate with the Controller through the OpenFlow Protocol
Written in Java
Define OpenFlow protocol extensions for Optical Packet Switching
Controller: OpenDaylight
Uses the Information Model
Information Model
Java Agent
OF - Agent
Note: We used the Base edition, but the Virtualization edition would fit more for a DCN
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

16. Interconnect the Cagent with the JavaAgent
Challenge 4
Interconnect the Cagent with the JavaAgent
Electrical Engineering - ECO

17. Challenge 4: The Agent Communicate the C program with the Java program
Information Model
Communicate the C program
with the Java program
[] JNI, JNA, BridJ,...
[] UDP loopback socket
Define an appropriate protocol for this interface
This allows:
Both programs united into a single Agent
Full connectivity Controller-Agent-OPS ?
The Modules will be discussed in the following slides.
The interfaces:
TLS – (Transport Layer Security, over TCP) The actual OpenFlow Channel
UDP socket – allows the communication between a program written in Java and another written in C without using JNI, JNA, JNAerator, BridJ,…
- It’s not the FASTEST solution (performance-wise), but it’s the fastest, simplest and most adaptable to develop.
USB – Allows the control of the FPGA through the use of the libraries and .dll provided by the board manufacturer
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

18. OPS-Controller Interface
Information Model
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

19. Experimental Validation
Demo 1 – Control Validation Demo 2 – Use Case: Virtual Slices Demo 3 – Scalability Validation
Electrical Engineering - ECO

20. DEMO 1: Control Validation
Information Model
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

21. DEMO 2: Use Case: Virtual Slices
Reference: Demonstration of Reconfigurable Virtual Data Centre Networks Enabled by OPS with QoS Guarantees
Authors: W.Miao, N.Calabretta, S.Spadaro, F.Agraz, A.Ferrer et al.
Electrical Engineering - ECO

22. DEMO 3: Scalability Validation
OpenDaylight Controller
OpenFlow Protocol 1.0*
Information Model
Socket UDP
Java Agent
C Agent
OF - Agent
Socket UDP
Java Agent
C Agent
OF - Agent
Socket UDP
Java Agent
C Agent
OF - Agent
Socket UDP
Java Agent
C Agent
OF - Agent
USB v1.1
USB v1.1
USB v1.1
USB v1.1
FPGAn
OPS1
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS2
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS3
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS4
FPGA1 …
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

23. DEMO 3: Scalability Validation
OpenDaylight Controller
OpenFlow Protocol 1.0*
Information Model
Socket UDP
Java Agent
C Agent
OF - Agent
Java Agent
OF - Agent
Java Agent
OF - Agent
Java Agent
OF - Agent
USB v1.1
OPS1
FPGA1
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

24. Conclusion Conclusion:
Created an agent that interfaces the Control Plane with an OPS node through the OpenFlow Protocol for its use in Data Centre Networks
Information Model
Publications
W. Miao et al “Demonstration of Reconfigurable Virtual Data Centre Networks Enabled by OPS with QoS Guarantees”
ECOC 2014
S. Spadaro et al. “Experimental Assessment of an SDN-based Control of OPS Switching Nodes for Intra-Data Centre Interconnect”
Awards
Best Booth Award – Lightness Project booth
EuCNC 2014
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

25. Back-Up Slides Back-up Slides Back-up slides just in case
Electrical Engineering - ECO

26. OPS-OCS hybrid DCN: EU Lightness Project
App Layer
NorthBound Interface
Control Layer
SouthBound Interface
Infrastructure Layer
REF: Figure 2.3: Overall LIGHTNESS DCN architecture ( p20)
Deliverable D2.2
Design document for the proposed network architecture
Due date: 31/07/2013
Submission date: 13/09/2013
Reference: Based on Lightness Architecture Design Deliverable D2.2 Figure 2.3: Overall LIGHTNESS DCN architecture ( p20)
Electrical Engineering - ECO

27. ODL Controller: Internal Blocks
Reference: Hydrogen Base Edition
Electrical Engineering - ECO

28. OPS-Controller Interface: OPS node 6x9
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

29. EXTRA: Extended Architecture [x]
OpenDaylight Controller
OpenFlow Protocol 1.0*
Socket UDP
Java Agent
C Agent
OF - Agent
An Agent controls several different OPS nodes at once.
[x] ChokePoints (SEVERAL)
[X] The USB link is slow and transforms the Cagent into a terrible chokepoint. (The Cagent can only read/write in/from 1 FPGA at a time)
[X] Each Ofswitch should have its own Ofchannel to the controller
USB v1.1
FPGAn
OPS1
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS2
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS3
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS4
FPGA1 …
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

30. EXTRA: Extended Architecture [x]
OpenDaylight Controller
OpenFlow Protocol 1.0*
An Agent controls several different OPS nodes at once.
Java Agent
C Agent
Sockets UDP
[X] The USB link is slow and transforms the Cagent into a terrible chokepoint. (The Cagent can only read/write in/from 1 FPGA at a time)
OF - Agent
USB v1.1
FPGAn
OPS1
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS2
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS3
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS4
FPGA1 …
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

31. EXTRA: Extended Architecture [x]
OpenDaylight Controller
OpenFlow Protocol 1.0*
An Agent controls several different OPS nodes at once.
Java Agent
Sockets UDP
C Agent
OF - Agent
[X] Each Ofswitch should have its own Ofchannel to the controller
USB v1.1
USB v1.1
USB v1.1
USB v1.1
FPGAn
OPS1
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS2
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS3
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS4
FPGA1 …
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO

32. EXTRA: Extended Architecture []
OpenDaylight Controller
OpenFlow Protocol 1.0*
Socket UDP
Java Agent
C Agent
OF - Agent
Socket UDP
Java Agent
C Agent
OF - Agent
Socket UDP
Java Agent
C Agent
OF - Agent
Socket UDP
Java Agent
C Agent
OF - Agent
This is how it should be done
USB v1.1
USB v1.1
USB v1.1
USB v1.1
FPGAn
OPS1
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS2
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS3
FPGA1 …
FPGAn
OPS4
FPGA1 …
Reference: Alejandro Ferrer Delgado
Electrical Engineering - ECO