btNOG 9 presentation Introduction to Software Defined Networking

Editor's Notes

• #3: Overview We will start with a look at how routers have evolved and the conditions that resulted in the emergence of SDN. We will touch on the Stanford Clean Slate project and in particular, the development of OpenFlow. We will look at the different SDN architectures that are being adopted now together with key use cases. We will also touch on the SDOs (Standards Development Organisations) that are involved in SDN standardisation efforts and the two key open source SDN projects. Finally, we will briefly discuss how SDN differs from NFV.
• #4: Routers When we look at routers today, we can still say that the fundamental role of routers has not changed since the IMP (interface message processor) of the ARPANET. They have two key responsibilities: To determine network paths (routes). A number of routing protocols, both internal and external, are available today to perform this function. To forward packets along the paths they have determined. In short, the basic elementary function of routers (and switches) has not changed much since the inception of data networking.
• #6: Clean Slate Project (1) The Clean Slate Project was an initiative of researchers at the Stanford University that was started around 2016. The program stemmed from the belief that the current Internet has significant deficiencies that need to be solved before it can become a unified global communications infrastructure. There was a further belief that the Internet’s shortcomings will not be resolved by the conventional incremental and “backward-compatible” style of academic and industrial networking research. The program focused on unconventional, bold, and long-term research that tried to break what the researchers called the network’s ossification. The research program was characterized by two research questions: “With what we know today, if we were to start again with a clean slate, how would we design a global communications infrastructure?”, and “How should the Internet look in 15 years?” The intent was to measure their success in the long-term: They intended to look back in 15 years time and see significant impact from the program. The mission of the project was to “re-invent the internet”. It’s significant that this work came out of the research community and not operators or vendors. References: http://www.tropicalcoder.com/CleanSlateWhitepaperV2.pdf http://cleanslate.stanford.edu/index.php
• #7: Clean Slate Project (2) One of the flagship projects within the Clean Slate initiative was ‘Internet Infrastructure: OpenFlow and Software Defined Networking’. The output of this activity was the seminal paper: “Openflow: Enabling Innovation in Campus Networks”. This work kicked off the SDN movement and the networking world would never be the same again. References: http://archive.openflow.org/documents/openflow-wp-latest.pdf
• #8: OpenFlow: The Solution (1) At this point, it’s important to make a clear distinction between the control plane and data plane. As we stated earlier, a router has two basic functions: To determine network paths (routes). A number of routing protocols and algorithms are used today to calculate forwarding paths. This is the control plane. To forward packets along the paths they have determined. The control plane programs paths it has calculated into the forwarding or data plane. The function of the data plane is to actually forward packets according to these rules. To address the question of how to run experimental protocols on live networks, the solution that the OpenFlow research team came up with was to: Completely remove the control plane from Ethernet switches and move it to an external controller To abstract the forwarding plane on switches as a flow table so that all switches appeared similar from a forwarding perspective. This was important because forwarding tables are very hardware-dependent. To use a standardised interface (OpenFlow on-wire protocol) over a secure channel that allows the controller to manipulate entries in the flow table of the switch It’s interesting to note that router vendors had done this very thing (data and control plane separation) a long time ago with physically separate control cards + line cards, albeit in a proprietary way.
• #9: OpenFlow: How it works (1) In an OpenFlow network, the OpenFlow controller is responsible for adding flows to the flow table and also deleting and modifying them. There are a few approaches to doing so: Reactive: flows are added as packets for new flows are detected Proactive: flows are based on advanced knowledge of flows and their requirements Hybrid: a combination of the above The flow table on the switch has a number of entries with the following structure: Header fields: the set packet header fields to match on. Specific header files can be ignored by using wildcards Actions: a number of actions are possible: Forward to an output port Send to the controller Drop Set header fields Etc Counters: Count packet statistics on a per-flow basis When a packet enters the switch, its header is parsed and the header fields are looked up in the flow tables. If there is a match, the set of actions associated with the flow entry are executed. If there is no entry, the packet is sent to the controller so that it can determine what to do with the new flow.
• #10: Defining SDN SDN has been one of the most hyped concepts in the history of networking. The original definition of SDN was one that is still promoted by the Open Networking Foundation (ONF): it defines it as ‘The physical separation of the network control plane from the forwarding plane, and where a control plane controls several devices’. This definition is now too narrow to describe what SDN represents. The term SDN itself has been overloaded (almost abused) to mean many things, some of which have no relation to what it originally stood for. Vendors have been quick to attribute this term to any capability that involves software, automation or programmability. In fact, there is some contention that the term SDN is now meaningless from the perspective of clearly defining a function. For our purposes, we define SDN as: A new approach to networking that provides greater network agility and flexibility by: Automation through enhanced programmability and open interfaces Dis-aggregation and abstraction Centralisation of network control with real-time network visibiity By agility, we mean the ability to react faster to network events and to roll out new services quicker. By dis-aggregation, we mean the breaking up of integrated systems into their component parts By abstraction, we mean the ability to hide low-level hardware or software-specific mechanisms via a layer of open interfaces or APIs.
• #11: SDN SDOs SDN is a wide-reaching concept and a number of standards bodies are involved in SDN standardisation efforts. ONF Established in March 2011 in order to broaden the concept of OpenFlow and to promote the commercialisation of SDN Custodians of the OpenFlow specification Focus areas: promoting open source software as the de facto route to standards development and interoperability evolving the OpenFlow® standard to develop new capabilities to expand SDN benefits accelerating the deployment of open SDN to free end-users from vendor lock-in. IETF development of IP/MPLS protocols and extensions to work within an SDN environment. Efforts include FORCES, segment routing, PCE, BGP-LS MEF Defining Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) and management capabilities necessary to achieve the key aims of the MEF’s Third Network. ITU Specification of SDN framework Broadband Forum SDN in a broadband access environment
• #12: SDN SDOs SDN is a wide-reaching concept and a number of standards bodies are involved in SDN standardisation efforts. ONF Established in March 2011 in order to broaden the concept of OpenFlow and to promote the commercialisation of SDN Custodians of the OpenFlow specification Focus areas: promoting open source software as the de facto route to standards development and interoperability evolving the OpenFlow® standard to develop new capabilities to expand SDN benefits accelerating the deployment of open SDN to free end-users from vendor lock-in. IETF development of IP/MPLS protocols and extensions to work within an SDN environment. Efforts include FORCES, segment routing, PCE, BGP-LS MEF Defining Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) and management capabilities necessary to achieve the key aims of the MEF’s Third Network. ITU Specification of SDN framework Broadband Forum SDN in a broadband access environment
• #13: SDN architectural framework (1) The ITU-T Y.3300 specification outlines an architectural framework for SDN. While the framework itself is quite simple, it forms the basis for just about all of the other frameworks and open source implementations. There are three key layers identified by ITU-T Y.3300: Extracts from ITU-T Y.3300: “ Application layer The application layer is where SDN applications specify network services or business applications by defining a service-aware behaviour of network resources in a programmatic manner. These applications interact with the SDN control layer via application-control interfaces, in order for the SDN control layer to automatically customize the behaviour and the properties of network resources. The programming of an SDN application makes use of the abstracted view of the network resources provided by the SDN control layer by means of information and data models exposed via the application-control interface. SDN Control Layer The SDN control layer provides a means to dynamically and deterministically control the behaviour of network resources (such as data transport and processing), as instructed by the application layer. The SDN applications specify how network resources should be controlled and allocated, by interacting with the SDN control layer via application-control interfaces. The control signalling from the SDN control layer to the network resources is then delivered via resource-control interfaces. The configuration and/or properties exposed to SDN applications are abstracted by means of information and data models. The level of abstraction varies according to the applications and the nature of the services to be delivered. Resource layer The resource layer is where the network elements perform the transport and the processing of data packets according to the decisions made by the SDN control layer, and which have been forwarded to the resource layer via a resource-control interface.” This is a simple but very powerful model of SDN architecture; most open-source and vendor-proprietary models map quite neatly to this model. References: ITU-T Y.3300
• #14: SDN architectural framework (2) The IETF model for SDN identifies the following planes: (from RFC7426) “Forwarding Plane - Responsible for handling packets in the data path based on the instructions received from the control plane. Actions of the forwarding plane include, but are not limited to, forwarding, dropping, and changing packets. The forwarding plane is usually the termination point for control-plane services and applications. The forwarding plane can contain forwarding resources such as classifiers. The forwarding plane is also widely referred to as the "data plane" or the "data path". Operational Plane - Responsible for managing the operational state of the network device, e.g., whether the device is active or inactive, the number of ports available, the status of each port, and so on. The operational plane is usually the termination point for management-plane services and applications. The operational plane relates to network device resources such as ports, memory, and so on. Control Plane - Responsible for making decisions on how packets should be forwarded by one or more network devices and pushing such decisions down to the network devices for execution. The control plane usually focuses mostly on the forwarding plane and less on the operational plane of the device. The control plane may be interested in operational-plane information, which could include, for instance, the current state of a particular port or its capabilities. The control plane’s main job is to fine-tune the forwarding tables that reside in the forwarding plane, based on the network topology or external service requests. Management Plane - Responsible for monitoring, configuring, and maintaining network devices, e.g., making decisions regarding the state of a network device. The management plane usually focuses mostly on the operational plane of the device and less on the forwarding plane. The management plane may be used to configure the forwarding plane, but it does so infrequently and through a more wholesale approach than the control plane. For instance, the management plane may set up all or part of the forwarding rules at once, although such action would be expected to be taken sparingly. Application Plane - The plane where applications and services that define network behavior reside. Applications that directly (or primarily) support the operation of the forwarding plane (such as routing processes within the control plane) are not considered part of the application plane. Note that applications may be implemented in a modular and distributed fashion and, therefore, can often span multiple planes”.
• #15: SDN architectural framework (3) We have looked at two different frameworks for SDN – from the ITU-T and the IETF, respectively. For the purpose of this training course, and subsequent SDN-related training courses that are in development by APNIC, we will adopt the framework depicted here. As technologies develop, the model itself will develop along with them. Firstly, we note that this is simply a framework that describes the different layers, functions and interfaces that form part of the SDN framework. These functions do not necessarily map to specific hardware or software elements. The model described here has the following components: Application Plane Control Plane (or the controller, although this may indeed be a suite of functions) Data Plane Northbound interfaces: between the Application Plane and the Control Plane Southbound interfaces: between the Control Plane and the Data Plane (note that the designations of north and south are relative to the control plane (“the controller”) In the next few slides, we will describe each of these elements.
• #16: Comparing and contrasting with NFV The differences between SDN ad NFV are a source of some confusion. From a technical viewpoint: SDN: physically decouples control plane and data plane NFV: physically decouples network software from closed, proprietary hardware systems While SDN has its roots in the research community, NFV is a strong operator-led initiative. Like SDN, a key objective of NFV was to improve network agility by reducing dependence on proprietary hardware. If network applications could be run on COTS hardware, significant benefits could be achieved via homogenisation of hardware. Neither SDN and NFV are directly dependent on each other. However, significant benefits can be realised by using the two together. In fact, many of the NFV use cases are enhanced with the adoption of SDN capabilities.
• #17: P4 Integrated Network Stack (PINS)
• #18: a lightweight platform based on a variant of R-CORD. It supports a multitude of virtualized access technologies at the edge of the carrier network, including PON, G.Fast, and eventually DOCSIS and more. SEBA supports both residential access and wireless backhaul and is optimized such that traffic can run ‘fastpath’ straight through to the backbone without requiring VNF processing on a server. Kubernetes based High Speed Operationalized with fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security (FCAPS) and operational support system (OSS) Integration https://gonorthforge.com/seba-sdn-enabled-broadband-access-the-next-generation-of-broadband-access/
• #19: Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network (PON).
• #20: https://www.rcrwireless.com/20200708/opinion/readerforum/open-ran-101-ru-du-cu-reader-forum What In a 5G RAN architecture, the baseband unit (BBU) functionality is split into two functional units: a distributed unit (DU), responsible for real time L1 and L2 scheduling functions, and a centralized unit (CU) responsible for non-real time, higher L2 and L3. RU: this is the radio unit that handles the digital front end (DFE) and the parts of the PHY layer, 
• #21: distributed unit (DU), responsible for real time L1 and L2 scheduling functions, and a centralized unit (CU) responsible for non-real time, higher L2 and L3. µONOS RIC At the heart of ONF’s SD-RAN architecture is the µONOS RIC, based on ONOS, the leading open source SDN control plane for operators. Refer to Berlin SD-RAN Trial (Deutsche Telekom deployed the first fully disaggregated 5G field trial) ONOS RIC is a cloud-native, carrier-grade 
SDN controller that enables: Ease in scalability High performance High availability Support for multi-vendor equipment
• #22: https://youtu.be/XI3ckGAK84k?t=282 The ONOS platform includes: A platform and a set of applications that act as an extensible, modular, distributed SDN controller. Simplified management, configuration and deployment of new software, hardware & services. A scale-out architecture to provide
• #24: P4 Integrated Network Stack (PINS) is an industry collaboration bringing SDN capabilities and P4 programmability to traditional routing devices that rely on embedded control protocols (like BGP). Specifically, this project uses P4 to model the switch abstraction interface (SAI) pipeline, adds externally programmable extensions to the pipeline and introduces P4Runtime as a new control plane interface for controlling the pipeline.