2,348 research outputs found
Design of a Hybrid Modular Switch
Network Function Virtualization (NFV) shed new light for the design,
deployment, and management of cloud networks. Many network functions such as
firewalls, load balancers, and intrusion detection systems can be virtualized
by servers. However, network operators often have to sacrifice programmability
in order to achieve high throughput, especially at networks' edge where complex
network functions are required.
Here, we design, implement, and evaluate Hybrid Modular Switch (HyMoS). The
hybrid hardware/software switch is designed to meet requirements for modern-day
NFV applications in providing high-throughput, with a high degree of
programmability. HyMoS utilizes P4-compatible Network Interface Cards (NICs),
PCI Express interface and CPU to act as line cards, switch fabric, and fabric
controller respectively. In our implementation of HyMos, PCI Express interface
is turned into a non-blocking switch fabric with a throughput of hundreds of
Gigabits per second.
Compared to existing NFV infrastructure, HyMoS offers modularity in hardware
and software as well as a higher degree of programmability by supporting a
superset of P4 language
Use of Devolved Controllers in Data Center Networks
In a data center network, for example, it is quite often to use controllers
to manage resources in a centralized man- ner. Centralized control, however,
imposes a scalability problem. In this paper, we investigate the use of
multiple independent controllers instead of a single omniscient controller to
manage resources. Each controller looks after a portion of the network only,
but they together cover the whole network. This therefore solves the
scalability problem. We use flow allocation as an example to see how this
approach can manage the bandwidth use in a distributed manner. The focus is on
how to assign components of a network to the controllers so that (1) each
controller only need to look after a small part of the network but (2) there is
at least one controller that can answer any request. We outline a way to
configure the controllers to fulfill these requirements as a proof that the use
of devolved controllers is possible. We also discuss several issues related to
such implementation.Comment: Appears in INFOCOM 2011 Cloud Computing Worksho
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