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www.isocore.com/mpls2013

Data Center Virtualization Meets the WAN

Bruce DavieVMware

bdavie@vmware.com

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Compute Virtualization Abstraction Layer

Why we need network virtualization

Physical Infrastructure

• Provisioning is slow• Placement is limited• Mobility is limited• Hardware dependent• Operationally intensive

Networking undoes much of the goodness of server virtualization

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The Solution – Virtualize the Network

Physical Infrastructure

Compute Virtualization Abstraction Layer

• Programmatic provisioning• Place any workload anywhere• Move any workload anywhere• Decoupled from hardware• Operationally efficient

Network Virtualization Abstraction Layer

Software Defined Data Center• Provisioning is slow• Placement is limited• Mobility is limited• Hardware dependent• Operationally intensiveSOFTWARE-DEFINED

DATACENTER SERVICES

VDC

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What is Network Virtualization?

Physical Compute & Memory

Server Hypervisor

Requirement: x86

Virtual Machine

Virtual Machine

Virtual Machine

Application Application Application

x86 Environment

Physical Network

Network Virtualization Platform

Requirement: IP Transport

Virtual Network

Virtual Network

Virtual Network

Workload Workload Workload

L2, L3, L4-7 Network Services

Decoupled

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The Starting Point for Network Virtualization: Virtual Switch

Hypervisor

vSwitch

Hypervisor

vSwitch

Physical Network

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VLAN

L2

L3

Virtual Network

L2

NSX Gateway

NSX – A Network Virtualization Platform

Physical Network

vSphere Host vSphere Host KVM Xen Server

NSX vSwitch NSX vSwitch Open vSwitch Open vSwitch

Hardware

Software

Controller Cluster

VLAN

VTEP API

HW Partner

VM VM“NSX API”

CMP

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IP/MPLS CORE

Hypervisor Hypervisor Hypervisor

NSXGateway

Open vSwitch Open vSwitch Open vSwitch

PETo Customer Sites

Connecting Virtualized Data Centers to the WAN

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Option A: Map Logical Networks to VLANs

NSXGatewayVRF

VRF VRF

Logical Networks map to VLANs; Each VLAN maps

to a VRF (customer-specific routing table)

PETo Customer Sites

MPLS Core

Virtualized DC

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Option B: Map Logical Networks to MPLS Labels

NSXGateway

Logical Network Prefixes advertised in MP-BGP

with MPLS labels

ASBRTo Customer Sites

MPLS Core

Treat interface like inter-AS (RFC 4364)

MPLS Labelled Packets mapped to/from logical

networks

Virtualized DC

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What’s the gateway doing?

Mapping tunnel formats

• Use VXLAN/NVGRE/STT in the datacenter, MPLS in the WAN

Demarcation point between WAN services and DC services

• In the WAN, L2 & L3 services are the norm

• In the DC, rich L2-L7 services prevail

• Self-service provisioning in the DC

• Gateway is one end of the L2-L7 pipeline

Reducing state requirements at the PE/ASBR

• No need to terminate 1000s of tunnels to hypervisors

• No per-hypervisor routes

• No VRFs

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Summary

Network virtualization is about agility

• Brings the operational model of server virtualization to networking

• Provision complex topologies and services in software – enabling automation

• Services decoupled from hardware

Integration with MPLS WANs:

• Treat data center edge as AS boundary

• Retain richness of data center services

• Self-service provisioning

A fundamental shift in the networking landscape