sdn will software-defined networking -...

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SDN will traNSform

your Network – but Not juSt yet

SDN will revolutioNiSe

tHe router aND SwitcH

buSiNeSS aND wipe millioNS off coStS. So

wHat’S HolDiNg it up?

SDN will cHaNge tHe worlD

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to move a large proportioN

of a SwitcH’S work to aN abStracteD

Software layer, SDN iS tHe

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maNagemeNt toolS to create

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SDN proviDeS tHe meaNS

to automate NetworkS to

better Support a raNge of

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Computer Weekly buyer’s Guide

A Computer Weekly guide to software-defined networkingBy providing the capability to move much of a switch’s work to an abstracted software layer, software-defined networking (SDN) promises to revolutionise the networking hardware market and automate networks to better support a range of different workloads, wiping millions off costs in the process. In this 11-page buyer’s guide, Computer Weekly looks at how SDN can give IT administrators greater control over the network infrastructure and make it a far more flexible and agile part of the business

These articles were originally published

in the Computer Weekly ezine

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Buyer’s guidesoftware-defined networks

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Computer Weekly buyer’s Guidebuyer’s Guide

Software-defined networking (sDn) is the decoupling of the hardware layer and the control plane in network infrastructure. Traditionally each router and switch on a network has software pre-installed that controls what it does, such as prioritising certain types of traffic over other types. This means that, if an organisation wants to

change an aspect of the network, the routers and switches must be manually reconfigured. sDn moves that aspect of networking to a centralised management console, meaning

changes can be made quickly and pushed out to the network in near real-time, without any physical adjustments to the hardware. This gives iT administrators much more control over their network infrastructure and makes it a far more flexible and agile part of the business.

one of the issues with sDn is there is no clear, universally agreed definition for it. What is clear, however, is the benefit it can bring to enterprises. stu Bailey – founder and CTo of network infrastructure automation software and hardware supplier infoblox – says sDn shifts the intelligence, and therefore value, away from the hardware and on to the software.

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Juniper Networks

outlines SDN strategy

SDN adoption plans stall in Europe

SDN will transform your network – but not just yetSoftware-defined networking (SDN) will revolutionise the router and switch business and wipe millions off costs. So what’s holding it up, asks Steve Evans

Buyer’s guideSoftware-defined networks


http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240176108/Juniper-Networks-outlines-SDN-strategy




http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240177799/SDN-adoption-plans-still-stalling-in-Europe




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“network managers have not really enjoyed the economic benefits of commoditised hardware in the same way that server, pC, tablet and mobile consumers have,” he says. “At the highest level, sDn is a market correction; it is an economic story where finally network managers can achieve the economic benefits and the functional benefits of very inexpensive hardware and a rich ecosystem of value-added software.”

Disruptive technologyAlthough it is still very early days for sDn, its potential has led many in the industry to predict big things. Analyst group iDC claims the market will grow from $360m in 2013 to $3.7bn by 2016, while Gartner labels it a “Trigger Technology” in its 2012 Hype Cycle for Networking and Communications Technologies, under the heading openFlow – the open source protocol that essentially defines sDn.

Joe skorupa, an analyst at Gartner who specialises in advanced network infrastructures, says sDn provides a significant opportunity for disrup-tion, as it means networking can finally catch up with other parts of the business that have progressed over the last few years.

For example, he says it can take up to two weeks to put a new server on the network. Five years ago, no-one would have noticed because it would have taken two months to order, build, ship, receive and install the phys-ical server. now, thanks to virtualisation, a new server can be fired up in a matter of hours, but the networking aspect still takes two weeks.

“The network is seen as a barrier to business value and agility by the business unit stakeholders,” skorupa adds. “so when someone in marketing goes to the Cio about running a new campaign, the server guy can get a machine up and running in a few hours; the networking team says, ‘come back in two weeks.’ That’s the wrong place to be.”

Moving the control – and therefore the intelligence – away from the hardware means rout-ers and switches will become commodities, which will provide great cost savings for users.

“The neTwork is seen as a barrier To business value” Joe skorupa,

GarTner



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That of course will have a knock-on effect for traditional network hardware suppliers such as Cisco and Juniper networks.

These companies rely on sales of routers and switches to drive revenue. That revenue stream is under threat if sDn results in networking hardware becoming a commodity. Gartner’s skorupa says sDn represents a fundamental threat to Cisco’s business.

“There are thousands of Cisco-certified engineers who have learned how to type com-mands on the command line interface, which is how they maintain loyalty and control of the account… and there is this new technology that threatens to wipe out that value.”

Network suppliers react to commoditisiationWith an sDn architecture, companies will no longer be locked into one supplier’s products with switches, controllers, applications and so on all available from different companies. That will undoubtedly hit the profit margins of the likes of Cisco and Juniper. it is perfectly possible the network industry could fall from being a 60% gross margin business to something more like the server industry, where the margins hover between 10% and 20%.

Unsurprisingly, Cisco and Juniper claim sDn is an opportunity for them, rather than a threat. Cisco’s Uk & ireland CTo ian Foddering says the company has been active in the sDn market for a number of years. Looking at Cisco’s acquisitions in recent years, it is clear software has been a major part of that strat-egy. Acquisitions such as Linesider Technologies, pari networks, Axioss and newscale contribute to Cisco’s software and management portfolio.

Beyond acquisitions, Cisco has its open network Environment (onE) platform, which offers customers the opportunity to reap the benefits of software-defined networking without writing off previous hefty invest-ments in networking gear.

“We’re aware that a number of businesses have already made significant investments into Cisco platforms,” says Foddering. “if you look at our onE strategy what we’ve done is actu-ally look to embrace that installed base that’s out there already to allow them to build sDn into their strategy through programmable networks.”

The platform is made up of three main features: the onepk platform kit for developers, which includes a set of application programming interfaces (Apis) that work across various Cisco products; Cisco onE Controller Framework, which supports openFlow; and overlay

network Technologies, which enable virtualised workloads to directly control network services.

Juniper too is not taking the threat lying down. in December 2012 the company acquired Contrail systems for $176m. While that may not sound like a big deal, it is interesting to note the acquired company had no customers and hadn’t

shipped any products. The move was widely seen as evidence of just how seriously the established networking suppliers are taking this shift to software-defined networking.

As well as that acquisition, Juniper has what it calls its six guiding principles for its sDn strategy, says nigel stephenson, head of cloud services marketing at Juniper.

First, the networking software must be separated into four distinct layers, or planes: man-agement, services, control and forwarding. stephenson explains that this helps to optimise each plane individually. second, centralise certain aspects of the management, services and control software to lower operating costs and simplify design. Third, stephenson says it is vital to use the cloud for scalability and flexible deployments.

“a number of businesses have already made siGnificanT invesTmenTs inTo cisco plaTforms”ian fodderinG, cisco

› The new network: SDN gets real› SDN scares big network suppliers

› Creating an efficient datacentre network


http://bitpipe.computerweekly.com/detail/RES/1360792047_747.html

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240169766/SDN-scares-big-network-vendors



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Computer Weekly buyer’s Guide

Fourth is the creation of a platform for network applications, services and integration into management systems. The fifth principle is to standardise protocols. This helps when it comes to supporting different suppliers. Finally the sixth principle is to broadly apply sDn principles to all aspects of the network and its services.

stephenson says companies such as Juniper and Cisco had to react to the emergence of sDn: “it’s where the industry is going, and the alternative is to not pro-gress as an industry,” he says.

But while it may be where the industry is heading, it certainly is not there at the moment. Gartner’s skorupa says sDn is nowhere on the adoption scale and other experts say similar things. The general consensus is that we are three to five years away from widespread adop-tion of sDn.

Because of that, there are very few companies using sDn in any meaningful way at the moment; it is still so new that most businesses looking at it have not got beyond the evaluation phase. scientific research centre CERn is one organisation that has moved beyond evalu-ation. The Geneva-based institute is working with hp to develop a load-balancing application, which will help to distribute the huge amount of data created by CERn across multiple devices such as firewalls and servers.

Utilisation ratesGoogle is another company that has jumped early into sDn, deploying it across the vast network that links all its datacentres together. speaking at the open networking summit in April 2012, Urs holzle, senior vice-president of technical infrastructure at Google, said the deployment has improved the way data moves through Google’s internal network. The company can now prioritise certain traffic, such as Gmail backups, to ensure they get through in a timely manner.

perhaps most impressively, holzle told the conference that, in using sDn to intelligently manage the flow of traffic through its internal network, Google will eventually hit 100% network utilisation. in an industry where 30% to 40% is considered standard, that is a huge performance increase.

While the likes of hp, Dell and iBM have also made their moves in the sDn sector by declaring their support for the openFlow standards, it is perhaps the start-ups in this space that are causing the biggest disruptions. As well as Cisco’s and Juniper’s acquisitions of start-ups, VMware spent $1.26bn on nicira, which was previously the leading light of sDn start-

ups. That mantle has been passed to Big switch networks, co-founded by kyle Forster, a former Cisco executive. it sits alongside plumgrid and Embrane – which were also founded by ex-Cisco employees – as the next big things in sDn.

Big switch networks was founded in 2010 and at the centre of its portfolio is the Big network Controller, which separates

the hardware from the network, enabling iT to control the network from one management console. The company says software applications can be built on top of its technologies that can program and automate the underlying network fabric. The potential of its technology has seen the likes of Goldman sachs and index Ventures invest in the company.

software-defined networking may be generating a huge amount of hype at the moment, but the message is that, while it will mark a huge change in the networking industry – for sup-pliers as well as users – it is perhaps too early to get really excited about it. The advice is to make sure it is on your radar, but wait for the technology to mature before you dive in. n

buyer’s Guide

“iT’s where The indusTry is GoinG, and The alTernaTive is To noT proGress as an indusTry”niGel sTephenson,

Juniper

› Big Switch Networks enters SDN race› 4G could entice mobile operators to SDN

› Managing virtualised networks


http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240171103/Big-Switch-Networks-enters-SDN-race

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240178390/4G-could-entice-mobile-operators-to-SDN



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Remember when every large organisation had its own telecoms department? highly skilled and dedicated engineers who went around installing cabling, terminals and phone sets along with ensuring the key systems (such as the specialised control centre used by the receptionist) were in place and that enough lines were provided

for incoming and outgoing calls to meet demand? Ever wondered what happened to them?The world changed – that’s what. The world of telecommunications became easier – driven

by the use of voice over ip (Voip) and the iT department’s capability to carry out a lot of the tasks that the old telecommunications group did. sure, facilities still send out the new hand-sets – but the employee is perfectly capable of plugging these into the system themselves and iT then automatically provisions them.

The same may be about to happen to iT network professionals, as software-defined net-working (sDn) becomes mainstream. Anyone who sees themselves as a network profes-sional should be ensuring that they fully understand what sDn means for them and adapting to ensure that they still have a meaningful part to play in managing the future iT platform.

historically, the network has provided the foundations for everything above it in the iT stack. Without a network, no-one would be able to connect to an application being run on a server. no data would be able to flow from one application to another, or from one

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SDN scares big network

suppliers

SDN will change the world of network professionalsBy providing the capability to move a large proportion of a switch’s work to an abstracted software layer, SDN is the way forward. Clive Longbottom reports

Buyer’s guideSoftware-defined networks






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organisation to another. The network is king, yet it was rapidly becoming the main constraint on the overall platform.

As virtualisation took off, servers and storage moved to being pools of resources that could be allocated and used as needed. Unfortunately, although a TCp/ip network is essentially a virtualised system with packets being routed as needed to ensure delivery, the way the virtualisation was generally implemented was not best suited to supporting the needs of the virtualised servers and storage.

The main issue lay with the hierarchical nature of datacentre networks. Access switches fed into aggre-gation switches which then fed into core switches. Data flows in what is termed east-west traffic – between applications on different servers – and has to travel up and down the hierarchy in order to find paths that are connected between the servers.

Attempting to put in place an everything-con-nected-to-everything topology runs into loop-ing issues – data paths replicate and get in each other’s way.

To get around this, spanning tree protocol (sTp) is used, which automatically shuts down redundant data loops. This leads to physical ports being shut down in the network – and also to a build-up of data latency in the system. if there was a failure in the network, sTp could recover – but it would take seconds, and would impact the availability of the overall system.

Link aggregation groups (LAGs) were designed to provide an alternative failover mecha-nism, but these are really only suitable for physical systems, as they work against manual policies. Attempts to introduce virtual LAGs (vLAGs) only highlighted the problems with the way networks are implemented.

sDn offers a big improvement. it emerged out of stanford University in the Us and provides the capability to move a large proportion of the work a switch does from the switch itself to an abstracted software layer. By taking the management and control planes out of the physi-cal switch and creating a virtualised fabric where decisions can be made on how to deal with data at an abstracted level, the physical switch can concentrate on the data plane activity itself – and be far more efficient for it. The project was spun off to the open networking Foundation (onF), and the group’s instantiation of sDn, openFlow, has become the stand-ard for how new generation switches operate.

in simple terms, a switch has three main components when it comes to how it functions – a data plane, which deals with how the data is moved through the switch’s various ports; a management plane, which deals with how data and the overall network topology is managed; and a control plane, which deals with the overall network map of how to deal with different types of data packet and how they should be routed.

The idea of a “fabric” network was born – a flatter system with fewer layers. Top-of-rack and end-of-row switches started to come to market with built-in virtualisation capabilities including Cisco’s nexus and Blade networking Technologies (now iBM system networking). physical ports can be virtualised and aggregated at will, with data flows being more con-trolled and data loops done away with. Fewer hops means less latency, so east-west data transfers are far speedier and north-south traffic (that from the end-user’s device - pC, lap-top, slate, tablet or smartphone - to the enterprise applications) is also optimised.

The biggest change is that a lot of network moves from the switch operating system (e.g. Cisco’s ios, Juniper’s Junos) to a more standardised software environment that can be run on commodity servers. The general iT staff can start to do things with the network that only network professionals could do before.

But what does this mean to the markets? Cisco (both through nexus and also the acquisi-tion of vCider and Cariden), iBM and other big suppliers have taken to sDn rapidly to try and

“hisTorically, The neTwork has provided The foundaTions for everyThinG above iT in The iT sTack”



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maintain their hold on their customers, perceiving that a “carry on regardless” strategy would see them lose to those who did embrace sDn. hp and Dell are embracing sDn as well – both to keep existing customers and also to try and get a foot in the door in organisations where the incumbent could now be under threat.

A raft of new switch suppliers is springing up – companies like pica8, noviFlow, plexxi and Big switch networks are launching switches that either make the most of using sDn to pro-vide high speed, high throughput switches or use sDn to enable them to sell relatively simple switch hardware combined with commodity-based sDn software servers to compete against the incumbents such as Cisco and Juniper.

others are taking a different approach – plumgrid and Embrane are focusing more on the software side of things, taking the bet that the “new” network will require new capabili-ties, and that sDn will enable a crossover between iT and networking. They are looking to provide software that drives this crossover and creates a new network appli-cation market.

Another, LineRate, provided network management systems which will carry out the kind of functions that dedicated appli-ances do now, such as network security, load balancing and firewall capabilities, and was rapidly snapped up by F5 networks. For established network appliance suppli-ers, such as Riverbed, silverpeak, imprivata, Checkpoint, Barracuda networks and palo Alto networks, sDn could be a major force for change in how they operate, with a move towards a more software-oriented approach layered onto the fabric of the new network.

sDn is also affecting others in the computing market - VMware acquired nicira to add sDn capability to its portfolio. oracle acquired Xsigo. Juniper bought Contrail – but also made a statement to the markets that it is likely to come up with its own version of an sDn, which may not be an implementation of openFlow, although it is to be hoped that it will be compat-ible at a functional level.

All this activity – with more predicted to come - shows that sDn is a force that will be hard to stop. it is time to understand sDn and openFlow and how this will change the world of net-work professionals, who can no longer pretend that sDn will not happen. They need to iden-tify how sDn can be used to provide a more flexible and effective overall technology platform for supporting their organisation – having these skills will add a lot of weight to their CV.

By working together with the application and data professionals, the next generation networking guru will be the person who can craft the right kind of sDn software that

interoperates and integrates with the stack above it in the best possible way. The hardware will increasingly com-moditise – it is a waste of time focusing there.

This brings into play existing network skills – vendor-specific accreditations such as the Cisco Certified network Associate and professional (CCnA/p) and Design Associate

(CCDA) will have to adapt to reflect a major change from hardware to software focus. Re-training will be needed, as new professionals come through with recognised certifications in sDn skills.

For many, it will be tough to move across the boundary and see the world in the form of functional software items abstracted from the hardware. however, it is the way forward, and an sDn architecture will provide the best flexibility and support for a modern organisation. n

“iT is Time To undersTand sdn and openflow and how This will chanGe The world of neTwork professionals, who can no lonGer preTend ThaT sdn will noT happen”

› Preparing your teams for SDN› HP revamps portfolio for SDN

› The networking fear will make Cisco a winner


http://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Preparing-your-teams-for-software-defined-networking

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240164364/HP-revamps-portfolio-for-software-defined-networking

http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/the-full-spectrum/2012/10/san-jose-ca---august.html


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Creating a workload-centric infrastructure to serve the business requires the infra-structure to become standardised, self-service and pay-per-use, giving users rapid access to powerful and more flexible iT capabilities.

This means infrastructure and iT operations teams need to coordinate infrastruc-ture elements such as switches, firewalls, load balancers and optimisers to deliver the right set of services to the right user, at the right time and in the right location. Workload-centric networks will reconfigure these elements on the fly and monitor the output to ensure that the newly created services are within the bounds of the business policies and rules.

Building in automationsuppliers such as Cisco, hp and Juniper networks recently announced options that infra-structure and iT operation teams can build upon to leverage their current infrastructure and add the automation and orchestration services (see box on page 10). Extreme networks

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SDN, network

virtualisation: Are they

the same?

Management tools to create a Workload-Centric NetworkSoftware-defined networking provides the means to automate networks to better support a range of different workloads. Andre Kindress reports

Buyer’s guidesoftware-defined networks


http://searchsdn.techtarget.com/answer/SDN-network-virtualization-Are-they-the-same






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and Juniper networks opened up and rewrote their management tools to give developers access to complete libraries for data path, policy, routing, element, discovery, security and management functions, and southbound communication.

in software-defined networking (sDn), the southbound interface is the openFlow (or alternative) protocol specification. its main function is to enable communication between the sDn controller and the network nodes (both physical and virtual switches and routers).

Automation needs more than southbound controls. The injection of application programming interfaces (Apis) into management tools can open the door for a dynamic feedback loop of user, session or application analytics. The Apis enable northbound communications to feed orchestration systems. The northbound Api on an sDn controller enables applications and orchestration systems to program the network and request services from it. Closed-loop systems require northbound and southbound communications.

The transformation and adoption of the workload-centric network will be slow, and dependent on the infrastructure and operation team’s readiness. Many organisations have an immediate need within the datacentre to accelerate the adoption of automation to support their journey to a private cloud.

Developing marketiT managers should also be aware that, currently, most information from the industry seems to be “markitec-ture” (marketing architecture).

The traditional suppliers have significant ongoing investment in their current designs. it will take them time to refocus their research and development into creating all of the necessary components.

Furthermore, marketplace maturity is years away. on average, application-specific integrated circuits (AsiCs) take about four years to create from concept to

Support for SDN amoNg NetworkiNg SupplierS

Hp virtual application network (vaN)Working with Cloud Provisioning Logic (Matrix, CIC, CSA, OpenStack, etc), HP VAN Manager contains application templates that communicate the workload requirements to HP Intelligent Management Centre (IMC) to configure virtual and physical components.

juniper junosWith Space SDK to enable orchestration and management, infrastructure and operations teams can leverage Junos software development kit and the application programming interfaces (APIs) to access ALTO, BGP-TE, OpenFlow and GenApp to manipulate the underlying network.

cisco onepkCisco’s Open Network Environment has a multi-pronged strategy, including OnePK, a com-prehensive developer kit with a rich set of platform APIs across Cisco IOS, IOSXR and NX-OS software; proof-of-concept controllers and SDN/OpenFlow agents for research purposes; and overlay network solutions that include the Cisco Nexus 1000V for scalable, multi-tenant cloud deployments.

Source: Forrester

TransformaTion and adopTion of The workload-cenTric neTwork will be slow and dependenT on The infrasTrucTure and operaTion Team’s readiness



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production. To standardise designs and drive consistent capabilities across big product lines, suppliers will be slowly releasing new functionality over the next five years.

it is also worth noting that not all of the functionality and controls will be backward compatible. some products are nearing their end-of-life or do not have the capability to be altered.

Standardise processes, procedures, roles and responsibilitiesWhatever technology options networking professionals choose, the value cannot be extracted without preparation. Forrester recommends standardising processes, procedures, roles and responsibilities.

infrastructure and iT operations teams need to have a baseline to automate infrastructures. With this in place, they can then make changes to optimise the workload performance and user experience.

in Forrester’s network assessment engagements with clients, its finds that this is consistently an underdevel-oped area. A scant few Forrester clients have standard documents for their configuration files, products, firm-ware or architecture. Forrester provides a process matu-rity model to assess the current state of key operational and process activities and then standardise processes and skills around the iT infrastructure Library (iTiL).

Tooling up Forrester recommends infrastructure and iT opera-tions teams invest in tools to help network teams utilise the network.

network teams are already stretched too thin to have to be responsible for every networking decision. For example, there is little value in the network team hand-ing out ip addresses every time new apps are loaded. Advanced Dns, DhCp and ipAM tools provide workflow processes for a set of ip addresses that can be assigned to a server team, which can then grab them as needed.

This eliminates waste and repetitious activities that take away from focusing on higher technical skills such as using software development kits (sDks) to hook orchestration sys-tems into network management software.

Software skillsThe infrastructure and operations teams will require a software network engineer posi-tion. With today’s mounting business requirements and escalating technology complexity, manual control is dead. With all of the variability in users, devices and services, plug-and-play operating systems must supersede command line interfaces in the network.

network software engineers can help create these operat-ing systems with C++, sDks and Apis such as openFlow and use them to fuse distributed systems, virtualisation, data and storage. This enables developers to build network applica-tions that can integrate and interact with networking gear by manipulating switch tables or using Layer 2 and Layer 3

protocols such as link aggregation control protocol (LACp), spanning tree protocol (sTp), rapid sTp, virtual redundant routing protocol (VRRp) and 802.1x. infrastructure monitoring is absolutely critical to support this closed-loop system. n

infrasTrucTure and iT operaTions Teams need To have a baseline To auTomaTe infrasTrucTures

This article is an extract from Forrester report, Workload-centric infrastructure ignites software-defined networking. Andre Kindness is a principal analyst at Forrester Research.

› Why do I need SDN technology?› SDN scares big network suppliers

› Do SDN northbound APIs need standards?


http://blogs.forrester.com/andre_kindness

http://searchsdn.techtarget.com/answer/Why-do-I-need-SDN-technology


http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/feature/Do-SDN-northbound-APIs-need-standards

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