Using an Open Source SDN controller to deploy a high-speed production network

Brad Cowie
2019.linux.con...
Faucet is a compact open source OpenFlow controller, which enables network operators to run their networks the same way they do server clusters. Faucet moves network control functions (like routing protocols, neighbor discovery, and switching algorithms) to vendor independent server-based software, versus traditional router or switch embedded firmware, where those functions are easy to manage, test, and extend with modern systems management best practices and tools. Faucet controls OpenFlow 1.3 hardware which delivers high forwarding performance.
This talk will demonstrate how we recently used faucet to deploy a large 100G network for an HPC conference. We will present how faucet works, our network design and an evaluation of the benefits of our approach. For this deployment we were able to greatly simplify the network and replaced many thousands of lines of vendor-specific configuration with a single easy to understand YAML configuration file. Faucet allows users to avoid vendor lock-in in a unique way by implementing the network as specified by the faucet configuration in hardware using the OpenFlow protocol. In this case we demonstrate the control of devices from three different vendors.
linux.conf.au is a conference about the Linux operating system, and all aspects of the thriving ecosystem of Free and Open Source Software that has grown up around it. Run since 1999, in a different Australian or New Zealand city each year, by a team of local volunteers, LCA invites more than 500 people to learn from the people who shape the future of Open Source. For more information on the conference see linux.conf.au/
#linux.conf.au #linux #foss #opensource