the consilience of networking & computing - usenix · the consilience of networking &...

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The Consilience of Networking & ComputingDinesh G Dutt

Cumulus Networks

LISA 2015, Nov 12, 2015

November 19, 2015 cumulusnetworks.com

cumulusnetworks.com 2November 19, 2015

Talk focus:

The data

center

A Long, Long Time Ago…

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Photo Courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/joethorn/

Networking

And

Computing

Diverged

November 19, 2015


So problems are

solved twice

November 19, 2015

Hardware Packaging

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Compute

Disaggregated HW and

SW

Fixed-form factor

Open

Networking

Vertically integrated,

appliance

Multiple box SKUs

Closed

Software Packaging


Compute

Multiple open,

packaging models

• deb, rpm, …

Networking

Binary blob or

proprietary packaging

November 19, 2015

Configuration


Compute

Plethora of choices

from CLI to automation

tools

• Standard automation tools

or home brew

Configure using file

edits, command line or

automation modules

Computing

Predominantly CLI

• The one tested and released

by vendors first

Automation support

slow or limited

• Limited to vendor-supplied

modules

November 19, 2015

Monitoring


Compute

Lotsa tools

• Evolution and innovation

driven by open platform

nature

Separate data from

transport

Networking

SNMP is still the only

choice

Data and transport tied

• Counters available via CLI

not available via SNMP

November 19, 2015

By RRZE (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

DevOps Tools


Compute

Multiple tools to

validate, verify

deployment, changes

• Serverspec

• Behave

• Cucumber

Networking

None to maybe simple

vendor-supplied tools

November 19, 2015

Radically Different {Open} Development Processes


https://www.flickr.com/photos/manoftaste-de/

vs

https://pixabay.com/en/code-php-web-development-583795/

Does This Difference in Process Matter ?

“We hope this will let the machine learning community—everyone from academic researchers, to engineers, to hobbyists—exchange ideas much more quickly, through working code rather than just research papers.”

From Google’s blog about Tensorflow(https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/tensorflow-smarter-machine-learning-for.html)

“Rough Consensus, Working Code”

IETF Founding Maxim


Difference in Mental Models


Structured I/O

vs

Myth of the Uniform

Data Model

And The Admins Were Left With…


Photo Courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/joethorn/

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

- Robert Frost

November 19, 2015

But…


In the DC, everything is

a distributed applicationNetworking included

And The Consequence Is..


https://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davegray/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pikerslanefarm/

A Long Time Ago, Compute & Networking Weren’t Different

Photo courtesy of: https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadilo60/


And Then The Linux Revolution Happened…


Image courtesy of: https://www.flickr.com/photos/4everyoung/

November 19, 2015

Which Led To….


Transforming: Compute, now Networking

First:

Compute

Transformed

LOCKED

Now:

Networking

Transforms

OPEN

Applications, OS and Hardware


Bare Metal Switching Ecosystem: {small} Sample


Network OS

Hardware

Silicon

Application

Open Compute Project : Open Networking

48 Port Hybrid Managed Switch

24 port 10GBASE-T Copper & 24 ports RJ45 1G Copper

Plug and PlayNiagara 2924TX-24TG is a 24 port 10GBASE-T Copper &

24 ports RJ45 Copper Managed Layer 2-4 Switch. The

Niagara 2924TX-24TG is an advanced switching and routing

system providing Layer 2 switching, IP v4/ v6 routing, QoS

support and management capabilities. The system is built

for optimal flexibility enabling high port 10BASE-T copper

media configuration which can support 1G RJ45 as well and

connectivity to an additional 24 1GE RJ45 copper ports.

The unit’s management functionality can be utilized vi a

an extensive web GUI or CLI whi ch enables flexibility and

multiple configurations. The Niagara 2924TX-24TG is designed

to integrate with UTM, Firewall, WAN Acceleration, QoS, IPS,

IDS and Enterprise and Datacenter IT security appli ances.

Niagara 2924TX-24TG provides features that are essential in

today’s data centers including:

Key FeaturesUp to 24 Ports with support for 10GBASE-T Copper

(which can support 1G RJ45 Copper)

Additional 24 Ports with support for RJ45 1G Copper

Dual Redundant hot-swappable Internal power supplies

for maximum reliability

The system supports front to back and back to front

airflow which is factory configurable

Dedicated Management Port (10/ 100/ 1000 support)

Dedicated Console Port (Serial support)

Advanced Management FeaturesExtensive CLI and WEB based management

SSH and HTTPS for secure Management

TACACS+ authentication client

Syslog client

SNMP traps on defined events

E-mail notification on defined events

SNTP Client

NTP support

RMON Support

Chassis Management

Traffic Mirroring Capabilities

TCP/ IP stack and DHCP for IPv4 and IPv6

Switch Stacking

RoHS Compliant

EMC, FCC Class A, UL (Safety) Certifi cations

Basic Layer 2 SwitchingTransparent bridging

VLAN aware bridging with GARP, GVRP, GMRP

Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol

Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol

Per VLAN Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol

IGMP snooping, IGMP filtering and IGMP Proxy

MLD snooping

Link Aggregation with LACP

802.1x authentication

Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP)

Ethernet OAM – 802.3ah

Multiple Registration Protocol

QoS (Note: dependent on silicon support)ACLs (Access Control Lists) for traffic filtering

802.1p, DiffServ, traffic prioritization queuing,

policing, shaping

Rate limiting and storm control

Flow control and priority flow control

Enhanced transmission selection

RoutingIPv4 unicast and multicast

IPv4 NAT (Network Address Translation)

IPv6 unicast and multicast

Route redistribution between IPv4 routing protocols

and static routes

Route maps for filtering route advertisements and

route redistribution – IPv4 and IPv6

IPv6 tunneling over IPv4

Graceful restart for BGP, BGP4+, IS-IS, OSPFv2, OSPFv3

Hot standby redundancy for OSPFv2, OSPFv3, PIM for

IPv4/ v6

Virtual routing with IPv4/ v6 stati c routing, OSPFv2/ v3,

IS-IS for IPv4, RIPv2

VRRP for router redundancy

Niagara 2924TX-24TG

Innovative Network Solutions


Linux as NOS

Treat as a server, performs like a traditional switch/router

• Hardware accelerate networking forwarding path (a.k.a driver)

• ifconfig, ethtool, isc-dhcp … apt-get

Consistent tooling across compute & networking

• CLI is usually bash, no walled garden

• Use your favorite automation suite

Choice on HW & SW suppliers

• Same as bare metal computing is today

• Applies to costly optics & cabling too!

routing bridging ops

Linux

hardware


Linux Networking

Networking in host OS has active, community-led

development

Host driven due to VMs and Containers

Network driven (MPLS, VRF etc.) due to open

networking

The kernel defines the API and the behavior

Not vendor-specific


The Next Logical Step in Software Evolution

Evolution of the network OS

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Linux OS

Linux as network OS

Native routing and

switching

Open and proven

Linux-based OS

Linux as embedded OS

with process and

memory management

Proprietary routing and

switching stack

Monolithic OS

No real OS

while loop


switching stack

Examples:

IOS, CatOS

Third party

real time OS

Embedded OS with

process and memory

management


switching stack

Example:

ION, iCOS/Fastpath

Examples:

NX-OS, EOS

Example:

Cumulus Linux

And The Promise…


con·sil·i·encekənˈsilēəns/Submit

noun

agreement between the approaches to a

topic of different academic subjects,

especially science and the humanities.

The Consequences of Consilience

Consistent tooling

Transparent, well-understood processes

Ability for each field to benefit from the other


As An Example…

Using Vagrant, Ansible (or your favorite

configuration tool) and Cumulus VX build a data

center on your laptop

Validate configuration via Serverspec or Behave

Make changes and see the effect before deploying

Use Sensu or Consul or collectd/ganglia to monitor

Use ELK or Splunk to analyze logs, query the past etc.

Interesting possibilities for troubleshooting



And then use the same

configuration and validation

and troubleshooting to

deploy your production

network

The First Wave Of Consilience Is Upon Us

investment bank, regional police dept,

marketing intelligence, data recovery, web

hosting, national lab, video conferencing

Analysts SuppliersNovember 19, 2015 cumulusnetworks.com 29

Customers

Summing Up

Consilience across computing and networking can

speed up innovation by reducing complexity,

leveraging tools across fields

Open Networking speeds up consilience


Onward and Upward

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[email protected]

@ddcumulus

Thank you!

November 19, 2015 cumulusnetworks.com

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