You Can't Buy An SDN

You can’t buy a SDN. Its a movement, a strategy and a inflection point in data networking. Because of this SDN changes according to your point of view.

SDN has many moving parts - Standards, Open Source, Products, Platforms, Technologies are still being defined. Established vendors are competing with startups to offer solutions to customers.

In this presentation, Greg will examine SDN from the perspective of the Network or IT Architect who works at the customer site. How could SDN change your strategy ? Why do you want it to ? What is the business value ? And offering advice on how can you get started today.

Transcript

1. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page You Can’t Buy An SDN Software Defined Networking is not a thing. Its a strategy. 1
2. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page About Greg •Packet Pushers Podcast •since 2010 more than 350 shows •http://packetpushers.net • Why ? • Its a Journey of Discovery • 25-year Corporate IT survivor • Network Architect/Design/Engineer • Well Known Blog/Website • Web: http://etherealmind.com 2
3. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page What Wrong With Networking ? Really. Its not very good. But it was pretty good for the 1990s 3
4. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page 4 Networking is Broken Silo/Cross Functional Functional Integration Integrated/ Disaggregated Operating System Complex/Simple Features Expensive/Choice of Costs Pricing Common/Commodity Operating System Redundant/Resilient Availability One Path/Mulitple Path Routing Vendor/Open Hardware Static/Dynamic Design CLI/Automation Configuration Unique/Commodity Assets Separate/ Intregrated Addon Monitoring
5. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Network Change is Hard • hard to change • requires experts for everything • risk • operational costs • brittle failure • blast radius • easy to make mistakes • Lifecycle measured in decades • 5-10 years product cycles 5 Power, Physical Hosts Users Connectivity Applications Data Centre Network Servers, Storage, VMware Apps Impact Pyramid
6. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Not Resilient • Many network functions are redundant • two of everything, • only 50% used • AND 50% WASTED 6 Router ISP FW ISP Router FW dual internet © Greg Ferro 2015 PacketPushers.net redundant routers LB LB redundant firewalls redundant load balancers web web web web critical web service web service email email email - outage tolerant < 30 minutes Standby Unused Wasted
7. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Configuration Rot • Quality of Service • still a bug, not a feature • Outage risk means change & updates to QoiS configuration is hard • Device configurations degrade over time 7
8. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Cost • Why does a one pair of switches cost as much as 10 to 20 servers ? 8 Server Server Server Server Server Server Server Switch Switch
9. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page OK • Enough. Networking is broken • Just like most other IT Infrastructure 9
10. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page What is an SDN ? Software Defined Networking 1. network virtualization 2. programmatic control 3. a changeable network 10
11. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page SDN • New ways to design & operate your network • Lower cost of hardware, spend more on software • Reliable and predictable changes 11
12. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Server Virtualization 12 server server server server server server h’visor h'visor OS h'visor h'visor Virtual Server Controller OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch Physical Svr Mgr vSwitch vSwitch KVM Hypervisors VMware Hypervisors Containers (CoreOS/Docker) OpenStack / “vCenter” Optional
13. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Network Virtualization 13 network server network network network network network server server server server server h’visor h'visor OS h'visor Virtual Server Controller OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS OS OS OS OS OS OS vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch Physical Svr Mgr Network Flows vSwitch vSwitch KVM Hypervisors VMware Hypervisors Containers (CoreOS/Docker) OpenStack / “vCenter” Optional h'visor
14. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Emerging Private Cloud 14 server network network network network network network server server server server server h’visor h'visor OS h'visor h'visor Virtual Server Controller OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch Cloud Infrastructure Orchestration Physical Svr Mgr Network Flows vSwitch vSwitch KVM Hypervisors VMware Hypervisors Containers (CoreOS/Docker) Server Ctlr Apps Server Ctlr Apps Server Ctlr Apps OpenStack / “vCenter” Optional e.g. OpenStack or VMW vRealize
15. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page 15 Network Automation server network network network network network network server server server server server NOS NOS NOS NOS NOS NOS h’visor h'visor OS h'visor h'visor OS Network Controller Network Orchestrator vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch Network Appns Network Appns Network Appns Network Flows © Greg Ferro 2014 http://etherealmind.com vSwitch vSwitch Virtual Appliances Virtual Appliances Flow Management Emergent Market Emergent Market
16. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page 16 Network Automation server network network network network network network server server server server server NOS NOS NOS NOS NOS NOS h’visor h'visor OS h'visor h'visor Virtual Server Controller OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS Network Controller Network Orchestrator vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch Network Appns Network Appns Network Appns Cloud Infrastructure Orchestration Physical Svr Mgr Network Flows © Greg Ferro 2014 http://etherealmind.com vSwitch vSwitch KVM Hypervisors VMware Hypervisors Containers (CoreOS/Docker) Virtual Appliances Virtual Appliances Server Ctlr Apps Server Ctlr Apps Server Ctlr Apps Flow Management OpenStack / “vCenter” Optional e.g. OpenStack or VMW vCAC/vCOPs/NSX Emergent Market Emergent Market Unclear, Research needed Ecosystem failure
17. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Being Software Defined What does software defined do then 17
18. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Type of SDN • Data Centre • SD-WAN • more to come • campus • wireless • mobile • cloud 18
19. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page What Problem Are You Solving ? • Faster Change ? • Reliable network operations • Rapid Service Delivery • whatever …. • Its all comes down to • automation, orchestration, programmability 19
20. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Escalator 20 Progammability Orchestration Automation Use APIs to configure, operate IT Infrastructure Pub/Sub, MQ Repeatable, Reusable, Reliable Use many Automations to create services Scripts, APIs © Greg Ferro 2014 http://etherealmind.com
21. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page 21 Progammability Orchestration Automation Use APIs to configure, operate IT Infrastructure Pub/Sub, MQ Repeatable, Reusable, Reliable Use many Automations to create services Scripts, APIs © Greg Ferro 2014 http://etherealmind.com Service - one click Configure Firewalls, Switches, Load Bals, Storage, VMs,
22. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Control Plane for Progammability 22 Network Controller Software & Applications “Control Plane” Network Network Network Network © Greg Ferro 2014 Forward Forward Forward Forward Mgmt Mgmt Mgmt Mgmt
23. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Integration • Controller enables automation and applications • simplifies programming devices 23 Network Controller Network Network Network Network © Greg Ferro 2014 API Forward Forward Forward Forward Mgmt Mgmt Mgmt Mgmt Monitoring Application Path Application Analytics Application Cloud Orchestrator eg. OpenStack
24. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page 24 Network Automation server network network network network network network server server server server server NOS NOS NOS NOS NOS NOS h’visor h'visor OS h'visor h'visor Virtual Server Controller IaaS Orchestrator OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS PaaS Orchestrator Network Controller Network Orchestrator vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch Network Appns Network Appns Network Appns Cloud Infrastructure Orchestration Portal Service Catalog Operations Centre Physical Svr Mgr Network Flows © Greg Ferro 2014 http://etherealmind.com vSwitch vSwitch KVM Hypervisors VMware Hypervisors Containers (CoreOS/Docker) Virtual Appliances Virtual Appliances SaaS Orchestrator Monitor & Log Connects everywhere Server Ctlr Apps Server Ctlr Apps Server Ctlr Apps Flow Management OpenStack / “vCenter” Optional e.g. OpenStack or VMW vCAC/vCOPs/NSX Emergent Market Emergent Market Emergent Platforms, Deep Customisation Optional, Emergent Mature Market, Large Legacy Mostly Poor Poor Legacy Key Function Unclear, Research needed Ecosystem failure Emergent Platforms, Deep Customisation
25. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page APIs, Standards and Open-ness • Standards are slow • We can’t wait for agreements • Open-source projects are defining SDN • code is coin of the realm • messy, ugly, cake-making • better than vendor- centric standards 25 Application | Software Control | API Router | Switch Physical | Virtual © Greg Ferro 2014 OpenFlow OVSDB OpFlex visibility control security Southbound APIs Northbound APIs (emerging)
26. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Getting Started on Being Software Defined Moving down the SDN Path 26
27. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page What are you buying ? • Strategy, Platform or Product 27 SDN Product network controller product apps SDN Products limited dependency © Greg Ferro 2014 http://etherealmind.com Cloud Orchestration e.g. OpenStack Partner EcoSystem SDN Platform visibility control control inspection security network controller platform apps SDN Platforms open or closed platform ? © Greg Ferro 2014 http://etherealmind.com
28. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Open/Closed SDN -1 • Open SDN • Supports OpenFlow, OVSDB, YANG/NETCONF • Vendor contribute widely to open source projects • Hardware choices • Whitebox/Whitebrand/Vendor branded 28 server network network network network network network server server server server server NOS NOS NOS NOS NOS NOS h’visor h'visor OS h'visor h'visor OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS Ctr Ctr Ctr Ctr OS OS OS OS OS OS OS OS vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch vSwitch Network Flows vSwitch vSwitch Containers (CoreOS/Docker) KVM Hypervisors VMware Hypervisors
29. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Open/Closed SDN -1 • Closed SDN • Uses “open protocols with extensions” (proprietary) • Uses vendor-specific hardware features ( • e.g. Cisco ACI 29
30. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Platforms or Products • Buy carefully. • Go “All In” With Strategy • Go Progressive with Platforms or • Go Piecemeal with Products. 30
31. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Start Small • Pod-based Architecture • Continuous Refresh • Planned replacement • Build SDN into a “Pod” • leave existing network alone • build experience, skills and how to deliver value to business 31 core pod compute core pod storage storage compute compute compute storage storage pod compute pod storage storage compute compute compute storage storage pod compute pod storage storage compute compute compute storage storage core & pod architecture 2016 2018 2020 Continuous Refresh
32. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Simplify Physical Infrastructure 32 Orchestration Services Hardware Operating System Virtualization Infrastructure Software Operations Middleware Email File Runtime Application Application Application
33. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Change in Network Spend 33 Connectivity Services Business Value © Greg Ferro 2015 $’s Network Budgets Today (Pre-SDN) Budget mostly spent on hardware and bandwidth for connectivity Connectivity Services Business Value Visibility Mobility Operability © Greg Ferro 2015 $’s Network Budgets Tomorrow (Post-SDN) Budget increasingly spent on software and services
34. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page The End Thanks 34
35. © 2015 Packet Pushers Interactive LLC Page Newsletters 35 Deep Dive Podcasts Latest News http://packetpushers.net/podcasts/ http://packetpushers.net/the-network-break/ http://packetpushers.net/free-newsletter-magazine-subscriptions/