SDN and NFV

This topic area will teach you about the emerging networking technologies Software Defined Networking and Network Function Virtualization. You will learn how to manage a network using an SDN controller and how to build high performance network services with an NFV framework. Going in depth in this topic area will prepare you to contribute to the OpenNetVM NFV framework being built as an open source project here at GW.

This topic is subject to change!
Updates: 10/15 - Added CloudLab instructions

Note: This topic area will be more research focused and less well defined than the others, plus it will take more time! The Beginner level only covers SDN, while the Intermediate level is focused on NFV.

To achieve Beginner Level mastery of SDN you must complete:

• Video: Introduction to SDN - 14 min
• Tutorial: Using the OpenDaylight SDN Controller with the Mininet Network Emulator - 1.5 hours?

To achieve Intermediate Level mastery of SDN/NFV you must also complete the following:

The need for Fast I/O:

• Video: OpenNetVM NFV platform - 30 min or read the paper (some of this was covered in the NFV lecture in class)
• Video: Netmap - a framework for fast I/O: Usenix Conference (30 min) or Google Tech Talk (60 min) or read the paper

DPDK and OpenNetVM:

• For these tasks you will need access to servers on NSF CloudLab. Follow these instructions to setup your account and create an experiment.
• To complete these tasks you will need to read through the documentation for DPDK. It provides a lot of information and much of it is very good. Nevertheless, it can be very overwhelming! You may have more success in this topic area if you work through this together with another student. You should also post to piazza about any questions you have.
  • Do not mindlessly follow the instructions – be sure you understand what is happening!
• Install DPDK and run the skeleton sample application - 180 mins
  • If you are using the CloudLab profile linked in the instructions above, then DPDK is already installed and you just need to learn how to use it.
  • Read the Docs to understand how it works
• Install OpenNetVM and run the Speed Tester and Bridge NFs - 120 min
  • If you are using the CloudLab profile linked in the instructions above, then ONVM is already installed and you just need to learn how to use it.
• Performance Evaluation - this will be updated with more details later.
• Complete one of the “Good First Issue” bugs/feature requests in the Issue Tracker - 120 min

More resources:

• DPDK Programmers Guide