Infinera and Brocade, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), have demonstrated how SDN can be used to automatically provision services and optimize network resources, such as dynamically increasing or rerouting data center to data center interconnect bandwidth services, across a multi-layer network as traffic demands change.
About the demo:
- The first phase of this new demonstration leveraged ESnet’s On-Demand Secure Circuits and Advance Reservation System (OSCARS) in conjunction with an open source controller to provision services over network elements at both the packet and transport layers via the OpenFlow protocol. A 100 GbE service was provisioned across the multi-layer network comprising of Brocade MLXe Core Routers and additional OpenFlow-enabled Layer 2 switches connected over a virtualized transport network consisting of three Infinera DTN-X platforms, each running Infinera’s Open Transport Switch software module. Multi-layer provisioning using SDN enables services and bandwidth to be dynamically provisioned via a single screen across the router layer and transport layer to speed service delivery and save operational costs.
- The second phase of the demonstration focused on multi-layer network optimization and demonstrated how proactive detection of increasing bandwidth of packet flows could trigger OSCARS to dynamically re-route the large flow to bypass an intermediate packet switch/router. This approach leverages SDN to maximize the use of the intelligent DTN-X transport layer with integrated switching to minimize transit traffic carried at the router layer. Automated multi-layer optimization analyzes network topology and traffic flows to route traffic at the most cost-effective and energy-efficient layer of the network to save both capital and operational costs.
- OSCARS contains algorithms for multi-layer provisioning, topology modeling and path computation that have been developed as part of DOE-funded network research. With OSCARS leveraging Floodlight’s RESTful application programming interfaces (API), the open source controller is able to discover and provision network elements at both the packet and transport layers via the OpenFlow protocol. Infinera’s DTN-X is a transport platform that converges DWDM and OTN switching without compromise and, in conjunction with GMPLS intelligence and the OTS software, is an optimal platform for presenting a high capacity and flexible virtualized transport topology to SDN controllers such as Floodlight or OpenDaylight. The terabit scale Brocade MLXe routers are fully programmable and offer the industry’s only OpenFlow Hybrid Port Mode with hardware support for OpenFlow L2+L3 12-tuple matching at line rates up to 100 GbE speeds and industry-leading support for up to 128K flows.
“This pioneering demonstration showcases the value of an Intelligent Transport Network combined with SDN control,” said Dave Welch, President, Infinera. “Our converged DTN-X platform is optimal for realizing many SDN benefits, including multi-layer optimization which increases the efficiency of network resources used at higher layers of the network.”
“We believe the ability for the network to quickly and nimbly handle large data flows at the most cost-effective layer of the network is one of the key value drivers for SDN,” said ESnet Chief Technologist Inder Monga. “Being able to provision and optimize the network across both the router and transport layers from a single console using our OSCARS platform and open standards-based protocols is very attractive to ESnet.”
“The Brocade MLXe Series delivers a high-performance SDN solution ideal for the customers who require scalability and programmability from the network,” said Ananda Rajagopal, Vice President Product Management and Strategy, Brocade. “This multivendor solution showcases the importance of open standards and how they can improve network provisioning across multiple layers of the network for increased operational simplicity.”
“As the steward of the OpenFlow protocol, the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) is excited to see rapid innovation and business value delivered in the carrier market using a standards-based OpenFlow approach,” said Dan Pitt, Executive Director of the Open Networking Foundation. “We are pleased to see ONF member companies propelling the open SDN movement and accelerating industry adoption.”
