Describe the responsibility of each layer in the SDN layer perspective.

  • Data plane — functions and processes that forward data in the form of packets or frames
  • Control plane — functions and processes that determine which path to use by using protocols to populate forwarding tables of data plane elements
  • Management plane — services that are used to monitor and configure the control functionality, e.g. SNMP-based tools

Describe a pipeline of flow tables in OpenFlow.

Flow tables have three parts:

  • a matching rule,
  • actions to be executed on matching packets,
  • counters that keep statistics of matching packets

When a packet arrives, the lookup process starts in the first table and ends with either a match in of the tables of the pipeline or with a miss.

What’s the main purpose of southbound interfaces?

The Southbound interfaces or APIs are the separating medium between the control plane and data plane functionality.

What are three information sources provided by the OpenFlow protocol?

  1. Event-based messages that are sent by forwarding devices to the controller when there is a link or port change.
  2. Flow statistics are generated by forwarding devices and collected by the controller.
  3. Packet messages are sent by forwarding devices to controller when they do not know what to do with a new incoming flow.

What are the core functions of an SDN controller?

Topology, statistics, notifications, device management, and shortest path forwarding and security mechanisms.

What are the differences between centralized and distributed architectures of SDN controllers?

  • Centralized controller — a single entity that manages all forwarding devices in the network.
  • Distributed controller — a centralized cluster of nodes or a physically distributed set of elements.

When would a distributed controller be preferred to a centralized controller?

A distributed controller is useful if you’re looking for scalability. Centralized controllers are unable to handle a large number of data plane elements.

Describe the purpose of each component of ONOS (Open Networking Operating System) a distributed SDN control platform.

ONOS is a cluster-based distributed control-plane operating system. Several ONOS instances run within one cluster, with one being a master, and they all acquire a global network view using the statistics generated by the OpenFlow manager. The ONOS clusters generate a global view and send updates based upon the set policy to the OpenFlow managers — which then act upon the new instructions. Due to its clustered, distributed nature, ONOS is able to achieve fault tolerance and scale-out performance.

  • Zoopkeeper 用於維護交換機和控制器之間的主控權。
  • Titan (a Graph database) 和 Cassandra (a Distributed Key-Value Store) 用於實現 View。
  • Application 使用 BluePrints API 與 Network View交互。

How does ONOS achieve fault tolerance?

為了實現容錯,ONOS 將故障實例的工作重新分配給其他剩餘實例。

  • A master node is elected for each cluster. Upon the failure of a master node, a new master for the cluster is elected. The work of a failed instance is redistributed to other ONOS nodes in the cluster.

What is P4?

A high-level programming language to configure switches which works in conjunction with SDN control protocols.

What are the primary goals of P4?

  • Reconfigurability:在交換機中解析和處理數據包的方式應該可以由控制器修改。
  • Protocol independence:為了使交換機能夠獨立於任何特定協議,控制器定義了一個 packet 解析器和一組映射匹配及其操作的表。packet 解析器提取頭字段,然後將其傳遞給匹配+動作表進行處理。
  • Target independence:packet 處理程序的編程應獨立於底層目標設備。這些用 P4 編寫的通用程序應由編譯器轉換為目標相關程序,然後用於配置交換機。

What are the two main operations of P4 forwarding model?

  • Configure — programming of the parser, specify header fields to be processed in each stage of packet processing
  • Populate — allows addition / deletion of the entries in the tables, decides the policies to be applied to matching packets

What are the applications of SDN? Provide examples of each application.

  • Traffic engineering — optimize traffic flow to minimize power consumption
  • Mobility and wireless — provides an abstraction layer, decoupling wireless protocols from the management of the data plane entities
  • Measurement and monitoring — enables systems to respond to changes in network conditions
  • Security and dependability — impose security policies on entry points into the network
  • Data center networking — live network migration, troubleshooting, real-time monitoring

Which BGP limitations can be addressed by using SDN?

  • Routing using only destination IP prefix
  • Networks have little control over end-to-end paths

What’s the purpose of SDX?

  • Application-specific peering
  • Traffic engineering
  • Traffic load balancing
  • Traffic redirection through middle boxes

Describe the SDX architecture.

SDX virtualized the BGP route server architecture used in traditional internet exchange points. Each autonomous system has the illusion that it has its own virtual SDN switch connecting its border router to every other participant autonomous system.

What are the applications of SDX in the domain of wide-area traffic delivery?

  • Application specific peering
  • Inbound traffic engineering
  • Wide-are server load balancing
  • Redirection through middle boxes

--

--

No responses yet