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Software-Defined Networking with OpenFlow
Software-Defined Networking with OpenFlow

Software-Defined Networking with OpenFlow: Deliver innovative business solutions , Second Edition

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Profile Icon Oswald Coker Profile Icon SIAMAK AZODOLMOLKY
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$19.99 per month
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Paperback Oct 2017 246 pages 2nd Edition
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Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Oswald Coker Profile Icon SIAMAK AZODOLMOLKY
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$19.99 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5 (1 Ratings)
Paperback Oct 2017 246 pages 2nd Edition
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$43.99
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Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
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Software-Defined Networking with OpenFlow

Introducing OpenFlow

This chapter introduces OpenFlow and its role in the SDN ecosystem and how it works in a computer network. It shapes the required knowledge prior to the actual setup of an experimental environment. The notion of flow forwarding, OpenFlow functions, what OpenFlow tables can do, and features and limitations of OpenFlow are recovered in this chapter.

We will cover the following topics:

  • Activities around SDN/OpenFlow
  • Building blocks of an SDN deployment
  • OpenFlow messages
  • The Northbound interface

Activities around SDN/OpenFlow

While OpenFlow has received a considerable amount of industry attention, it is worth mentioning that the idea of programmable networks and decoupled control plane (control logic) from data plane has been around for many years. The Open Signaling (OPENSIG) working group initiated a series of workshops in 1995 in order to make ATM, Internet, and mobile networks more open, extensible, and programmable. Motivated by these ideas, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) working group came up with General Switch Management Protocol (GSMP) to control a label switch. This group officially concluded and GSMPv3 was published in June 2002.

The active network initiative proposed the idea of a network infrastructure that would be programmable for customized services. However, the active network never gathered critical mass, mainly due to the practical...

Building Blocks of an SDN deployment

The SDN switch (for instance, an OpenFlow switch), the SDN controller, and the interfaces are present in the controller for communication with forwarding devices, generally southbound interface (OpenFlow), and northbound interface (the network application interface), which are the fundamental building blocks of an SDN deployment. Switches in an SDN are often represented as basic forwarding hardware accessible via an open interface, as the control logic and algorithms are offloaded to a controller. OpenFlow switches come in two varieties: pure (OpenFlow-only) and hybrid (OpenFlow-enabled).

Pure OpenFlow switches have no legacy features or onboard control and completely rely on a controller for forwarding decisions. Hybrid switches support OpenFlow in addition to traditional operation and protocols. Most commercial switches available today are...

OpenFlow messages

The communication between the controller and switch happens using the OpenFlow protocol, where a set of defined messages can be exchanged between these entities over a secure channel. The secure channel is an interface that connects each OpenFlow switch to a controller. The Transport Layer Security (TLS) connection to the user-defined (otherwise fixed) controller is initiated by the switch with its power on. The controller's default TCP port is 6633. The switch and controller mutually authenticate by exchanging certificates signed by a site-specific private key. Each switch must be user-configurable, with one certificate for authenticating the controller (controller certificate) and the other for authenticating to the controller (switch certificate). Traffic to and from the secure channel is not checked against the flow table; therefore, the switch must...

Northbound interface

External management systems or network applications (Net Apps) may wish to extract information about the underlying network or control an aspect of the network behavior or policy. Additionally, controllers may find it necessary to communicate with each other for a variety of reasons. For instance, an internal control application may need to reserve resources across multiple domains of control, or a primary controller may need to share policy information with a backup controller.

Unlike controller-switch communication (that is, the southbound interface), currently, there is no accepted standard for the northbound interface and they are more likely to be implemented on an ad-hoc basis for particular applications.

A potential reason is that the northbound interface is defined entirely in the software, while controller-switch interactions must enable the...

Summary

OpenFlow is the continuation of many previous efforts to provide decoupled control and data forwarding in networking equipment. A background of these efforts was presented in this chapter. Presenting the key building blocks of an SDN deployment, in particular, the OpenFlow protocol and its basic operation were covered in this chapter.

After introducing OpenFlow, in the next chapter, we present the reference implementation of OpenFlow switch in software and hardware, along with an introduction to the Mininet experiment environment.

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Key benefits

  • •Master the required platforms and tools to build network applications with OpenFlow
  • •Get to grips with the updated OpenFlow and build robust SDN-based solutions
  • •An end-to-end thorough overview of open-source switches, controllers, and tools

Description

OpenFlow paves the way for an open, centrally programmable structure, thereby accelerating the effectiveness of Software-Defined Networking. Software-Defined Networking with OpenFlow, Second Edition takes you through the product cycle and gives you an in-depth description of the components and options that are available at each stage. The aim of this book is to help you implement OpenFlow concepts and improve Software-Defined Networking on your projects. You will begin by learning about building blocks and OpenFlow messages such as controller-to-switch and symmetric and asynchronous messages. Next, this book will take you through OpenFlow controllers and their existing implementations followed by network application development. Key topics include the basic environment setup, the Neutron and Floodlight OpenFlow controller, XORPlus OF13SoftSwitch, enterprise and affordable switches such as the Zodiac FX and HP2920. By the end of this book, you will be able to implement OpenFlow concepts and improve Software-Defined Networking in your projects.

Who is this book for?

If you are a network/system administrator or a system engineer and would like to implement OpenFlow concepts and take Software-Defined Networking on your projects to the next level, then this book is for you. If you are aware of broad networking concepts, and are familiar with the day-to-day operation of computer networks, you will find this book very beneficial.

What you will learn

  • •Explore Software-Defined Networking and activities around SDN/OpenFlow including OpenFlow messages
  • •Hardware and software implementations of OpenFlow switches and experiment with Mininet GUI
  • •Learn about the role of OpenFlow in cloud computing by configuring and setting up the Neutron and Floodlight OpenFlow controller plugins
  • •Simulate and test utilities, and familiarize yourself with OpenFlow soft switches, controllers, virtualization, and orchestration tools
  • •Enhance and build environments for Net App development by installing VM s and tools such as Mininet and Wireshark
  • •Learn about hardware and software switches and get a feel for active open-source projects around SDN and OpenFlow

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Oct 25, 2017
Length: 246 pages
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783984282
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Product Details

Publication date : Oct 25, 2017
Length: 246 pages
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783984282
Languages :
Concepts :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

10 Chapters
Software-Defined Networks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Introducing OpenFlow Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Implementing the OpenFlow Switch Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The OpenFlow Controllers Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Setting Up the Environment Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Net App Development Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Getting a Network Slice Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
OpenFlow in Cloud Computing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Open Source Resources Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The Future of SDN Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

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I went into reading the book with very low expectations due to its large size. 5 hours later I came out of it wanting to read more. The authors have done an amazing job in terms of language, structure, and technical information. This book is amazing, love it.
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