An overview of the Floodlight OpenFlow Controller from the Big Switch networks team.

1. Software-Defined Networking and
the Floodlight controller
Mike Cohen
Big Switch Networks
Mike.cohen@bigswitch.com
Alex Reimers
Big Switch Networks
Alex.reimers@bigswitch.com

2. Agenda
 Overview
 Architecture
 Applications
 Demo
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc.

3. Big Switch Networks
Overview People @ Big Switch
Big Switch Networks is a market leader in
Guido Appenzeller
Software-Defined Networking and a strong CEO, Big Switch Networks
proponent of OpenFlow technology Former Consulting Assistant Professor
at Stanford University, led the team that
developed OpenFlow 1.0
Open Source Projects include:
 Floodlight Rob Sherwood
MTS, Big Switch Networks
 Indigo Author of FlowVisor and key architect
 OFTest of OpenFlow 1.0
 More to come…
Dan Talayco
MTS, Big Switch Networks
Former member of the Stanford
OpenFlow Team. Led development of
Yes, we’re hiring! the Indigo reference implementation
 Contact me or careers@bigswitch.com Others include:
Isabelle Guis, Omar Baldonado, Howie Xu, Mansour
Karam, Nick Bastin, Saurav Das, and many others…
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 3

4. Floodlight Overview
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc.

5. Floodlight Overview
An Apache licensed OpenFlow Controller
 Developer friendly Apache license
 Easy to use, extensible Java development
environment
 Enterprise grade - Core engine used and
supported by Big Switch Networks (running in
production today)
 Supports a broad range of physical and virtual
OpenFlow switches
 OF 1.0 compliant today – future OF versions on
the way
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 5

6. Floodlight Users and Contributors
Floodlight Adopters:
• University research
• Networking vendors
• Users
• Developers / startups
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 6

7. Floodlight Switch Compatibility
A snapshot from Interop
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 7

8. Floodlight Growth
Downloads of Floodlight since January launch
7000
• Over 200 mailing list posts / month
6000 • Run rate of 1200+ downloads / month
5000
4000
3000
Mailing list
2000 posts per
month
1000
0
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 8

9. Building Floodlight
Fast…and easy…
Download from Github
$ git clone git://github.com/floodlight/floodlight.git
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential default-jdk ant python-dev
$ cd floodlight; ant
$ java –jar target/floodlight.jar
Get the VM (including mininet)
$ wget http://floodlight.openflowhub.org/files/floodlight-vm.zip
(login as “floodlight” user, no password)
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 9

10. Floodlight Roadmap
Recently launched: Roadmap:
 OpenFlow 1.x support
 Module system
 Command line interface
 Ubuntu PPA’s
 Persistent storage
 Quantum / OpenStack  Python / Jython support
 Web UI  Firewall, Load balancer
apps
 Performance improvements
 Web UI 2.0
 Stable northbound APIs
 Better Documentation
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 10

11. Programming Floodlight
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc.

12. Floodlight Architecture
Overview
FloodlightProvider
(IFloodlightProviderService)  Floodlight is a collection of modules
TopologyManager
(ITopologyManagerService)
LinkDiscovery  Some modules (not all) export
(ILinkDiscoveryService)
services
Forwarding
DeviceManager  All modules in Java
(IDeviceService)
StorageSource
(IStorageSourceService)  Rich, extensible REST API
RestServer
(IRestApiService)
StaticFlowPusher
(IStaticFlowPusherService)
VirtualNetworkFilter
(IVirtualNetworkFilterService)
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 12

13. Floodlight Architecture
Module descriptions
FloodlightProvider  Translates OF messages to Floodlight events
(IFloodlightProviderService)  Managing connections to switches via Netty
TopologyManager  Computes shortest path using Dijsktra
(ITopologyManagerService)  Keeps switch to cluster mappings
LinkDiscovery  Maintains state of links in network
(ILinkDiscoveryService)  Sends out LLDPs
 Installs flow mods for end-to-end routing
Forwarding
 Handles island routing
DeviceManager  Tracks hosts on the network
(IDeviceService)  MAC -> switch,port, MAC->IP, IP->MAC
StorageSource  DB style storage (queries, etc)
(IStorageSourceService)  Modules can access all data and subscribe to changes
RestServer  Implements via Restlets (restlet.org)
(IRestApiService)  Modules export RestletRoutable
StaticFlowPusher  Supports the insertion and removal of static flows
(IStaticFlowPusherService)  REST-based API
VirtualNetworkFilter  Create layer 2 domain defined by MAC address
(IVirtualNetworkFilterService)  Used for OpenStack / Quantum
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 13

14. Floodlight Programming Model
Northbound APIs
IFloodlightModule
 Java module that runs as part of Floodlight
External
 Consumes services and events exported by Application
other modules
 OpenFlow (ie. Packet-in)
 Switch add / remove REST
IFloodlight-
 Device add /remove / move Module
 Link discovery
Floodlight Controller
External Application
 Communicates with Floodlight via REST Switch
 Quantum / Virtual networks Switch
 Normalized network state
vSwitch
 Static flows Switch
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 14

15. REST API Reference
A moving target…but…
Network State Static Flows Virtual Network User Extensions
List Hosts Add Flow Create Network …
List Links Delete Flow Delete Network
List Switches List Flows Add Host
GetStats (DPID) RemoveAll Flows Remove Host
GetCounters
(OFType…)
Floodlight Controller
Switch
Switch
Switch
vSwitch
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 15

16. Programming Floodlight (1)
Using the REST API
 Fine-grained ability to
push flows over REST
 Access to normalized
topology and device state
 Extensible access to add
new APIs
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 16

17. Programming Floodlight (2)
Creating a module
 Handle OpenFlow
messages directly (ie.
PacketIn)
 Expose services to other
modules
 Add new REST APIs
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 17

18. Cool Floodlight Applications
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc.
1

19. Programmable Patch Panel
A Floodlight iPhone application
 A simple programmable patch panel built
from:
 Floodlight
 Pronto 3290 switch running Indigo
 Uses Static Flow Pusher API to redirect
traffic between two ports
 Runs remotely on the iPhone!
 Available:
http://virtualnow.net/2012/05/03/using-
an-openflow-switch-as-a-programmable-
patch-panel/
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 19

20. vArmour: Security for OpenFlow
 Founded by security veterans
from NetScreen
 Security device integrated with
Application
Application
Application
the Floodlight controller
 Showcased the first SDN-capable Floodlight Controller
deep packet inspection working Switch
with Floodlight at the Open Switch
Networking Summit Switch
Switch
Contact: http://www.varmour.com/
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 20

21. MobiFlow: Floodlight iPad Interface
 Built be Saurabh
Sabnis, Georgia Tech
 Interface to view
switches, hosts, netwo
rk topology, and
statistics
 Access to Static Flow
Pusher API
 Available: Coming
soon
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 21

22. OpenStack and Quantum
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc.
2

23. Floodlight OpenStack Integration
Virtual Networking Support
Components:
 RestProxy plugin runs inside Quantum Quantum
module in OpenStack
RestProxy
 VirtualNetworkFilter implements layer 2 Plugin
isolation based on MAC
Highlights:
 Supports physical and virtual switches in VirtualNetwork
OpenFlow networks Filter
 Caveats:
Floodlight Controller
 No multicast and broadcast isolation
 All DHCP traffic allowed
Switch
vSwitch
Switch vSwitch
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc.

24. OpenStack / Floodlight Demo
OpenStack-in-a-VM
1. Create two quantum networks Core Processes
VirtualNetwork Filter
Quantum
2. Launch 2 hosts in one
network: [10.5.5.2, 10.5.5.3] RestProxy Floodlight
Plugin Controller
3. Launch 1 host in the other
[10.6.6.2]
OpenStack / Quantum Network
4. Test pings:
Open vSwitch
1. 10.5.5.2 -> 10.5.5.3 [OK]
2. 10.6.6.2 -> 10.5.5.2 [NO]
Host52 Host53
Each network is in an isolated layer Host62
2 domain enforced by Floodlight’s
VirtualNetworkFilter. 10.5.5.0/24 10.6.6.0/24
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 24

25. OpenFlowHub and Other Open
Source Projects
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc.

26. Get Involved with OpenFlowHub
Join the community!
What it is: Get involved:
1. A community of open source  Submit a project
OpenFlow developers
 Write a blog post
2. An OpenFlow Blog (available for
guest authors)  http://www.openflowhub.org
3. Free hosting, tools, and promotion  Contact:
for open source projects mike.cohen@openflowhub.org
 Wiki, forums, bug tracking
tools, logos, etc.
Projects:
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. – Proprietary and Confidential 26

27. OFTest: Validating OpenFlow Switches
 A python-based framework and set of
tests for OpenFlow switches
 Includes over 60 tests exercising
various aspects of OpenFlow
 Useful for testing new OpenFlow
implementations and assessing
standards compliance
OFTest connects to both
the data plane and control
plane of the switch to
Available: http://oftest.openflowhub.org/ simulate and monitor
OpenFlow messages
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 27

28. LOXI
Logical OpenFlow eXtensible Interface
Challenge: The OF specification lives in openflow.h
openflow.h openflow.h
 Tight coupling of wire format and datastructures V1.2 V1.1
Input
 New version of OpenFlow 1.x == LOTS of code
openflow.h openflow.h
change V1.3 V1.0
 Few non 1.0 switches and controllers have
emerged LOXI
Parser
Front-
Solution: LOXI, an interface that hides OpenFlow wire end
format differences
 Write once, run across any OF version
Code Gen
Python Java C
 Support for multiple languages Back-end Back-end Back-end
 Example: match MPLS tag XX
 OF 1.0 – unsupported
 OF 1.1 – fixed length match
Output
LOXI.py LOXI.jar libLOXI.a
 OF 1.2+ - OXM-style match
Available: Coming soon…
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 28

29. Indigo
An OpenFlow switch reference implementation
Version 1:
 Designed for hardware switches and
released under OpenFlow license in 2009
 Support for 1G and 10G Broadcom chips
Version 2.0 (coming soon):
 Based on LOXI – OF 1.x support for free
 Apache 2.0 license
 Support for multiple datapaths, both
hardware and software
 Config abstraction layer for easily
integrating UI’s
Available (1.0): http://indigo.openflowhub.org
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 29

30. Interested in Learning More?
 Check out the website
 http://floodlight.openflowhub.org
 Join the mailing list:
 http://groups.google.com/a/openflowhub.org/group/floo
dlight-dev/topics
 Or just email floodlight-dev@openflowhub.org
 Get the code:
 http://floodlight.openflowhub.org/download
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc. 30

31. Thanks!
Mike Cohen
Mike.cohen@bigswitch.com
Big Switch Networks
Alex Reimers
Alex.reimers@bigswitch.com
Big Switch Networks
Floodlight mailing list:
floodlight-dev@openflowhub.org
©2012 – Big Switch Networks Inc.