NOSIX: A Portable Switch Interface for the Network Operating System
Title | NOSIX: A Portable Switch Interface for the Network Operating System |
Publication Type | Technical Report |
Year of Publication | 2012 |
Authors | Wundsam, A., & Yu M. |
Other Numbers | 3367 |
Abstract | Even with the success of software-defined networks (SDN), it remains challenging to write aportable, correct, and efficient controller application. This is due to the mismatch between theexpectations of controller applications and (i) the heterogeneity of switches and (ii) theprimitives offered by OpenFlow, the prevalent SDN protocol. We introduce NOSIX, a portablelow-level switch programming API. Like its OS name-cousin, it facilitates the development ofportable low-level applications (i.e., applications that directly built on the flow model) and atthe same time serves as a building block for higher abstraction frameworks [12, 10]. Designed to be a minimalistic model, NOSIX purposefully only targets one switch as a time, leaving network wide consistency, topology and distribution to higher layers. It provides applications with a view of virtual flow tables without re- source or feature constraints, while supporting consistent and efficient rule updates and counter collection. Underneath NOSIX, vendor defined switch drivers synchronize the virtual flow-tables with the physical tables on the switch, and thus hide heterogeneity and enable switch-specific optimization. |
Acknowledgment | This work was partially funded by the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) through a postdoctoral fellowship. |
URL | http://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/pubs/techreports/ICSI_TR-12-013.pdf |
Bibliographic Notes | ICSI Technical Report TR-12-013 |
Abbreviated Authors | A. Wundsam and M. Yu |
ICSI Research Group | Networking and Security |
ICSI Publication Type | Technical Report |