SDN and NFV Simplified

Description

A Visual Guide to Understanding Software Defined Networks and Network Function Virtualization

The simple, visual, at-a-glance guide to SDN and NFV: Core concepts, business drivers, key technologies, and more!

SDN (Software Defined Networks) and NFV (Network Function Virtualization) are today’s hottest areas of networking. Many executives, investors, sales professionals, and marketers need a solid working understanding of these technologies, but most books on the subject are written specifically for network engineers and other technical experts. SDN and NFV Simplified fills that gap, offering highly visual, “at-a-glance” explanations of SDN, NFV, and their underlying virtualizations.

Built around an illustrated, story-telling approach, this answers the questions: Why does this technology matter? How does it work? Where is it used? What problems does it solve?

Through easy, whiteboard-style infographics, you’ll learn: how virtualization enables SDN and NFV; how datacenters are virtualized through clouds; how networks can also be virtualized; and how to maximize security, visibility, and Quality of Experience in tomorrow’s fully-virtualized environments.

Step by step, you’ll discover why SDN and NFV technologies are completely redefining both enterprise and carrier networks, and driving the most dramatic technology migration since IP networking. That’s not all: You’ll learn all you need to help lead this transformation.

• Learn how virtualization establishes the foundation for SDN and NFV
• Review the benefits of VMs, the role of hypervisors, and the management of virtual resources
• Discover how cloud technologies enable datacenter virtualization
• Understand the roles of networking gear in virtualized datacenters
• See VMWare VMotion and VXLAN at work in the virtualized datacenter
• Understand multitenancy and the challenges of “communal living”
• Learn how core network functions and appliances can be virtualized
• Ensure performance and scalability in virtualized networks
• Compare modern approaches to network virtualization, including OpenFlow, VMWare Nicera, Cisco Inseieme, and OpenStack
• Walk through the business case for SDN, NFV, and the Cloud
• Discover how the Software Defined Network (SDN) solves problems previously left unaddressed
• Understand SDN controllers–and who’s fighting to control your network
• Use SDN and NFV to improve integration and say goodbye to “truck rolls”
• Enforce security, avoid data leakage, and protect assets through encryption
• Provide for effective monitoring and consistent Quality of Experience (QoE)
• Learn how SDN and NFV will affect you–and what’s next

Summary
• SDN (Software Defined Networks) and NFV (Network Function Virtualization) are the hottest areas of networking today both in terms of interest and investment, but many professionals do not fully understand what SDN and NFV are, how they work (at a basic level) and why they are so important to the networking industry
• SDN and NFV Simplified will provide both written and illustrated explanations of SDN and NFV  (and the underlying virtualizations) concepts using the topic “at-a-glance” approach that has been successful in two editions of Cisco Networking Simplified.
• There are several books focused on SDN and NFV however they all tend to be aimed at technical audiences.   There is scant information available for non-technical people who need only a high level understanding of virtualization in general and SDN and NFV in particular.  These people include executives, marketing and sales personnel and investors and these people in total make up the majority of all people with a vested interest in the subject matter.
• Like Cisco Networking Simplified, many technical readers (CCIE level) whose area of focus is not in SDN and NFV will also find this book useful in gaining a working knowledge of the topics presented in the book.   This cross over utility was one of the best outcomes of the Cisco Networking Simplified series and was the source of several 4 and 5 star reviews on Amazon.com.
• Like the previously successful “Simplified” books I will use a building block approach by first covering point topics such as how virtual machines and hypervisors work and then using those topics to describe macro subjects such as NFV, SDN and SDN Controllers.  We will also describe both the technical and financial benefits of these technologies.
• The full breadth of SDN and NFV will be covered and the topic flow will allow readers read the book from cover to cover for a comprehensive understanding or pick and choose sub topics to explore as needs or interests dictate. Each chapter will answer the following questions:
o Why does the technology matter?
o How does it work?
o Where is it used?
o What problems does it solve?
(see notes below on outline….)

This visual approach is key to the book and represents a clear point of differentiation from other books on SDN.  While these books range in technical depth from beginners to advanced engineering design, all of them take a “text book” approach to the topic with tens of thousands of words, supported here and there with a small diagram or table.   SDN and NFV Simplified will take a visual approach to the subject matter, and support the diagrams and info graphics with text to put the topic into context.  This graphic treatment will also serve to make the book more useful in day-to-day work than a textbook by allowing readers to consume any topic at a glance.

Other books focused on SDN and NFV tend address technical audiences, and information for non-technical people who need only a high level understanding is scant. SDN and NFV Simplified provides both written and illustrated explanations of SDN and NFV (and the underlying virtualizations) concepts using the topic “at-a-glance” approach relevant to the executives, investors, sales professionals and marketers seeking a basic understanding.

Gain a working knowledge of SDN, NFV and Virtualization technologies and their economic implications

• Provides illustrative explanations so you can view an entire topic at a glance
• Puts topics into real-world context, so you get not only the “what” but also the “so what?”
• Useful as a primary learning tool and as a convenient reference guide

• Provides illustrative explanations so you can view an entire topic at a glance
• Puts topics into real-world context, so you get not only the “what” but also the “so what?”
• Useful as a primary learning tool and as a convenient reference guide

Introduction xiii

Part 1 Virtualization 101: The Basics of Virtualization 1

Chapter 1 Primer on Virtualization 3

Server Proliferation, Massive Power Bills, and Other IT Nightmares 3

How Servers Work 6

How VMs Fix the Underutilized Server Problem 7

Enter the Hypervisor 8

Why Are Virtual Machines Such a Big Deal? 10

Chapter 2 Benefits of Virtual Machines 13

Reduced Cost 13

Less Space (Even More Cost Savings) 15

Availability and Flexibility 15

Faster Application Spin-Up and Provisioning 16

Easier Access for Development 17

Believe the Hype! 18

Chapter 3 Hypervisors (VMWare, KVM, and Others) 21

An Operating System for Operating Systems 21

A Virtual Machine Monitor 22

Types of Hypervisors 22

Hypervisor Vendors 24

KVM 24

Xen 25

VMware ESXi 26

Microsoft Hyper-V 26

Choosing a Hypervisor 27

Summary 27

Chapter 4 Managing Virtual Resources 29

What Is a Workload? 30

Managing Virtual Resources in the Hypervisor 31

Virtual Resource Providers and Consumers 33

So How Do You Manage Virtual Resources? 34

Part 2 Virtualization 201: Virtualizing the Data Center (a.k.a. Clouds) 37

Chapter 5 Virtualized Data Centers (Some Call Them Clouds) 39

Benefits of Virtualizing the Data Center 39

Less Heat Buildup 39

Reduced Hardware Spend 40

Faster Deployment 40

Testing and Development 40

Faster Redeploy 40

Easier Backups 40

Disaster Recovery 41

Server Standardization 41

Separation of Services 41

Easier Migration to the Cloud 41

Is It a Cloud Yet? 41

The Five Cloud Attributes 42

On-Demand Self-Service 43

Ubiquitous Network Access 43

Pay Per Use 43

Rapid Elasticity 43

Location-Independent Resource Pooling 44

Types of Clouds 44

Software as a Service 44

Infrastructure as a Service 45

Platform as a Service 47

Cloud Deployment Models 48

Private Clouds 48

Shared Multitenant Clouds 48

Public Clouds 48

Hybrid Clouds 48

Chapter 6 Virtual Machine Connectivity 53

Networking in Traditional Data Centers 53

Virtualized Data Center Design 55

Addressing with Virtual Machines 56

Chapter 7 Networking Gear in Virtualized Data Centers 61

The Evolution of Data Center Switching 61

Cloud and Data Center Layout and Architecture 63

Virtualized Aware Network Switches 65

Chapter 8 VMware, VSphere, VMotion, and VXLAN 67

VMware Product Design 67

vSphere 68

VMotion 69

VXLAN 70

VXLAN Tunnel Endpoints 71

Summary 72

Chapter 9 Multitenancy and the Problems of Communal Living 73

SaaS Multitenancy 73

Pros and Cons of SaaS Multitenancy 75

IaaS Multitenancy 76

Pros and Cons of IaaS Multitenancy 77

Part 3 Network Functions Virtualized: Why Stop With Servers? 81

Chapter 10 How Do You Virtualize a Network? 83

Network Virtualization 83

How Does This Fit with NFV and SDN? 84

Server Virtualization 85

Network Virtualization 85

Network Functions Virtualization 85

Software-Defined Networking 85

Virtualizing the Network 86

Chapter 11 Virtualizing Appliances 89

Layer 4 Through 7 Network Services 89

Firewalls 90

VPNs 90

SSL Offload 90

Load Balancer 90

Fighting Virtualization with Virtualization 91

What’s the “So What”? 92

Chapter 12 Virtualizing Core Networking Functions 93

Virtualization Recap 93

Where Core Functions Are Being Virtualized 95

Chapter 13 What About Scalability and Performance? 99

Scalability Versus Performance 99

Performance in Network Virtualization 100

Scalability and Performance in Virtual Networks 100

Scalability and Performance for Virtual Appliances 101

Scalability and Performance of Virtualized Networks 102

Summary 102

Part 4 Modern Networking Approaches to Virtualization 105

Chapter 14 From Consumers to Creators 107

The Emergence of SaaS 108

Cloud Business Consumer-Creators 109

Chapter 15 OpenFlow 113

OpenFlow History 114

How OpenFlow Works 115

Chapter 16 VMware Nicira 119

VMware NSX 120

Network Virtualization with NSX 120

How VMware Leverages Nicira (NSX) 121

Chapter 17 Cisco Insieme 125

Cisco’s Hybrid SDN Solution 125

Cisco SDN and Insieme 126

Chapter 18 OpenStack 129

Applications on Modern Networks 129

Part 5 Software Defined Networks 135

Chapter 19 The Evolution of the Data Center Network 137

Networks Worked Great, Until They Didn’t 138

Traditional Data Center Design Goals 139

High Availability 139

Low Latency 139

Scalability 139

Security 139

The Cost Model Explodes 140

How We Got Here 141

Chapter 20 What’s Wrong with the Network We Have? 143

A Brief Review of Networking 144

Control Planes and Forwarding Planes 145

The Cost of Complexity 145

Decoupling Networking Applications from Networking Gear 147

Chapter 21 How SDN Works 149

Understanding SDN 149

The Application Layer 151

The Control Layer 152

The Infrastructure Layer 152

A Programmable Network 152

So What’s the “So What?” 153

Chapter 22 The Economic Impact of SDN, NFV, and the Cloud 157

Winners in SDN, NFV, and the Cloud 157

How the “Little Guy” Wins 157

How Large Enterprises Win with SDN, NFV, and the Cloud 160

Losers in the Cloud 163

The Economic Value of Increased Innovation 164

Part 6 SDN Controllers 167

Chapter 23 SDN Controllers 169

Centralized Control 169

Commercial Versus Open Source Controllers 170

Network Virtualization 171

viii SDN and NFV Simplified

Chapter 24 The OpenDaylight Project 175

How the ODL Architecture Works 177

The ODL Controller Platform 178

Chapter 25 The Fight to Control Your Network 181

Separation of Internal Controls 181

You Can See It, But Who Controls It? 184

Chapter 26 What’s the Business Case for SDN? 187

SDN Use Case Examples 188

Data Center Optimization 189

Network Access Control 189

Network Virtualization 189

Virtual Customer Edge 189

Dynamic Interconnects 189

Virtual Core and Aggregation 189

Summary 190

Part 7 Virtualized Networks 193

Chapter 27 Goodbye Truck Rolls 195

Data Center Scale 195

A New Maintenance Philosophy 198

Summary 199

Chapter 28 What If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit? 201

Where SDN Does Not Fit 202

When Should You Adopt SDN? 202

Stuck in the Middle 203

Chapter 29 Service Chaining 205

Service Chaining in SDN 206

Chapter 30 NFV: What Happens to All the Network Appliances? 209

How Network Appliances Are Different 209

Replacing Big Hardware Appliances with Many Small Virtual Appliances 210

When Not to Get Rid of an Appliance 211

Part 8 Security 213

Chapter 31 Where’s My Data, Exactly? 215

Storage Virtualization 215

Storage-Area Networks 216

Data Location and Security 217

So What Are the Nontechnical Issues That We Need to Address? 218

Summary 219

Chapter 32 Preventing Data Leakage 223

Minimizing Data Loss 224

Data Loss Prevention 225

Chapter 33 Logging and Auditing 229

Where Logging Matters 231

Summary 233

Chapter 34 Encryption in Virtual Networks 235

Data in Motion 235

Data at Rest 236

Key Management 238

Best Practices 238

Chapter 35 Everything Old Is Now New Again 241

How We Got Here 241

The Mainframe Model 241

The Personal Computer Model 241

The Networked Model 242

The Internet Model 242

Grid Computing Model 242

Cloud Computing Model 242

What We Have Learned 242

Retro Security Considerations 244

Recycled Ideas on Mobile and Web Apps 245

Part 9 Visibility 247

Chapter 36 Overlay Networks 249

MPLS: The Original Virtual Network 249

Virtual Layer 2 Designs 250

Enter SDN 252

Common Encapsulation Techniques 252

Chapter 37 Network Management Tools 255

What’s in the Tool Bag? 256

Tapping In 256

Gaining Visibility 257

Chapter 38 Quality of Experience 261

Deep Packet Inspection 263

Chapter 39 Monitoring Traffic Between Virtual Switches 265

Getting VM Visibility 265

Monitoring VM-to-VM traffic 266

How VxLANs Work 267

Creating a “Visibility Layer” 267

Part 10 The Big Picture 269

Chapter 40 Pulling It All Together 271

Why the Network Had to Change 271

How SDN and NFV Tie Together 273

SDN’s Downside: A Loss of Visibility 274

SDN Orchestration 274

Chapter 41 How SDN and NFV Will Affect You 277

Operational Domains 278

Mobility Virtualization 278

Virtual CPE and Service Chaining 278

NFV and Service Orchestration 278

WAN Optimization and Innovation 278

Network Optimization 278

Policy-Driven Application Provisioning and Delivery 279

SDN Use Cases 279

Network Access Control 279

Network Virtualization 279

Data Center Optimization 279

Direct Inter-Connects 279

Embracing SDN and NFV 279

Chapter 42 What’s Next in Networking? 283

Separate but Complementary 283

Virtual Customer Premise Equipment 284

SDN and NFV Working Together 285

Summary 286

TOC, 9780134306407, 2/15/16

Jim Doherty has more than 17 years of engineering and marketing experience across a broad range of networking, security, and technology companies. Focusing on technology strategy, product positioning, and marketing execution, Jim has held leadership positions for Cisco Systems, Certes Networks, Ixia, and Ericsson Mobile. Currently, he is the SVP of Sales and Marketing for Percona.

Doherty is also the creator and co-author of the Networking Simplified series of books, which includes Cisco Networking Simplified, Home Networking Simplified, and several other titles. He has also written books on mobile security and other networking topics.

Jim is a former U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University and an MBA from Duke University. Jim lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.

Additional information

Dimensions	0.90 × 7.90 × 9.90 in
Imprint	Addison-Wesley Professional
Format	gen
ISBN-13	09780134306407
ISBN-10	0134306406
Author	Jim Doherty
BISAC	COM091000
Subjects	professional, higher education, network security, cloud computing, Employability, IT Professional, Y-AC NETWORKING, COM091000, sdn, software defined networking, QoE, QoS, Quality of Experience, Quality of Service, network virtualization