Open vSwitch

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Open vSwitch

Open vSwitch logo.png
Basic data

Publishing year 2009
Current  version 2.13.1
( August 4, 2020 )
operating system Linux , FreeBSD , NetBSD
programming language C.
License Apache license
openvswitch.org

Open vSwitch is free software for the virtualization of multilayer switches that is being developed under the auspices of the Linux Foundation . The software offers support for various hypervisors such as KVM and Xen and is used by the cloud computing software stack OpenStack , among others .

The source code may be on the official repository on GitHub be obtained and is predominantly in C written. The software is under the Apache license 2.0 and can therefore be freely copied, used and changed. The first version still available (0.90.4) was published in July 2009.

The goal of Open vSwitch is network automation on a large scale and it is used in sometimes very large production environments. At the same time, widespread interfaces and protocols for controlling and monitoring network traffic are supported, for example Netflow , sFlow , RSPAN and LACP .

The Open vSwitch Fall Conference , OVSCon for short, has been held annually since 2014 . Most of the lectures are available both as PDF and video clips on the official website.

history

precursor

The first developments in advance began in 2006 at Stanford University around Martìn Casado with Ethane , a flow-based network architecture, and the OpenFlow protocol that was developed from it in 2008 . The name Open vSwitch was first used in 2009 and shortly afterwards the official mailing list and the source code repository were created. The first version of Open vSwitch still available on the official website also dates from this year.

Open vSwitch

The Open vSwitch Database Management Protocol will be implemented in 2009 . OpenFlow 1.0 will be supported from 2010 and version 1.0 of Open vSwitch will be released in the same year. Initially, Nicira, which was acquired by VMware in 2012, is in charge of the development . 2016 becomes Open vSwitch Linux Foundation Project . At this point in time, the project already had over 300 contributors from various companies such as Cisco , Ericsson , Huawei , HP , IBM , Intel , Red Hat and VMware.

Range of functions

Open vSwitch supports the following features:

  • Insight into inter- VM communication via NetFlow, sFlow (R), IPFIX , SPAN , RSPAN, and GRE -tunnelled mirrors
  • LACP ( IEEE 802.1AX-2008)
  • Standard 802.1Q VLAN with trunking
  • Multicast - Snooping
  • IETF -Auto-Attach- SPBM and rudimentary required LLDP support
  • BFD and 802.1ag link monitoring
  • STP (IEEE 802.1D-1998) and RSTP (IEEE 802.1D-2004)
  • Fine QoS control
  • Support for HFSC qdisc
  • VM-wise interface traffic policing
  • NIC bonding with source MAC load balancing , active backup and L4 hashing
  • OpenFlow support (including many extensions for virtualization)
  • IPv6 support
  • Several tunneling protocols (GRE, VXLAN , STT and Geneve, with IPsec support)
  • Protocol for remote configuration with C and Python - Bindings
  • Forwarding engine kernel and user space options
  • Multi-table forwarding pipeline with flow caching engine
  • Abstraction of the forwarding level to simplify porting to new software and hardware platforms

Application and meaning

Open vSwitch has been part of the official Linux kernel since kernel version 3.3, i.e. since 2012, and is an integral part of many virtualization solutions, especially in the FLOSS area. For example, XenServer uses the software as a standard switch and OpenStack also offers Open vSwitch as one of several available network backends.

Open vSwitch is an indispensable component for software-defined networking in many environments . Other virtual switches with a similar range of functions are only available under a proprietary license . Therefore, Open vSwitch is an important part of free virtualization solutions, especially in complex environments such as those found in cloud computing.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Open vSwitch Releases. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 10, 2017 ; accessed on February 5, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Release 2.13.1 . August 4, 2020 (accessed August 13, 2020).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Open vSwitch Main page. Retrieved February 5, 2017 .
  4. ↑ The openvswitch Open Source Project on Open Hub: Languages ​​Page . In: Open Hub . (accessed on September 21, 2018).
  5. ↑ Linux Foundation Projects. Retrieved February 5, 2017 .
  6. ^ Ovs / Documentation / , on github.com, accessed September 28, 2018
  7. ↑ Open vSwitch Download. Retrieved February 5, 2017 .
  8. ↑ a b Ben Pfaff: Open vSwitch: Past, Present and Future. March 20, 2013, accessed December 12, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Martìn Casado, Michael J. Freedman, Justin Pettit, Jianying Luo, Nick McKeown, Scott Shenker: Ethane: Taking Control of the Enterprise. August 31, 2008, accessed February 5, 2017 .
  10. ↑ a b What is Open vSwitch (OVS)? SDxCentral, accessed February 5, 2017 .
  11. ^ Debate Over Openness of Open vSwitch. Twilight in the Valley of the Nerds. Retrieved February 5, 2017 .
  12. ↑ VMWare Buys Nicira For $ 1.26. TechCrunch, accessed February 5, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Open vSwitch Joins Linux Foundation Open Networking Ecosystem. Linux Foundation, accessed August 27, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Open vSwitch Features. Retrieved February 5, 2017 .
  15. ↑ Linux 3.3. Linux Kernel Newbies, accessed February 5, 2017 .
  16. ↑ a b Virtual network with Open vSwitch. Admin Magazine, accessed February 5, 2017 .
  17. ↑ The software switch Open Vswitch. Linux Magazin, accessed February 5, 2017 .