2016hotsdn - Fabric：A Retrospective on Evolving SDN.pdf

Fabric: A Retrospective on Evolving SDN Martín Casado Teemu Koponen Scott Shenker Amin Tootoonchian Nicira Nicira ICSI, UC Berkeley University of Toronto, ICSI Abstract Simple: The hardware should be inexpensive to build and MPLS was an attempt to simplify network hardware while improving operate. the flexibility of network control. Software-Defined Networking Vendor-neutral: Users should be able to easily switch (SDN) was designed to make further progress along both of these between hardware vendors without forklift upgrades. dimensions. While a significant step forward in some respects, it was a step backwards in others. In this paper we discuss SDN’s Future-proof: The hardware should, as much as possible, shortcomings and propose how they can be overcome by adopting accommodate future innovation, so users need not upgrade the insight underlying MPLS. We believe this hybrid approach will their hardware unnecessarily. enable an era of simple hardware and flexible control. The ideal software “control plane” coordinating the forwarding Categories and Subject Descriptors behavior of the underlyi