SDN in GENI: Outbrief
Marshall Brinn, GPO
July 11, 2012
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
Discussion
• What are the mechanisms for creating a ‘sandbox’
for experimenters?
• What are the mechanism for an experiment to
program the network within that sandbox?
• What are the constraints on that sandbox?
• How can we provide performance isolation in that
sandbox?
The session consisted of:
• Three very thought-provoking presentations by:
• Joe Mambretti of ICAIR
• Ilia Baldine of RENCI
• Nick Bastin of Big Switch
• Followed by very spirited, engaged discussion
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
November 2, 2011
2
Discussion Summary
• Remarkably, there seemed to be consensus on
several high-level principles (“I agree with Nick”)
– The GENI infrastructure should provide transport which
is independent of the virtual programmable substrate
provided to the experimenter
• Not along side, but on top, using some ‘encapsulation’
– We should seek to maximize performance isolation
– We should seek to minimize constraints on the
experimenter’s view/control of the network as possible
We agreed that we need a concentrated period of design and prototyping to
determine a reasonable technical approach to capture (approximate) these
principals, ideally within the current and envisioned H/W baseline.
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
November 2, 2011
3