SDN/Openflow Sandbox - Mininet

[sfx2000]

Been a lot of press/hype about Software Defined Networking and the "cloud"...

If one wants to play around, and see what it offers - Mininet is a good introduction - and you can run it inside a VirtualBox or VMWare virtual machine.

Watch the video above - neat stuff - and you'll find that it might be more useful that most other solutions...

 

[L&LD]

I saw the video, not sure what it offers (a user) though? Sorry, I'm too dumb.

What can you actually do with this?

 

[sfx2000]

Cloud baby...

(Telly Savalas impression)

 

[L&LD]

That's why I missed it, huh?

All smoke and mirrors with no substance.

 

[sfx2000]

Gotta be a router/networking geek perhaps

 

[L&LD]

A good man told me long ago 'if you can't explain the benefit to someone else, question if the benefit is really there for you'.

 

[sfx2000]

A good man told me long ago 'if you can't explain the benefit to someone else, question if the benefit is really there for you'.

The benefit is clear to me... and I've doubled down in my career on it...

SDN is pretty straight forward - breaking out the control plane from the network plan, and doing it in a solid and consistent way - we let routers do what they do best - traffic flows, and we put the control logic in a place where it's best suited - on a small/home network, maybe it's a desktop app on the computer.

By doing this - we remove the overhead on the routers, switches, and AP's, and let them do what they do best - we don't need to have all that control software on the platform running 24/7, as it's not needed - and we improve security of that platform as a result.

By going into a SDN platform - consider your case as a consultant - with SDN, the controller is on your desktop/tablet/phone - the actual HW is on the customer site, but as a consultant, we look not only for the initial install, but sustaining support over the life of the contract with the customer.

Without having to drive over to the customer site, or set up a VPN end point on their site to get into the WebGUI, you can do a TLS session to the edge router, using RESTful API's, and solve the problem.

How's that wrong?

That's a benefit to you, and to your customers - rapid turnaround time, and being able to sort an issue up front before having to do that roll over to the customer site...

 

[L&LD]

sfx2000, thanks for the details. I don't think any apply to me though. I could question each point you make above, but I'm not trying to frustrate you (really), just trying to learn something new (where I can).

https://www.sdxcentral.com/sdn/definitions/what-is-openflow/

What I get from the link above is a way to make networking harder, not easier, for any normal human.

Granted, it may make it easier for your (obviously) much larger customers than who I normally deal with, but the really big companies that will use tools like this would not be roaming these forums, I don't think?

Curious if anyone else is interested (or even has a clue) in making this work for their home network?

Just want to say (again) thank you for having these discussions with me even if the topics are so obviously over my head.

 

[sfx2000]

One of the fun things about SDN is the abstractions - you can set up your own consulting cloud in AWS, Azure, whatever, and tie back into a backbone provider and do your own VPN services back to the customer - and make some margin on that... and within that EC2/Azure cloud, still keep each customer's traffic private and safe from each other.

And provide additional value added services on top of that...

Cloud, baby, Cloud - get in or get out...

 

[sfx2000]

What I get from the link above is a way to make networking harder, not easier, for any normal human.

Normal human is relative, lol...and no, it's not frustrating - and I think you're a clever enough guy to "get it" once the belief barrier has been pierced...

It's a jump, but once on the other side - it's a "doh!" moment - it's actually a much cleaner environment - the API's hide the ugly stuff, and it's pretty much a standard across all vendors - which makes infrastructure kind of like lego's - building blocks with consistent interfaces.

For a consultant - this is indeed a good thing to get one's head around.

Mininet is the networking equivalent of a programmer's first step "hello world" code...

 

[L&LD]

It's not a matter of me to believe it. I don't have any customers that would pay for what you hint at.

Nobody I know would pay for 'my' VPN service when they can use OpenVPN on an Asus router for free?

What additional 'value added services' can I offer after analyzing, setting up and blueprinting a network for a customer? I can think of a few to offer. None that a customer would actually pay for though.

I'd love to get my head around this.

All I can see though is the old dos prompt tempting me to create the world anew, but without the background knowledge to do so.

I remember writing that first 'hello world' code such a long time ago. I then saved up enough money to buy something I could leverage even better (learning, and teaching others to learn and use Lotus 123).

If Mininet is equivalent of 'hello world', I feel like I am still searching for the 'on' button on this contraption right now.


Okay, let's put it on a level I might understand.

Case study:

• 20 person business on a premises with 6 offices, a main work area and a shared boardroom (about 3000 SqFt, one floor).
• 30 devices (wired).
• WiFi network for both workers and Guests required (max 20 at any time).
• VPN access required 'infrequently', right now, max of 5 people (not all at once).

Is SDN applicable to the above? (I honestly don't see it).

 

[sfx2000]

Case study:

• 20 person business on a premises with 6 offices, a main work area and a shared boardroom (about 3000 SqFt, one floor).
• 30 devices (wired).
• WiFi network for both workers and Guests required (max 20 at any time).
• VPN access required 'infrequently', right now, max of 5 people (not all at once).

Is SDN applicable to the above? (I honestly don't see it).

SDN and Cloud - absolutely from both a technical and business case...

 

[sfx2000]

With a small biz platform like that - they don't have the expertise to get into the nitty-gritty stuff - that's why they're calling you - and SDN/Cloud, with a provider (even you as a proxy and SME), it's a single point of contact and success (or failure, I'll grant that)...

 

[sfx2000]

It's not a matter of me to believe it. I don't have any customers that would pay for what you hint at.

And how they get their services - it's up to you - and SDN/Cloud, it's cheaper actually, once you get your head around it.

If I didn't care, I wouldn't push it like I am... spend some time and see the business potential...

 

[L&LD]

I'd like to spend a reasonable time on this. But where?

What I've seen so far has not been 'eye-opening', to say the least.

 

[sfx2000]

#38

 

[sfx2000]

I'd like to spend a reasonable time on this. But where?

What I've seen so far has not been 'eye-opening', to say the least.

Consider a DigitalOcean Droplet or a Linode - with SDN, it can be part of your network with direct control...

It's all abstract...

and it's not 420/udp... trying to share some insight here... hint/hint...

 

[L&LD]

Consider a DigitalOcean Droplet or a Linode - with SDN, it can be part of your network with direct control...

It's all abstract...

and it's not 420/udp... trying to share some insight here... hint/hint...

I googled DigitalOcean Droplet and can't for the life of me think it is worth even $5 a month.

What will this do for me that I'm not doing already on my own for no cost?

Abstract is not the word I would use here.

I'm sure you're making full use of these types of services along with SDN. But I don't see the value they would offer me or my customers at this point.

 

[sfx2000]

With SDN - end points are abstract as far as location is concerned... much more powerful that VPN's or Proxies, as those are problems solved by SDN...

$5/month is a nice place to be with a cloud endpoint that you have total control over as a sandbox...

 

[L&LD]

sfx2000, I'm not trying to be rude here (and I'm trying even harder to not be denser than I already am), but the monthly $5 is not the issue for something I'll have total control over.

The issue is I don't see what it will do for me or my customers (in any way, shape or form). Further, if it can do what I'm doing already, what are the benefits to either me or them?