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Seamless Configuration of Virtual Network Functions in Data Center Provider Networks

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Abstract

Network function virtualization has enabled data center providers to offer new service provisioning models. Through the use of data center management software (cloud managers), providers allow their tenants to customize their virtual network infrastructure, enabling them to create a network topology that includes network functions (e.g., routers, firewalls), either chosen among the natively supported catalog or provided by third-parties. In order to deploy a ready-to-go service, providers have also to take care of pushing functional configurations into each network function (e.g., IP addresses for routers and policy rules in firewalls). This paper proposes an architecture that extends current cloud management software to enable the configuration of network functions. We propose a model-based approach that exploits the use of additional software components, i.e. translators and gateways, which are network function-agnostic, i.e. they are vendor-neutral and not specific for a particular type of network function, and do not require any change in the network functions. A prototype of this solution has been also implemented and tested, in order to validate our approach and evaluate its effectiveness in the configuration phase.

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Notes

  1. https://www.openstack.org/.

  2. In this paper we use the terms VNF and network function interchangeably.

  3. https://puppet.com/.

  4. https://www.chef.io/.

  5. http://www.ansible.com/.

  6. https://www.openconfig.net/.

  7. https://www.opendaylight.org/.

  8. Usually a network interface is assigned only one network and physical address, but this is not true in the general case.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Control and Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy

    Serena Spinoso, Fulvio Risso & Riccardo Sisto

  2. VMware, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Marco Leogrande & Sushil Singh

Authors
  1. Serena Spinoso
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  2. Marco Leogrande
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  3. Fulvio Risso
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  4. Sushil Singh
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  5. Riccardo Sisto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Serena Spinoso.

Appendix: XML Schema as Object Model Language

Appendix: XML Schema as Object Model Language

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figure h

A possible Object Model description in XML Schema, equivalent to the one written in YANG and shown in Listing 1

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Spinoso, S., Leogrande, M., Risso, F. et al. Seamless Configuration of Virtual Network Functions in Data Center Provider Networks. J Netw Syst Manage 26, 222–249 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10922-017-9414-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10922-017-9414-3

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