Open vSwitch Applications

Open vSwitch (OVS) is a robust, flow-based implementation of a Virtual Switch (vSwitch), which is widely adopted in virtualization environments such as KVM. Since the original implementation in 2009, OVS has continuously evolved with new features to become the most widely adopted vSwitch technology for enabling server-based networking. The Netronome® Agilio® CX SmartNIC platform dramatically accelerates the OVS datapath and works with standard OVS distributions, enabling customers to reap the benefits of open source software including feature velocity resulting from a large community of developers.

Features

Netronome Agilio CX SmartNIC and Agilio software products track the features of standard OVS, which are continuously evolving and include such server-based networking functions such as flexible match/action forwarding, network overlay control with tunneling protocols such as VXLAN and NVGRE, security groups, statistics, and metering. The Agilio CX accelerates OVS processing to enable 5X or more data to be delivered to virtualized applications, while at the same time reclaiming valuable CPU resources that can be used to run more applications. Additional flexibility and feature velocity is provided via the capability to add or extend features through P4 and C-based sandbox programming.

Benchmarks

Standard OVS without acceleration struggles with packet processing which ties up valuable server CPU resources and creates a bottleneck that starves applications. Netronome Agilio CX SmartNIC reclaim up to 80% of the server CPU resources previously dedicated to OVS, while at the same time delivering 5X or more of the packet data throughput to more applications. For detailed benchmarking results, see the OVS Benchmarking White Paper.

Test Setup/Tools

Server-based networking functions rely heavily on the match-action processing features inherent in OVS. Benchmarking these features is important because they directly impact the performance of critical data center networking functions such as network virtualization, security, load balancing and telemetry. The test setup and the test tools required to effectively benchmark these features can be elaborate. Netronome’s test plan is openly available for use and adoption by the industry.

Architecture

The standard OVS architecture consists of user space and kernel space components. The switch daemon runs in user space and controls the switch, while the kernel module implements the packet data fast path. Netronome’s transparent offload architecture replicates the packet data fast path on SmartNIC, greatly accelerating the packet throughput by 5X or more, while at the same time dramatically decreasing server load by 50% or more. For further details on Netronome’s Transparent Offload Architecture, see the Agilio OVS Software Architecture White Paper.

Documentation

White Papers: Programming NFP with P4 and C; Virtual Switch Acceleration with OVS-TC and Agilio 40GbE SmartNICs

Product Brief: Agilio OVS Software

Technical Papers: OVS Test Plan

Performance Papers: Agilio CX 2x40GbE with OVS-TC

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Testimonials

“Virtual switches have become an integral part of data center networking, however performance becomes a significant impediment at 10Gb/s and higher data rates. Netronome Agilio CX SmartNICs save significant CPU cycles while improving performance for server-based networking features such as virtual tunnel end points and policies per VM or tenant, enabling higher service levels at lower cost.”

- Chen Li, SDN Project Manager at China Mobile

“Ericsson’s Cloud SDN Platform based on OpenDaylight, leverages open source technologies such as Open vSwitch and OpenStack to provide a flexible and scalable networking framework for deploying IT and NFV services. Integration of the Netronome Agilio SmartNIC and software solution into the Ericsson Cloud SDN solution results in up to five times more output per server rack, helping lower overall dollar per compute resource in the data center infrastructure.”

- Elena Romero, Head of Product Line SDN & Policy Control at Ericsson

“Programmable networking data path implementation in hardware can enable differentiated performance and service levels on a per NFV application or per customer basis. The P4 data path programming language, as supported by Netronome’s Agilio CX SmartNICs and related development tools, is simple and hardware agnostic, allowing for rapid and future-proofed networking datapath innovation.”

- Elena Romero, Head of Product Line SDN & Policy Control at Ericsson

“The Juniper Networks Contrail vRouter, one of the key components of the Contrail SDN solution, is ideal for orchestrating and automating cloud networks. The Contrail vRouter and its ability to provide highly scalable secure virtual networks, combined with SmartNICs such as Netronome’s Agilio CX, allows the acceleration of a broad set of networking functions and the ability to evolve rapidly with changing needs.”

- Ankur Singla, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Cloud Software at Juniper Networks.

“Proven and robust cloud management with Mirantis OpenStack enables service providers and enterprises to accelerate their SDN and NFV adoption,” said “Netronome’s Agilio platform supports standard OVS interfaces, helping to maintain a high level of cloud management user experience while delivering hardware acceleration and resulting efficiencies.”

- Kamesh Pemmaraju, Vice President of Product Marketing, Mirantis

“Netronome’s Agilio SmartNICs provide an excellent platform to showcase Tieto’s expertise in NFV solutions. The Tieto and Netronome collaboration has demonstrated a 5X performance improvement over conventional solutions for virtual Evolved Packet Core (vEPC) while preserving the benefits of virtualization on COTS hardware.”

- Nicholas Hamblin, Head of Cloud and IP Business Unit at Tieto

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