Cabo: Concurrent Architectures are Better than One

1
Cabo Concurrent Architectures are Better than One

• Jennifer Rexford
• Princeton University
• http//www.cs.princeton.edu/jrex

Joint work with Nick Feamster and Lixin
Gao http//www.cs.princeton.edu/jrex/papers/cabo.
pdf
2
Deciding Not to Decide

• Flexibility has been key to the Internets
  success
• Many different applications and services
• Beyond anything the initial designers ever
  envisioned
• Today this flexibility is limited to the end
  systems
• Not surprisingly, this is where we have seen
  innovation
• And, the inside is quite difficult to change
• Witness the fate of IPv6, QoS, multicast, secure
  routing
• Even if we could start over
• Maybe the design problem is over-constrained
• Too many goals, some conflicting

?
3
Its Hard to be a Routing Protocol These Days

• Many, many design goals
• Global reachability
• Fast convergence
• Efficient use of resources
• Low protocol overhead
• Secure control plane
• Flexible routing policies
• ltyour wish list heregt
• Perhaps we cannot satisfy all of these goals
• No matter how hard we try

4
Example Security vs. Reachability
5
Example Convergence vs. Scalability
6
Virtualization to the Rescue

• Multiple customized architectures in parallel
• Multiple logical routers on a single platform
• Resource isolation in CPU, forwarding table,
  bandwidth
• Programmability for custom protocols and
  mechanisms

7
Applications Within an Single ISP

• Customized virtual networks
• Security for online banking
• Fast-convergence for VoIP and gaming
• Specialized handling of suspicious traffic
• Testing and deploying new protocols
• Evaluate on a separate virtual network
• Rather than in a dedicated test lab
• Large scale and early-adopter traffic
• Leasing virtual components to others
• ISPs have unused node and link capacity
• Can allow others to construct services on top

8
Enabling Economic Refactoring
Infrastructure Providers
Service Providers

• Infrastructure providers Maintain routers,
  links, data centers, and other physical
  infrastructure
• Service providers Offer end-to-end services
  (e.g., layer 3 VPNs, SLAs, etc.) to users

Today ISPs try to play both roles, and cannot
offer end-to-end services
9
Similar Trends in Other Industries

• Commercial aviation
• Infrastructure providers Airports
• Infrastructure Gates, hands and eyes support,
  etc.
• Service providers Airlines

JFK
SFO
NRT
ATL
Other examples airplanes, auto industry,
commercial real estate
10
Communications Networks, Too!

• Two commercial examples in IP networks
• Packet Fabric share routers at exchange points
• FON resells users wireless Internet connectivity

• FON economic refactoring
• Infrastructure providers Buy upstream
  connectivity
• Service provider FON as the broker (www.fon.com)

11
Application 1 End-to-End Services

• Secure routing protocols
• Multi-provider VPNs
• Paths with end-to-end performance guarantees

Today
Cabo
Competing ISPs with different goals must
coordinate
Single service provider controls end-to-end path
12
Application 2 Virtual Co-Location

• Problem ISP/Enterprise wants presence in some
  physical location, but doesnt have equipment.

U.S.
Tokyo

• Today Backhaul, or L3 VPN from single ISP
• Cabo Lease a slice of anothers routers, links

13
Challenge 1 Simultaneous Operation

• Problem Service providers share infrastructure
• Approach Virtualize the infrastructure
• Nodes (lessons from PlanetLab will help)
• Links (previous lessons from QoS)
• Andy Baviers talk on VINI
• Cabo will exploit many functions that are needed
  for VINI
• Cabo philosophy virtualization is the
  architecture

14
Challenge 2 Substrate

• Problem Service providers must be able to
  request and create virtual networks
• Discovering physical infrastructure
• Decision elements for managing the substrate
• Creating virtual networks
• Requests to decision elements (initially out of
  band), which name virtual network components
• Instantiating virtual networks
• Challenges related to embedding and accounting

15
Conclusion Cabo as a New Architecture

• Virtualization
• Multiple logical routers on a single platform
• Resource isolation in CPU, FIBs, and bandwidth
• Programmability
• General-purpose CPUs for control and manipulation
• Network processors and FPGAs for fast forwarding
• Third-party providers for routing and forwarding
  solutions
• Economic refactoring
• Infrastructure provider manage routers and links
• Service provider offer end-to-end services

http//www.cs.princeton.edu/jrex/papers/cabo.pdf