OpenFlow How-To

Sandbox 9 uses the OpenFlow capable IP8800/S3640 NEC switch as part of its setup as a means to provide a testbed for experimentation with the OpenFlow protocol. This tutorial describes the different components of the OpenFlow network and provides the basics needed to set up an experiment.

OpenFlow Protocol

OpenFlow is a protocol that allows for the creation of overlay networks over pre-existing network infrastructure. This allows a researcher to run experiments on production networks without the fear of affecting any of the legacy installations or setups, while having control over how data is handled across the network. "OpenFlow" specifically refers to the protocol that is used by a network device and its controller to pass information about flows, or instructions on how to handle data packets based on the packet header, to each other.

Detailed information can be found here: ​http://www.openflowswitch.org/

The Setup

Sandbox 9 consists of a Console connected to three nodes through a OpenFlow enabled IP8800/S3640-48T2XW switch. The switch is pre-configured so that ports 25-36 (the data VLAN) is an OpenFlow virtual switch that listens to the Console as the controller. As of now, the two options for the controller available on the Console are the OpenFlow reference System (v0.8.9r2) and NOX-core (v0.5.0).