OpenFlow Technology: What, Why, How
Before we jump into an overview of OpenFlow Technology, it’s important to share why you should care about OpenFlow in the first place. OpenFlow enables OT-SDN, which not only provides security benefits but also increases OT network control. While this may not be the most known communication protocol, you’d be surprised to learn that you likely have OpenFlow in your devices today. Many enterprise switches, firewalls, and virtual networks use OpenFlow in some capacity.
What is SDN?
If you are familiar with Veracity and therefore SDN, you can simply skip to the next section, but for those unfamiliar with Software Defined Networking (SDN), it changes the paradigm of networking completely, please read on. In a typical network, switches are individually programmed to set up VLANs, routing, subnets, access control lists, and any other variety of network tools used to manage traffic and security. The challenge with this is that typically the switches are set up and then not maintained or updated. SDN was created because these traditional tools would not work for scalable cloud computing platforms where servers would need to be commissioned and decommissioned regularly, network traffic is required to be continually optimized for both flow and even power consumption. SDN uses a centralized software controller to manage the entire network including switches, traffic, and security. This drastically simplifies the management and control of any network.
What is OpenFlow?
OpenFlow is a communication protocol used between network switches and a controller. It allows for the controller to specify and manage every packet that passes through the switch and gives the controller a great deal of granularity in its commands. OpenFlow traces its roots back to 2006 and a tool called Ethane which was developed as a flow-based communication tool to help manage network switches. Later, teams at UC Berkley further developed it into the first iteration of OpenFlow. Up until that point, all SDN solutions were closed to a single vendor or small ecosystem requiring standardization of an installation to gain the benefits. This can be very problematic for large end users trying to manage their cloud services. Today there are still many proprietary SDN solutions, but the OpenFlow protocol is used widely and allows for multiple switch vendors to be used by a single customer seamlessly.
Where is OpenFlow used?
While there are many large vendors including Cisco, HP, Juniper, and others that have switches with OpenFlow built in, the largest number of installations is in the form of a software tool called OpenVSwitch. OpenVSwitch is used extensively in cloud applications, is built into the Linux Kernel, and is supported by the Linux Foundation. As of this year, OpenFlow and the Open Networking Foundation have merged with Linux Foundation, bringing the power of almost 800,000 developers into support.
On the OT or ICS network side, there are also switch offerings. Veracity Industrial Networks works closely with Cisco, Schweitzer Engineering Labs (SEL), Dynics, and Allied Telesis to bring OT-SDN to the industrial environment. Customers have used these proven offerings to deploy OT-SDN in manufacturing environments.
What is the future?
While OpenFlow is a mature system with many supporters, there is a new technology that is starting to take hold in high end applications called P4. P4 is a standard that allows users to fully program a switch for virtually any functionality. Today, P4 is only available in high end switches from vendors such as Intel, but as with all technology, will become more widely available on more value priced devices with time. The future is bright for SDN, switching architecture, and networks overall.
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