The OpenDaylight Project, an open community focused on software defined networking and virtualization solutions, recently announced the availability of its first open source software called Hydrogen. Users are now able to download different versions of the technology, including the base, virtualization and service provider editions.
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David Meyer, OpenDaylight technical steering committee chair, said the overall aim of the organization is to take on the issue of simplifying network management, a challenge that plagues the majority of today’s IT teams.
“This first release is a great step forward and the community is already looking to build on its work to address a variety of additional capabilities and features in subsequent releases that are being discussed at the first OpenDaylight Summit this week,” Meyer said.
In addition, Neela Jacques, OpenDaylight executive director, told Network Computing that the new system also allows users to get experience with SDN and be exposed to different models and protocols within the networks. With this knowledge, individuals are able to make better decisions regarding their SDN technology.
“For the last two to three years, anyone involved in networking has heard how SDN is a cure-all for the wide range of problems they have,” Jacques said. “Now they need to turn that into a set of practical decisions in terms of their architecture.”
Multi-platform technology: edition details
Jacques also said that Hydrogen “is a true multi-technology platform” that functions well with nearly any system, including legacy arrangements and some of the newest structures on today’s market.
The “Base” edition is ideal for those in the process of exploring SDN systems for proof-of-concepts or academic projects in physical and virtual environments. This system features a multi-protocol SDN controller based on OSGi that is designed to be scalable, modular and extensible. This edition also includes both the OpenFlow Plugin in the controller Service Abstraction Layer and the OpenFlow Protocol Library. Users can also leverage OVSDB, an open VSwitch database configuration and management protocol support solution. The Base version also includes YANG tools, a set of Java-based Network Configuration Protocol and YANG abilities designed especially for OpenDaylight projects.
The Hydrogen Virtualization edition is for data centers that have all the features of Base, as well as tools for establishing and overseeing virtual tenant networks and virtual overlays. The system also includes security and network management applications designed for the data center sector. Users have access to OpenDaylight’s Affinity Metadata Service and Defense4All, a security system for detecting distributed denial-of-service attacks and risk mitigation framework. The Virtualization edition also features Open DOVE, a multi-tenant network virtualization arrangement based on overlays, as well as Virtual Tenant Network, an OpenFlow application.
The Service Provider Edition also includes the Base Edition components, as well as special capabilities for vendors seeking to establish SDN and NFV paths within their systems. Merchants can also utilize the Affinity Metadata Service and Defense4All in this version. In addition, users have the ability to leverage BGP-LS/PCEP, a support solution for traffic engineering, and LISP Flow Mapping, a locator and identifier plugin that can be used to deploy virtual networks. This edition includes SNMP4SDN as well, a technology providing SNMP protocol support and APIs for managing commodity Ethernet switches.
