Overlay Networking in Software-Defined Networks
Abstract: Overlay networking has emerged in recent years as a pragmatic approach to software-defined networking. By decoupling the network tenancy and logical topology from the underlying network design, the overlay approach enables network operators to achieve both scale and flexibility goals without sacrificing deployability. This talk will explore the current and future state of overlay networking as a central component of a software networking architecture and a key enabler of network function virtualization. First we will highlight the practical reasons for the emergence of overlay networking as well as some of the technical, commercial, and practical challenges that it has faced. Second we will discuss the current state of overlay network technology including a review of existing protocols, standardization efforts, and open source implementations. Finally, we will explore how overlay networking can be used as a foundation for further development and why it is at the center of future innovation in both research and commercial areas.
Speaker Biography: Benson Schliesser is a Distinguished Engineer at Brocade Communications in the Office of the CTO. He co-chairs the IETF NVO3 working group, serves on the IAOC, and is a Trustee of the IETF Trust. Prior to joining Brocade he held positions at Juniper Networks, Cisco Systems, Savvis Communications, and others. He has previously been on the board of the OpenDaylight Project, has served in various other roles in the IETF, and has over 15 years of experience as a network operator. Benson is interested in network architecture, currently focused on software networking and overlay networks as well as network automation and control.