Datacenter of Tomorrow

Defined and driven by software

Seema Jethani & Vanessa Alvarez

Infrastructure Silos

SERVER NETWORK STORAGE

Server mgmt Network mgmt Storage mgmt

Programmable Data Center

• Hardware resources are abstracted , pooled and delivered as software• Resources are managed by intelligent, policy-driven software• Automation is used to dole out resources as needed by applications.

Also known as Software Defined Data Center (SDDC)

APP

SERVERS NETWORK STORAGEInfrastructure

Pool

AUTOMATION + ORCHESTRATION LAYER

POLICY MGMT(Cost, Perf, Capacity etc)

SLA MGMT

Applications Drive the Data Center

• Applications have metadata that infrastructure understands

• Infrastructure performs application specific orchestration

• Load balancing, security and policy enforcement are layered on dynamically.

• Pre-defined automated process will reduce mistakes in repetitive process and speed time to market for new initiatives.

Why SDDC?

• To break IT silos and give control of entire infrastructure to a single IT group

• To improve end user experience that demands AWS like experience from enterprise IT

• To change the role of IT from reactive service provider to proactive change agent

• To transform the traditionally infrastructure-centric data center into an application or business service focused environment.

Server Virtualization

Most mature , well understood technology in the data center.

Server Virtualization hitting 50% penetration.

2012 Server Virtualization Market share

VMwareMicrosoftOthers (Citrix, Red Hat etc)

Advanced Management tools available from server virtualization vendors and ISVs

Been There, Done That?

Several established vendors such as Vmware, MS, Citrix, Red Hat

What’s Wrong with Traditional storage?

Limited I/O

Limited Processing

Limited Capacity

Single Point of Failure

Software Defined Storage

Requirements for a new way of storage

• Distributed

• Agility

• Automated management

• Data protection

All in an environment that is constantly moving

Open Networking Foundation

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging network architecture where network control is decoupled from forwarding and is directly programmable.

IETF

Software Defined Network (SDN) is an overlay architecture that presents the underlying transport network to the applications and services for monitoring, and provisioning at abstraction level.

• Dynamically program all aspects of a network …management, network services, control, forwarding and transport layers …through software that is separate from networking hardware

• Breaking existing physical boundaries on switches, routers, and controllers through well-defined APIs.

Software Defined Networking

… Many Definitions

Merchant silicon

------ Open Interface ------Southbound API e.g. OpenFlow

SDN Controller

A

SDN Controller

B

SDN Controller

C

------ Open Interface ------Northbound API

/ /

Why SDN?

Transition from vertically integrated, proprietary systems to horizontal systems with open interfaces

APP

SDN in the Data Center

Merchant silicon

Southbound API e.g. OpenFlow

SDN Controller

A

SDN Controller

B

SDN Controller

C

Northbound API A

App A App B App C App D

Northbound API B Northbound API C

Datacenter Operating System

Common Northbound API

SDN in the Cloud

Controller Controller

Controller

ControllerGlobal Policy and Traffic Engineering

Why Should We Care about SDN?

• SDN reduces complexity and increases network agility by allowing for standardized management

• SDN enables rapid Innovation

• IT can optimize use of network resources

• SDN can lower costs by leveraging commodity HW

• Ultimately businesses can accelerate time-to-market of services and focus on their competitive advantage

Challenges of SDDC

• Deployment requires investment in terms of technology and staff needed to deploy and manage

• Old skill sets are not adapt to newer models

• Ideal for greenfield projects where infrastructure is provided by a single or relatively small number of vendors that integrate well

• Technology is at its infancy.

Summary

• Silos must be broken down

• Commoditization of hardware is a reality

• New skill sets are needed

• Data Centers need to evolve to support the agile way of doing business

THANK YOU