Cloud Native Data Center Networking

Chapter 4. Network Operating System Choices

All models are wrong, but some are useful.

George E.P. Box

All operating systems suck, but Linux just sucks less.

Linus Torvalds

The breakup at the heart of cloud native data center networking was engineered by the network operators dissatisfied with the degree of control the vendors were willing to cede. Whenever a breakup occurs, the possibilities seem limitless, and there’s a natural tendency to explore new ideas and ways of being that didn’t seem possible before. But after a while, we realize that some of the old ways of being were actually fine. Just because we did not like watching yet another episode of The X Files with pizza every Friday evening did not mean that pizza was the problem. We don’t need to throw out the things that work with the things that do not.

Thus, it was that the evolution of the modern big data and cloud native applications gave rise to a whole new set of ideas about how to do networking. Some were born out of the necessity of the time, some were truly fundamental requirements, and some are still testing their mettle in the new world. In this chapter, we follow the possibilities and models explored by the software half (the better half?) of network disaggregation.

The chapter aims to help you answer questions such as the following:

• What are the primary requirements of a cloud native NOS?

• What are OpenFlow and software-defined networking? Where do they make sense and where do they not?

• What are the ...