Cloud Data Center Fabric Virtualization

Cloud networks support workloads with diverse characteristics. A key challenge facing cloud providers is how to meet the stringent performance and security needs of these diverse applications running over a shared infrastructure. To address this challenge, some providers build for peak capacity or even build dedicated clusters with specialized networks, which may be under-utilized at times. We propose a virtualization approach that customizes data center network resources to the needs of applications. Our approach is based on slicing data center network resources on-demand and customizing these slices to target workloads. Such slices can grow or shrink dynamically and programmatically based on workload demands. This elasticity provides a more efficient solution over building dedicated clusters. In our approach, a slice can be customized to a given set of workloads with similar security and performance requirements carved out of the underlying network. It leverages a software-defined underlay network controller and segment routing for fine-grained path control and service chaining. We have implemented a prototype of our fabric virtualization solution based on network slicing. In this paper, we first present the architecture of our prototype. Second, we present empirical results of slice provisioning times in networks of varying sizes and switch operating systems. Empirical results indicate that our prototype can support slice provisioning in the order of tens to hundreds of seconds and can meet the provisioning requirements of production networks.