OREANDA-NEWS. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation today announced that the SDN software switch "Lagopus" will be unveiled in July 2014 as Open Source Software (OSS). The switch is widely compliant with OpenFlow 1.3 and features performance and functions suitable for both data centers and wide area networks.

The corporation has also established the SDN Switches Test Center, which is leveraging the "Ryu SDN Framework" already released as OSS.

Through these activities NTT aims to expand OSS-based SDN eco-systems with the participation of various companies, universities, and research organizations.

To assist SDN developers and users, NTT Network Innovation Laboratories and NTT Software Innovation Center will establish a test center for OpenFlow switches and will provide Lagopus as OSS. The expectation is that the combined use of the updated Lagopus switch and the Ryu SDN Framework will help to expand the SDN applicable area from data centers to wide area networks. NTT is also aiming at the expansion of SDN eco-systems based on OSS.

Challenges to be faced are as follows:
(1)Providing Lagopus as OSS
With NTT providing the highly-functional, high-performance Lagopus switch as OSS, the organization aims to work together with companies, research organizations, and universities to accelerate SDN R&D. Since Lagopus was designed and developed for servers widely sold in markets, its inclusion in them will better enable buyers to select a server whose price and performance suits their purposes. In particular, Lagopus can be applied in wide area networks due to its fast packet processing performance that previous software switches cannot achieve. It is expected that ongoing user growth will help to expand developers' communities. Likewise, it is expected that the use of Lagopus will help to expand and mature eco-systems through the addition of new functions, the stabilization of software, the development of tie-in tools, the maintenance of documents, and the accumulation of know-how.

The first version of Lagopus will be available as OSS in July 2014.

(2)Development of a conformance test tool for OpenFlow switches
The Ryu SDN Framework is used by many switch developers due to its high conformance with OpenFlow specifications. In conjunction with this, NTT has been developing a conformance test tool for OpenFlow switches. Since OpenFlow specifications tend to be updated frequently and since they describe the determination of wide areas, it is difficult to speedily develop SDN switches that are highly compliant with them. To address this issue, NTT has co-developed a better conformance test tool with the help of various developers and users, in the same way as in the Ryu SDN Framework development process. This test tool is included in the Ryu SDN Framework and can be used by anyone.

(3)Providing results obtained with the conformance test tool for various OpenFlow switches
Results obtained with the conformance test tool for various OpenFlow switches' have been published online. When system developers or application developers want to use OpenFlow switches, they should inspect suitable hardware- or software-based switches on the basis of their needs. By referring to these published test results, developers and users can easily check the conformance scores of various SDN switches. Thus, the results are expected to aid in promoting the use of OpenFlow switches.

Through these approaches taken at the test center, NTT aims to accelerate cooperation with SDN developers and SDN users and also aims to expand SDN eco-systems.