The open and decoupled Software Defined Network (SDN) network enabled by OCF is the basis of how Huawei creates agile data center networks, which provide application-based services in a more adaptable and easily manageable way.
The three planes decoupled by OCF include the data plane, control plane, and the service plane, which while decoupled, remain interconnected through standard protocols and compatible with third-party products.
· For the data plane, Huawei provides its CloudEngine Series Data Center Switches and next-generation CloudEngine1800V Series Virtual Switches for virtual networks (more information below). The former have an OpenFlow 1.3 Conformance Certification from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF).
· For the control plane, Huawei offers its Agile Controller 2.0 for cloud networks (more information below), which helps operators achieve unified policy orchestration and management on both physical and virtual networks.
· And for the service plane, Huawei provides advanced network applications for everything from network quality detection, to security, to application-oriented policy defining, and even service orchestration.
Commenting on the launch, Yu Li, General Manager of the Data Center Network Domain, Huawei, said: “We believe that the future data center network will be decoupled and hierarchical. This is because network services are changing at an alarming rate with the rise of cloud computing, which in turn puts traditional closed networks at a serious disadvantage in terms of policy defining, network operation and management and service-oriented customization capabilities. Accordingly, Huawei launched Open Cloud Fabric to make network architecture more flexible and agile for embracing rapid cloud service changes. The launch of the Open Cloud Fabric marks a great leap forward of Huawei’s data center SDN services strategy, demonstrating its dedication to open SDN architecture.”
In creating OCF, Huawei worked with upstream and downstream partners across the cloud computing industry, an effort that is indicative of the company’s commitment to building industry ecosystem to facilitate the seamless integration of network and cloud IT and help cloud computing customers create new and innovative services on top of those platforms. This included its partnering with various network application vendors, including Puppet Labs, F5, and Citrix. The next 18 months will see more partners become part of Huawei’s OCF ecosystem.
Further widening the ecosystem is OCF’s interoperability with mainstream cloud platforms, such as Huawei FusionSphere, VMware, OpenStack and Microsoft. Also noteworthy is the success Huawei has had since the creation of OCF in developing a joint solution based on the architecture with Checkpoint.
The success of OCF can also be seen in the popularity of Huawei’s Agile Data Center Network Solution, which it underpins and which has been successfully deployed by more than 1,000 data centers in over 80 countries around the world. Key customers include 21Vianet, China Unicom, Tencent and Telefonica