When developing applications using OpenFlow, a small network of OpenFlow switches is often needed for testing and debugging. Using a simulated network for such development would be ideal, allowing more people to develop efficiently at their own pace. The ”OpenFlow Virtual Machine Simulation” (OpenFlowVMS) package is developed to create that virtual simulated network in your very own desktop/laptop.

OpenFlowVMS is a set of Python scripts that create that virtual simulated network automatically, letting developers concentrate on their real tasks and not fight the details of setting up a testbed.  The original version of this tool is developed by Ben and the folks at Nicira.  This version is a near complete rewrite using Python and XML for configuration.  Part of this tool is developed with support of DoCoMo USA Labs.  You can get the package and updates from

http://www.openflowswitch.org/wk/index.php/OpenFlowVMS.

Hope you will enjoy having your very own OpenFlow network(s).

We are delighted to announce that the OpenFlow team has had three demonstration proposals and a poster accepted at SIGCOMM 2009. Be sure to stop by our booth to learn more about the potential of OpenFlow.

• OpenPipes: A modular pipeline, built using OpenFlow, that allows functional modules to be moved around in the network, from one subsystem to another, while the system is running.
  
• Flowvisor:  A special purpose OpenFlow controller that allows multiple researchers to run experiments safely and independently on the same production OpenFlow network.
• Plug-n-Serve: A server-load-balancer, built from commodity components, that tries to minimize response time by controlling the load on the network and the servers using customized flow routing.
• OpenRoads(poster): A framework for OpenFlow-enabled wireless mobility research.

OpenFlow, I believe, provides an easy way to use actual switching/routing devices in an academic setting. There seem to be a few universities that are teaching OpenFlow in a lecture or are using OpenFlow for their course projects. Following is a quick list that I generated to appease my curiosity. If I missed your university, please send us a mail.

Georgia Tech, Spring 2009
CS 4255/6255: Network Management
Instructor: Russ Clark
What? Project + Lecture

Columbia University, Spring 2009
CSEE W4140: Networking Laboratory
Instructor: Jong Yul Kim
What? Project

U Toronto, Fall 2008
CSC 2203: Packet Switch and Network Architectures
Instructor: Yashar Ganjali
What? Lecture

Seoul National University, Fall 2008
Topics in Internet  (4541.774)
Instructor: Yanghee Choi
What? Lecture

FlowVisor is a special purpose controller that allows multiple researchers to concurrently manage the same OpenFlow-enabled network. If we say a network slice is a collection of physical resources and classes of traffics, then FlowVisor is the logic that manages resource allocation among slices and enforces isolation between them. Thus using FlowVisor, research and production traffic can safely co-exist on the same underlying hardware.

We believe that FlowVisor will be an important component on the path of enabling research in your network.

For more information about FlowVisor or to download the code and try it yourself, please go to:

http://www.openflowswitch.org/wk/index.php/FlowVisor