PlugFest encouraged SDN interoperability and implementation through testing of OpenFlow® v1.3 and OF-Config v1.1.1
PALO ALTO, Calif., November 19, 2013 – The Open Networking Foundation (ONF), a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the adoption of open Software-Defined Networking (SDN), has completed its fourth semi-annual PlugFest. The event took place Nov. 4-8 at the Spirent Proof of Concept (SPOC) Lab in Sunnyvale, Calif. with the goals of providing end users with interoperable products and encouraging the implementation of open SDN and the OpenFlow® protocol.
The fourth ONF PlugFest event focused on the testing of OpenFlow® v1.3 and the OpenFlow® Management and Configuration Protocol (OF-Config) v1.1.1 through a “speed dating” format. Participating companies’ switches, controllers, and applications were paired together through one-on-one testing and small topologies, generating hundreds of testing permutations and completing several months worth of work during one week-long event.
“We consider it a great honor that ONF chose Spirent to host this fourth PlugFest event,” said Angus Robertson, vice president of segment marketing at Spirent Communications. “The event had the largest number of first-time participants compared to the last three PlugFests, and we were excited to see the growing number of companies ready to test OpenFlow® version 1.3.”
This PlugFest event was the first time OF-Config v1.1.1 – an open standard developed by the ONF Configuration and Management Working Group – was tested. OF-Config allows the ecosystem to recognize the capabilities and preferences of controllers and switches within an OpenFlow-based SDN network.
“We generated exciting results during performance testing of OpenFlow® and OF-Config at the PlugFest, with one test reaching 1.1 million flow table entries on a switch,” said Michael Haugh, senior manager of market development at Ixia and chair of the Open Networking Foundation Testing and Interoperability Working Group. “These results speak to the huge growth of the OpenFlow® protocol since version 1.0. This also sets the stage for carrier-grade SDN, which requires this level of bandwidth, scale, and reliability.”
Attendees of the PlugFest included approximately 50 representatives from 17 participating ONF member companies and collaborators such as Alcatel-Lucent, Beijing Internet Institute (BII), Ciena, Freescale, HP, IBM, Infoblox, the Indiana Center for Network Translational Research and Education (InCNTRE), Ixia, Luxoft, NEC, Netronome, NoviFlow, NTT Communications, Spirent Communications, Tail-f Systems, and VMware.
“We are always impressed by the innovations of our member companies, and ONF PlugFests are the perfect opportunities to experience those efforts first-hand,” said Dan Pitt, executive director of the Open Networking Foundation. “The atmosphere of this event was very collegial, attendees were passionate about the work taking place, and the event was ultimately very well-received. We’re so thankful to Spirent for their hard work and diligence in planning this ONF PlugFest – they were an exceptional host.”
More information about this, past, and future ONF PlugFest events can be found on the ONF website.
About ONF
Launched in 2011 by Deutsche Telekom, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Verizon, and Yahoo!, the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) is a growing nonprofit organization with more than 100 members whose mission is to accelerate the adoption of open SDN. ONF promotes open SDN and OpenFlow® technologies and standards while fostering a vibrant market of products, services, applications, customers, and users. For further details visit the ONF website at: https://opennetworking.org.
