肯塔基大学研究人员使用支持SDN的园区网络轻松移动大规模的数据负载。

从天文学到生物信息学到诊断医学对物理及以后，科学需要移动大规模的数据集。使可能是Cody Bumgardner的使命。

"Researchers need to move data that's generated on campus to the cloud and other universities," explains Bumgardner, director of research computing at University of Kentucky.

大数据扼杀了网络

在Terabytes和Petabytes中测量的移动数据对于科学合作至关重要，但缺点现实是传统校园网络根本不设计支持普遍的大数据。

Many universities use a science DMZ to tackle this problem. A science DMZ is a portion of the network, built near the campus perimeter that is optimized for high-performance scientific applications rather than enterprise computing. Researchers' desktops, servers and other data services are isolated inside the science DMZ. The challenge is that security and other network policies aren't enforced consistently.

University of Kentucky wanted to take a fresh approach: an all-campus science DMZ. "We wanted to keep the researchers' desktops and servers on the campus network," says Bumgardner.

一个跨部门团队工作。

Using SDN to Speed Big Data Flows

Using SDN is a strategic approach to deploying campus networks.
Cody Bumgardner，肯塔基大学研究计算总监

肯塔基大学使用软件定义的网络（SDN）来实现科学数据流，以通过校园网络和云采取高速路径。

“最初的想法是添加OpenFlow代码来控制现有的校园交换机，然后使用高端路由器连接它们，”Bumgardner说。但是有挫折：所有必要的框不存在Openflow代码，由于某些交换机如何实现OpenFlow，因此不存在导致互操作性困境或性能的不同风格。
Then the team tested theAruba 5400R开关系列, an OpenFlow-enabled, high-performance, low-latency, Advanced layer 3 modular switch from Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company.

“拥有来自阿鲁巴的支持SDN的交换机使我们能够实现我们的目标，”计算科学中心的程序员/系统分析师Jacob Chappell说。

智能，可编程网络
"The 5400R switch was one of the few switches that we tested that implemented the OpenFlow NORMAL rule, allowing SDN switches to act as normal switches until an SDN rule was applied," explains Bumgardner. That capability was the key to moving forward."

The 5400R switches work in conjunction with Aruba Virtual Application Networks (VAN) SDN Controller Software, which acts as a unified control point in the OpenFlow-enabled network to simplify management, provisioning and orchestration.

该大学在校园部署了超过3,000名可持续发展者的港口，以处理科学流量，对学术，行政和住宅的影响，超过30,000名学生，教职员工。5400R交换机用于分配和访问。

Fast, Secure Data Flows

With SDN, the university can extend its science DMZ all the way to the switch port in a researcher's building or office—and enforce consistent network and security policies. Ordinary traffic moves through the 5400R switches in "normal" mode, while scientific flows from researchers or supercomputer locations are diverted to take a high-bandwidth path.

“正常规则很重要，因为我们只想修改影响研究人员的流量，能够从敌意来源删除攻击，或避免中间盒，”计算机科学部门的网络程序员。

Right now, the OpenFlow rules are installed manually, but efforts to automate are underway.

粉碎瓶颈
Using SDN to create high priority paths for big-data flows alleviates another performance crunch in the traditional campus network. Appliances—or middleboxes—that provide traffic shaping, load balancing, firewall and other network functions, can be a big bottleneck.

“即使您有一个100Gbps网络，中间盒可以将北/南速降至100Mbps，”派克说。

部t now, scientific flows are diverted around these performance-sapping middleboxes, while network policies are enforced via SDN.

For researchers, the data floodgates have opened. Big data transfers between campus and research sites on Internet2 are 88 times faster. A transfer that previously would have taken a month to complete can now be done in less than eight hours.

探索建立校园网络的新方法

SDN enabled the University of Kentucky to build a smarter, faster, more cost-effective network and support academic collaboration. The ability to accelerate big-data flows using SDN also meant the university needed fewer high-end routers, which delivered savings that could be reinvested into more high-speed switch ports.

“使用SDN是一种部署园区网络的战略方法，”Bumgardner说。“我们可以将钱推成更高的容量而不是路由器功能集。”

That strategy is not only critical for big-data flows, but also fits the changing nature of traffic flows as more applications are hosted in the cloud and off-site data centers.

"Even if you're sitting in a classroom, your traffic is going up and out to a data center or the cloud, because that's where the learning management system is," says Bumgardner. "Our research shows that 90 percent of traffic campus is north/south."

With SDN switches and controllers from Aruba, adapting to the changing nature of campus networks has never been easier.