Google, Barefoot Networks Add Legs to P4 with Runtime API

@GoogleCloud and @BarefootNetworks have collaborated to create an open source runtime application programming interface (API) for the #P4 network programming language. The #P4Runtime project tackles communications between the control plane and forwarding plane. It’s designed for use on local or remote control plane software and is independent of the underlying forwarding plane type.

The project furthers the ongoing move of adding more software control over the network.

“Big picture networking was defined by hardware,” explained Nick McKeown, co-founder and chief scientist at Barefoot Networks. “Now we are lifting the features and protocol up out of hardware and putting them into software. As soon as you put it in software you hand it to an army of developers to create new features and capabilities.”

McKeown is considered a pioneer in the software-defined networking (SDN) field, but admitted SDN is not able to take control of the forwarding plane.

“SDN sold us short on this,” McKeown said. “You need to be able to change the forwarding plane, otherwise you are not changing the behavior of the packets. This is all part of the second chapter or phase-two of SDN.”

Google and Barefoot are also working with the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) to integrate the P4 Runtime with ONF’s ONOS controller. This is expected to allow for an ONOS controller deploying and managing Google’s tor.p4 program on Barefoot’s 6.5 Tb/s and 3.2 Tb/s programmable Tofino Ethernet switches.

“Someone can now download ONOS with the P4 Runtime plugin on the control plane, and the P4 agent on the switch side,” McKeown said.

Barefoot began sampling the Tofino switch late last year. The company said it’s working with a number of network equipment OEMs, including H3C, Rujie, and ZTE to build products using the Tofino Ethernet switch ASICS and Capilano SDE.

McKeown said P4 Runtime can be combined with Barefoot’s programmable Tofino switch, the P4 language, and an ONOS controller to provide a fully programmable networking stack.

The first public demonstration of the P4 Runtime is scheduled for next week’s SDN and NFV World Congress event in The Hague, Netherlands.

Network Benefits

AT&T and Deutsche Telekom were service providers voicing support for the move.

“AT&T applauds efforts that disaggregate hardware from software using open, standard, and extensible APIs,” said Andre Fuetsch, president of AT&T Labs and CTO at AT&T, in a statement. “We’re excited to see P4 Runtime gaining traction. When integrated with the open and globally-adopted ONAP platform, it will pay huge dividends to network operators.”

DT expressed similar comments tied to the ability of having greater software control over network programming.

McKeown described a bigger picture where larger operators could run Central Office Re-architected as a Datacenter (CORD) racks on top of ONOS, with P4 below to program operations.

“When you can program the control plane of the network, it makes sense for these operators to want to change the forwarding plane as well,” McKeown said. “It’s an easy way to change behavior on the network.”

While still very early in the process, McKeown said the P4 initiative was starting to see a “ramp up with service providers.”

“We have seen Google with a public commitment, and are seeing interest from AT&T and DT,” McKeown said

https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/google-barefoot-networks-add-legs-to-p4-with-runtime-api/2017/10/

Dell combines venture capital units after EMC merger

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8 (Reuters) - #DellTechnologies Inc said on Monday it has combined the venture capital operations from its two predecessor companies, computer maker #Dell Inc and data storage firm #1EMC Corp, and said it plans to invest about $100 million a year in startups. Dell also revealed a portfolio of 70 existing and prior investments made by both operations, some of which, like #Arista Networks Inc, which went public in 2014, had not been previously disclosed. Dell Technologies, run by Dell founder and PC pioneer Michael Dell, is the result of the $67 billion merger between the two companies in 2015, which created the largest privately held technology company in the world. Before the deal, both companies maintained venture capital operations, called Dell Ventures and EMC Ventures. Most large Silicon Valley firms run venture capital arms as a way of keeping in touch with emerging tech companies. The two groups in question operated differently and had different structures, according to Dell Technologies. EMC Ventures, headed by Scott Darling, invested capital held on EMC's balance sheet. Dell Ventures, headed by Jim Lussier invested from specifically created funds - a $60 million fund aimed at storage startups launched in 2012 and a broader $300 million fund aimed at later-stage startups like Dropbox in 2013 - in which the parent company was the only limited partner. The newly combined unit, called Dell Technologies Capital, will operate along similar lines to EMC's venture capital operation, investing average sums of $3 million to $10 million in both early- and late-stage startups from the parent's $118.2 billion balance sheet, the company said. The unit is headed by Darling, previously at EMC. Lussier left Dell in August 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile. Lussier did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Darling said the new fund's investments will consist of companies that Dell Technologies might eventually want to acquire and startups that help the broader data center ecosystem. Dell's new venture group disclosed that its portfolio includes Barefoot Networks, which has also received an investment from Dell's rival Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co , and Ontonomo, an Israeli firm that makes technology for internet-connected vehicles and has received an investment from Delphi Automotive Plc. Dell also revealed prior investments in companies that have since gone public or been sold, such as Arista and Anobit, which Apple Inc acquired in 2012. "We ran the group in stealth mode for five years, which gave us greater latitude," Darling said of the firm's private investments. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis; Editing by Bill Rigby)

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-dell-combines-venture-capital-units-after-emc-merger-2017-5

Barefoot Networks' Ethernet switch chip wins Network Innovation Award

#Tofino, a high-speed programmable chip that brings #softwaredefinednetworking capabilities to the forwarding plane, aims to revolutionize the network.

What problem does #BarefootNetworks ' Ethernet switch chip solve?

Ed Doe: Data planes inside of networks have always been very rigid and fixed -- hardcoded into the chips that drive Ethernet switches and routers. Barefoot has come up with an open source programmable chip technology that allows people to innovate at the speed of programming. You can update that forwarding or data plane through an open source programming language, which we call P4.

So, now, for example, if a new protocol for better networking for containers comes along, then you can upgrade with a simple program. Historically, you'd have to go rip and replace all the hardware and come up with a new chip to support the new protocol.

What other benefits does the Tofino Ethernet switch chip offer?

Doe: It allows organizations to scale out their networks, letting them allocate resources to the features they care about. A lot of people also want to get more visibility to avoid network outages. With the programmable data plane, you can instrument the network to instantaneously identify a point of failure and then immediately fix it. So, it's almost like a self-healing network.

http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/news/450415105/Barefoot-Networks-Ethernet-switch-chip-wins-Network-Innovation-Award

Barefoot Networks Steps Into the White Box Market

#BarefootNetworks, the startup designing high-end Ethernet chips to rival #Broadcom, says its chips will appear in white box switches from #Edgecore and #WistronNeWeb Corp. (WNC) soon, possibly later this quarter. The switches will give Barefoot its first footing in this increasingly competitive market.

https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/barefoot-networks-steps-white-box-market/2017/01/

Switch Chip Targets Programmable Networks

@BarefootNetworks, the high-flying networking chip startup that recently emerged from stealth mode, unveiled a zippy switch that it asserts is also fully programmable as the startup targets networking bottlenecks in software-defined datacenters.

The Palo Alto startup co-founded by chief scientist @NickMcKeown, the former Stanford University engineering professor, is claiming multiple networking records along with fully programmable hardware. Meanwhile, the switch startup has so far raised $130 million in backing from investors that include #Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and #GoldmanSachs (NYSE: GS) Principle Strategic Investments.

The company said its #Tofino switch chip doubled the current speed record, processing packets at 6.5 terabits per second. Nevertheless, company founders stressed programmability as the differentiating factor for its chip technology, allowing network operators to specify the performance required of packet processing devices.

That means "network owners and their system vendors can determine precisely how packets are processed," the startup noted in a statement. By eliminating the "tyranny of fixed-function switch chips," Tofino would allow "software developers to program their network in much the same way they program a computer," the company added.

While nearly everything in the datacenter has changed over the last two decades, McKeown noted that the basic switch architecture has stubbornly remained "fixed-function." The prevailing view since the mid-1990s was that programmability came with a performance penalty.

http://www.enterprisetech.com/2016/06/27/switch-chip-targets-programmable-networks/