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Solaris network virtualization and resource control

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In network computing software, OpenSolaris network virtualization and resource control is a set of OpenSolaris features, currently under development by Sun Microsystems as an open source project. OpenSolaris provides an [internal network virtualization] and quality of service scenario, implemented through the features of the OpenSolaris Crossbow umbrella project. 

Major features of the Crossbow project include:
  • Virtual NIC (VNIC) pseudo-network interface technology
  • Exclusive IP zones
  • Bandwidth management and flow control on a per interface and per VNIC basis

Description

The Crossbow project software, combined with next generation network interfaces like xge and bge, enable Network Virtualization and resource control for a single system. By combining VNICs with containers such as exclusive IP zonesor the xVM hypervisor,system administrators can run applications on separate virtual machines to improve performance and provide security.

Resource management and flow control features provide bandwidth management and quality of service or packet flows on separate virtual machines. You can allocate bandwidth amounts and manage data flows not only for the physical network interface but also for any containers configured on the interface. The Crossbow resource control features enable increased system efficiency and the ability to limit the amount of bandwidth consumed by a process.

Features of the Crossbow Project

This section briefly describes the main features of the Crossbow network virtualization project. For further details on each feature, see the Crossbow Network Virtualization Architecture document available for download at the OpenSolaris Crossbow documentation page.

VNIC

A VNIC is a is a pseudo network interface that is configured on top of a system's physical Network adapter, also called a network interface (NIC). A physical interface can have more than one VNIC. Each VNIC operates like and appears to the system as a physical NIC. The individual VNIC is assigned a media access control MAC address, which can be configured to a value other than the default MAC address assigned to the physical NIC. You can use the resource control features of Crossbow to allocate separate bandwidths to the individual VNICs. Moreover, you can configure a virtual machine, such as an exclusive IP zone or xVM domain on top of a VNIC.

Virtual Switch

When the first VNIC is created on a system, a virtual switch is also created above the physical interface. Though not directly accessible to the user, the virtual switch provides connectivity between all VNICs configured on the same physical interface, enabling the virtual network in a box scenario. The virtual switch forwards packets between the system's VNICs. Thus, packets from an internal VNIC source never have to pass to the external network to reach an internal network destination.

Exclusive IP Zones

An " exclusive IP zone is a separate instance of a full TCP/IP stack, which functions as a non-global zone. Each exclusive IP zone is built upon a physical network interface and has its own IP-related state. IP instances support DHCPv4 and IPv6 address autoconfiguration. An exclusive IP zone can have its own routing table and routing protocols separate from the global zone on a system. Moreover, a system administrator can run the ifconfig command within an exclusive IP instance to set up a logical interface within the exclusive IP zone.






--Stefaniab 23:49, 9 November 2007 (UTC

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