EAGER: Leveraging Server Offload Features For High-Performance Network Function Implementations

网络功能(NFS)或中间盒以复杂的方式检查和修改网络包和流。例如，入侵检测系统(IDS)、负载均衡器、缓存代理等。最近，人们强烈要求使用在通用计算资源上运行的基于软件的NFS来取代专用的NF硬件-这一趋势称为网络功能虚拟化(NFV)。NFV正在包括服务提供商、电信公司、企业和数据中心网络在内的各种环境中扎根。因此，随着基于软件的中间盒的设计和部署的相应急剧增加，了解如何最好地实现中间盒软件，以便在不花费成本的情况下满足或超过硬件元件的性能和功能变得至关重要。该项目旨在验证这样一种假设，即现代服务器设备的新颖硬件和虚拟化软件能力可以在有效实施中间盒软件方面发挥关键作用。特别是，现代服务器现在支持各种加速功能，特别是在它们的网络接口卡或NIC上，这些网卡现在支持各种“卸载”功能。同样，在软件方面，也有容器等创新，它们提供了比传统虚拟机更精简的虚拟化替代方案。在这个项目中，首席研究人员试图了解是否可能以及如何以一种在中间盒内部定制软件和各种内部硬件和软件加速功能和支持之间适当地拆分的方式来最佳地实现给定中间盒的功能。拟议的研究将评估在给定最先进的服务器硬件和虚拟化软件的情况下重新实施中间盒的可行性和局限性。探索将包括：对各种现代硬件/软件功能集的性能进行基于测量的研究；制作简单中间盒的原型以最佳地利用可用的功能；了解各种多租户/虚拟化环境中卸载功能的性能，特别是关注干扰的影响；以及了解如何最好地支持NFV中的分布式中间盒和服务链。智力价值：该项目将导致对服务器加速功能和现代虚拟化软件在有效实现未来软件中间盒方面带来的机遇和挑战的关键初步见解。该项目将产生用于测试中间盒实现的基准套件。它还将产生一小类高性能中间盒的初始软件原型。这一初步探索的结果可以为进一步研究如何利用这些新兴功能来整体重组数据中心软件基础设施提供参考。它还可以为研究适当的API和框架提供信息，以有效支持未来的SDN+NFV场景。更广泛的影响：如果成功，这项探索性工作可能会导致一个规模更大、具有潜在变革性的研究计划，该计划以系统API为基础，为所有未来的数据中心基础设施调用适当的硬件和软件功能。PI计划聘请博士后研究人员进行这项研究，从而为参与研究的博士后研究员提供专业发展机会。这项研究将大量利用CloudLab进行实验。这项研究的结果将在CloudLab上以个人资料的形式提供，供其他研究人员在工作中使用。这项研究还将紧密整合到皮阿凯拉将于2015年秋季教授的云计算课程，以及密歇根大学麦迪逊分校的其他研究生和本科生系统和网络课程。私隐专员公署将与相关业界合作伙伴合作，以确保该项目采用最先进的硬件和软件，并使业界了解该项目的最新研究结果。

Network functions (NFs), or middleboxes, examine and modify network packets and flows in sophisticated ways. Examples include, intrusion detection systems (IDSs), load balancers, caching proxies, etc. Recently, there has been a strong push to replace dedicated NF hardware with software-based NFs running on generic compute resources---trend known as network functions virtualization (NFV). NFV is taking root in a variety of setting, including service provider, telco, enterprise and data center networks. With a corresponding steep increase in the design and deployment of software-based middleboxes it has therefore become crucial to understand how best to implement middlebox software, so as to meet or exceed the performance and functionality of hardware elements without the cost. The project aims to verify the assumption that the novel hardware and virtualization software capabilities of modern server equipment can play a crucial role in effective middlebox software implementation. In particular, modern servers now support a variety of acceleration features, in particular on their network interface cards, or NICs which now support a variety of "offload" features. Likewise, on the software front, there are innovations such as containers, which offer a leaner alternative to virtualization than traditional virtual machines. In this project the principal investigator seeks to understand whether it is possible, and how to, optimally implement a given middlebox's functionality in a manner that is split suitably between middlebox-internal custom software and various intrinsic hardware and software acceleration features and support. The proposed research will evaluate the feasibility and limits of middlebox re-implementation given state-of-the-art server hardware and virtualization software. The exploration will entail: a measurement-based study of the performance of various modern hardware/software feature sets; prototyping simple middleboxes to leverage the available features optimally; understanding performance of offload features in various multi-tenant/virtualized settings, focusing in particular on the impact of interference; and, understanding how best to support distributed middleboxes and service chaining in NFV. Intellectual Merit: This project will lead to key initial insights into the opportunities and challenges posed by server acceleration features and modern virtualization software in effectively realizing future software middleboxes. The project will lead to benchmark suites for testing middlebox implementations. It will also result in initial software prototypes of a small class of high performance middleboxes. The outcomes of this initial exploration can inform further research into how to restructure data center software infrastructure as a whole by leveraging these emerging features. It can also inform research into appropriate APIs and frameworks for effectively supporting future SDN+NFV scenarios. Broader Impacts: If successful, this exploratory work can lead to a much larger and potentially transformative research program, rooted around systematic APIs for invoking appropriate hardware and software features for all future data center infrastructures. The PI plans to engage a postdoctoral research in conducting this research, thus providing professional development opportunities for the postdoctoral researcher involved. The research will leverage CloudLab heavily for experimentation. Outcomes from this research will be made available as profiles on CloudLab for other researchers to leverage in their work. This research will also be tightly integrated into a Cloud Computing course that PI Akella will be teaching in the Fall of 2015, and into other graduate and undergraduate systems and networking courses at UW-Madison. The PI will engage with the relevant industry partners to ensure that the project employs state-of-the-art hardware and software and to keep the industry abreast of the project's latest findings.