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

网络功能（NF）或中间盒以复杂的方式检查和修改网络数据包和流。例如，入侵检测系统（IDS），负载均衡器，缓存代理等。最近，有一个强大的推动力，以取代专用NF硬件与基于软件的NF上运行的通用计算资源-趋势被称为网络功能虚拟化（NFV）。NFV正在各种环境中扎根，包括服务提供商、电信公司、企业和数据中心网络。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，理解如何最好地实现中间盒软件以便在没有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。该项目旨在验证现代服务器设备的新型硬件和虚拟化软件功能在有效的中间盒软件实施中发挥关键作用的假设。特别地，现代服务器现在支持各种加速特征，特别是在它们的网络接口卡上，或者在现在支持各种“卸载”特征的网络接口卡上。同样，在软件方面，有一些创新，如容器，它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，主要研究者试图了解是否有可能，以及如何以一种在中间盒内部自定义软件和各种固有硬件和软件加速功能和支持之间适当划分的方式最佳地实现给定中间盒的功能。拟议的研究将评估的可行性和限制的中间盒重新实现给定的最先进的服务器硬件和虚拟化软件。探索将需要：对各种现代硬件/软件功能集的性能进行基于测量的研究;对简单的中间盒进行原型设计以最佳地利用可用功能;了解各种多租户/虚拟化设置中卸载功能的性能，特别关注干扰的影响;以及了解如何最好地支持NFV中的分布式中间盒和服务链。智力优势：该项目将导致关键的初步见解的机会和挑战所带来的服务器加速功能和现代虚拟化软件，有效地实现未来的软件中间盒。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通过利用这些新兴功能来整体重构数据中心软件基础设施提供信息。它还可以为适当的API和框架的研究提供信息，以有效支持未来的SDN+NFV场景。更广泛的影响：如果成功的话，这项探索性的工作可能会导致一个更大的和潜在的变革性的研究计划，以系统的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计划在进行这项研究时进行博士后研究，从而为所涉及的博士后研究人员提供专业发展机会。该研究将大量利用CloudLab进行实验。这项研究的结果将作为CloudLab上的配置文件提供给其他研究人员，供他们在工作中利用。这项研究也将紧密结合到云计算课程，PI Akella将在2015年秋季教学，并进入其他研究生和本科生系统和网络课程在威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校。首席研究员将与相关的业界伙伴接触，以确保项目采用最先进的硬件和软件，并让业界了解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.