SBIR Phase II: Stateless - Taking from the Lab to a Production Environment

这一小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力源于这样一个事实，即它建立在使IT基础设施作为服务可消费的趋势之上，并释放了网络功能的这种潜力。在部署无状态网络功能即服务解决方案时，云提供商、企业和互联网服务提供商能够按需启动防火墙和负载均衡器等网络功能，而无状态平台可以自动管理这些功能。 随着云流量预计在未来几年内翻两番（根据思科的数据），设备数量的快速增长（随着物联网的出现），以及安全威胁的复杂性和规模不断增加，该项目将为运营商提供快速轻松部署基础设施的灵活性，以跟上这些趋势和威胁。 通过这样做，社会将体验到更可靠的网络应用，减少数据泄露。这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目提供了实现网络功能操作系统愿景所需的研究和开发。 虽然第一阶段项目通过展示将网络功能状态从处理中分离出来的技术可以转化为产品并集成到生产环境中来建立技术可行性，但第二阶段项目将探讨三个新的研究方向，以支持完整的平台。 (i)网络服务链：虽然不是一个新概念，但它已被证明是一个具有挑战性的虚拟设备。 该项目将为Stateless平台提供支持，将网络功能连接到链中，弹性扩展链，并提供整个链的服务质量。 (ii)可观察性：该项目将引入在适当的时候抽象细节或根据需要剥离抽象层的能力，为运营商提供一个简单的解决方案，他们可以完全控制。 (iii)软件开发工具包：该项目将引入应用程序编程接口以及隔离机制，以允许第三方（无论是其他供应商还是数据中心运营商）引入基于Stateless平台的新网络功能。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project results from the fact that it builds on the trend to make IT infrastructure consumable as a service and unlocks this potential for network functions. In deploying the Stateless Network Functions as a Service solution, cloud providers, enterprises, and internet service providers are able to launch network functions, such as firewalls and load balancers, on demand, and the Stateless platform automates the management of these functions. With cloud traffic expected to quadruple over the next several years (according to Cisco), a rapid growth in number of devices (with the Internet of Things emerging), and an ever-increasing complexity and scale of security threats, this project will provide operators with the agility to quickly and easily deploy infrastructure to keep up with these trends and threats. In doing so, society will experience more reliable networked applications with reduced data breaches.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project provides the research and development needed to realize the vision of a network function operating system. Whereas the Phase I project established technical feasibility by demonstrating the technology that decouples network functions state from processing can be turned into a product and integrated into a production environment, the Phase II project will approach three new research directions that will support a complete platform. (i) Network service chaining: While not a new concept, it is one that has proven to be challenging with virtual appliances. This project will add support to the Stateless platform to connect network functions into chains, elastically scale chains, and provide quality of service of the whole chain. (ii) Observability: This project will introduce the ability to abstract away the details when appropriate or peel away the layers of abstraction as needed, providing operators with a simple solution they have full control over. (iii) Software development kit: This project will introduce both the application programming interfaces as well as the isolation mechanisms to allow third parties, whether other vendors or data center operators, to introduce new network functionality based on the Stateless platform.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.