CyberTraining: Implementation: Small: Cybertraining on P4 Programmable Devices using an Online Scalable Platform with Physical and Virtual Switches and Real Protocol Stacks

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Traditionally, the data plane of network devices has been designed with fixed functions to forward data packets, using a small set of communication protocols. This closed-design paradigm has limited the capability of switches to costly proprietary implementations that are hard-coded by vendors. Recently, data plane programmability has attracted significant attention, permitting the owners of communication networks to use switches with customized processing functions. While large companies are now using programmable platforms, campus networks and small- and medium-sized enterprises have yet to fully benefit from the advantages of P4, the de-facto standard for programming the data plane. A key barrier preventing faster adoption of P4 is the availability of engaging training material for cyberinfrastructure (CI) professionals that focuses on the operation and management of P4 systems. This project addresses the gap by developing hands-on virtual labs that run on a platform for online instruction, referred to as the academic cloud. The project will lower the entry barrier to innovation through P4 technology, which will enable CI professionals to reduce the time to design, test, and adopt new communication protocols; devise new customized applications; understand the behavior of data packets as they travel across networks; develop more effective defenses against cybersecurity attacks; and improve the performance of applications used in essential areas such as cybersecurity, Internet of Things (IoT), congestion control, and others.The first goal of the project is to facilitate the adoption of programmable P4 devices by CI professionals and by network owners in general, by developing virtual labs. The second goal is to promote the integration of P4 and virtual labs into academic degree programs at the associate, bachelor, and graduate levels. Equipment used in virtual labs consists of production-grade devices such as software switches (e.g., Open vSwitch, PISCES), hardware switches based on state-of-the-art Tofino chips, and open-source operating systems and controllers (e.g., Open Network Linux, Open Network Operating System). For virtual labs using physical devices, the equipment pods incorporate P4 programmable hardware switches that are attached to the cloud and are managed via remote-access capability. Virtual labs provide both functional and traffic realism, as they use the same equipment as in real deployments and generate interactive network traffic. They emulate communications across local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), campus networks, data centers, and high-performance systems. The project will organize workshops to create awareness of this new technology and virtual labs resources, and to train CI professionals on P4. Workshops are co-organized and broadly disseminated through collaborators that play a critical role in enhancing and securing the national cyberinfrastructure: ESnet, the high-performance network that carries science traffic for the U.S. Department of Energy, including the National Laboratory system; and Internet2 and Front Range GigaPOP, two Research and Education Networks (RENs) that operate national and regional communication backbones. Finally, in coordination with the Western Academy Support and Training Center, one of the main technical training centers in the U.S. for two- and four-year instruction, and the Network Development Group, a company in virtualized training, the project will train IT instructors interested in the P4 technology.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.