Re: [Xen-users] [XCP] XCP network and VLAN by Open vSwitch

[Wei-Chih Chen <wcchen.tw@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Todd and Everyone,

On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 10:51 PM, Todd Deshane <todd.deshane@xxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 5:10 AM, Wei-Chih Chen <wcchen.tw@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Todd, admin, Everyone,

Thank you for replying.
This information is very important. However, it also confuses me.

"The term "vSwitch" means Open vSwitch in vSwitch Controller User Guide" and we can use ovs- commands to control Open vSwitch.
Do these imply vSwitch Controller controls Open vSwitch through ovs- commands?
(In other words, is vSwitch Controller  a frontend to ovs- commands?)

No, I don't think it does. the vSwitch Controller is proprietary, but likely it used the OpenFlow protocol to control the underlying Open vSwitch switches.

 

If yes, then vSwitch Controller would confuse XAPI because it does NOT go through XAPI.
How does Citrix provide a commercial controller that may cause these problems? @@

See above.

 

So far, the followings are what I think:
There are two kinds of XCP network:
1. Original Linux network: XenCenter (GUI tool)-> xe command-> XAPI (Thanks for information from Todd) -> Linux network
2. Open vSwitch (default for XCP): vSwitch Controller (commercial GUI tool)-> ovs- command-> Open vSwitch  (prone to problems)

This second one is not quite right. 

 

It should read:

some vSwitch Controller (commercial from companies like Citrix or open source using NOX)-> OpenFlow protocol-> Open vSwitch switches

 

From aspects of stability, scalability and the amount of features provided, which one is recommended?

Either use the XenCenter/OpenXenManager front ends or xe command directly to manage the network.

OR

Use a commercial or open source controller that is designed to interact properly with XCP/xapi/Open vSwitch.

Don't use ovs commands directly since that will likely make the xapi configuration be incorrect.
 

Thank you.  Clear concepts and useful information. :)

I have to choose one from the two:
>From openvswitch.org, Open vSwitch provides many features (such as NetFlow, Fine-grained min/max rate QoS) that original Linux network can not reach, because I do not see these features described in XenServer 5.6 FP1 Administrator Guide.
It seems that Open vSwitch is more powerful.

In my future environment, there may be a large number of hosts, and VMs need to migrate to another host with its original network settings (scalability and VM mobility issues).
Management, performance and security are also important issues.
In the consideration of the above requirements, Open vSwitch seems better for me. Or does anyone have other suggestions?
Thanks.

 

Perhaps I misunderstand something.
I am grateful to anyone for making these clear. :)

Thank you very much.
Regards,
Wayne

(From admin@xxxxxxxxxxx:)

When somebody says "it would confuse xapi", they mean you should always go through the XAPI when configuring things on XenServer or XCP.  If you try to go around the XAPI (using other tools or by editing configuration files directly), then it is possible to cause a lot of unpredictable problems to occur.  For example, if you configure network outside of the XAPI, you may run into weird problems where the networking may not properly follow a VM when you live migrate a VM from one node to another.  So as a general rule, you really want to be sure to do everything through the XAPI (or use a tool that goes through the XAPI).

On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 12:57 PM, Todd Deshane <todd.deshane@xxxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 2:50 AM, Wei-Chih Chen <wcchen.tw@gmail.com> wrote:
> NOX looks helpful. I will try this.
> Is vSwitch Controller designed dedicatedly to Open vSwitch?
> It seems that the term "vSwitch" means Open vSwitch in vSwitch Controller
> User Guide. Is this correct?

Yes, the vSwitch backend for XenServer/XCP is the Open vSwitch


--

Todd Deshane
http://www.linkedin.com/in/deshantm
http://www.xen.org/products/cloudxen.html
http://runningxen.com/

--

Todd Deshane
http://www.linkedin.com/in/deshantm
http://www.xen.org/products/cloudxen.html
http://runningxen.com/

Regards,
Wayne
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