HP VAN SDN Controller Administrator Guide

6
1 Introduction
This document describes the configuration and management of the HP VAN Controller in standalone
and team modes.
The HP VAN SDN Controller is a Java-based OpenFlow controller enabling SDN solutions such as
network controllers for the data center, public cloud, private cloud, and campus edge networks. This
includes providing an open platform for developing experimental and special-purpose network control
protocols using a built-in OpenFlow controller.
The HP VAN SDN controller includes an SDK providing the tools needed to develop applications to
run on the Controller. The SDK includes sample source code, API specifications, and the HP VAN
SDN Controller Programmer's Guide. Refer to the programmer's guide for SDK information.
The following publications are provided with the HP VAN SDN Controller:
• HP VAN SDN Controller License Registration and Activation Guide
• HP VAN SDN Controller Installation Guide
• HP VAN SDN Controller Administrator Guide
• HP VAN SDN Controller Programmer's Guide
• HP VAN SDN Controller REST APIs
• HP VAN SDN Controller Release Notes
• HP VAN SDN Controller Open Source and Third-Party Software License Agreements
The HP VAN SDN Controller is a platform for developing SDN applications and deploying SDN
applications. The controller can be characterized as providing a Base Control Platform, a Distributed
Platform for High-Availability and Scalability, and an Extensible Platform.
The base control platform is built on the Linux operating system. The principal software stack uses an
OSGi framework (Equinox) and a container (Virgo) as the basis for modular software deployment. The
base platform provides services such as authentication, data persistence, logging, and alerts. The base
platform provides a device driver framework for out-of-band control and management of devices. The
base platform also includes network services that provide the following:
• Link Discovery service to discover the physical links between devices.
• Node Manager service to discover the existence of end hosts. OpenFlow Packet_In messages
are used to learn end-host MAC and IP addresses.
• Topology service to create a network graph and compute the shortest path between two hosts.
• Path Provisioning service tot provision L2 paths by programming end-to-end flow rules between
discovered hosts.
• Path Diagnostic service to determine and verify the path taken by packets from a source host to
a destination host.
The HP VAN SDN Controller is a distributed platform enabling high-availability and scalability.
Controllers can be configured in a team to enable load-balancing and control domain partitioning.
Controllers in the team synchronize state information for smooth and rapid failover.