Network Working Group H. Okita
Internet-Draft M. Yoshizawa
Intended status: Informational Hitachi, Ltd.
Expires: April 28, 2011 October 25, 2010
Virtual Network Management Information Model
draft-okita-ops-vnetmodel-03
Abstract
Virtual switches on server virtualization platforms cause a problem
in managing data center networks containing several hundred switches.
Accordingly, a management information model for the network structure
of data center networks containing virtual switches is proposed. The
proposed model consists of a physical layer (which represents
connections between physical switches) and a virtual layer (which
represents connections between virtual switches). These layers also
represent the association of the virtual switch with the
corresponding physical switch. This document also provides an
example of the XML-based data model that is implemented according to
the proposed information model.
Status of this Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-
Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on April 28, 2011.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
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publication of this document. Please review these documents
carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
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described in the Simplified BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1. Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2. System Architecture Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3. Requirements for Virtual Network Management
Information Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3. Relationships to Existing MIBs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.1. Relationships to LLDP-MIB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2. Relationships to ENTITY-MIB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4. Proposals of Virtual Network Management Information Model . . 11
4.1. TargetedNetwork Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2. PhysicalNetwork Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.3. VirtualNetwork Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.4. Id Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5. XML-based Implementation of the Proposed Information Model . . 18
6. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
8. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
9. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
9.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
9.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
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1. Introduction
In data center networks, a virtual switch on a server virtualization
platform works as a virtual network element [VEB] [EVB-PAR] [PE-PAR]
. The virtual switch connects multiple virtual machines on the same
server virtualization platform and connects these virtual machines to
external physical switches.
Virtual switches, however, cause a problem in managing data center
networks because, mainly, a virtual switch and a physical switch
require different management systems. Operators of data center
networks therefore have to use multiple management systems for
managing the whole data center network.
To avoid this management difficulty, an integrated network management
system (NMS) is effective. The integrated NMS collects and stores
virtual-network management information that describes network
structure of a managed target network. It then displays or transmits
this management information as a response to a request from operators
or other NMSs.
The purpose of this document is to provide a management information
model that represents the network structure of a data center
containing virtual switches. Section 2 describes the model
requirements, Section 3 describes the relationships to the existing
MIBs, Section 4 defines the model, and Section 5 evaluates the model.
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2. Requirements
2.1. Problem Statement
Virtual switches cause a difficulty in managing data center networks.
They expand the data center network into the server virtualization
platforms. Therefore, to manage the whole network structure of data
center networks, network operators have to manage virtual switches in
addition to physical switches.
To manage these virtual and physical switches, operators have to use
multiple management interfaces. Specifically, to manage virtual
switches, they have to use a specific management system for the
server virtualization platform that the target virtual switches are
created on. Moreover, to manage physical switches, they use a
network management system. Figure 1 shows an architectural overview
of a conventional data center network management system.
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+-----------+
|User Client|
+-----------+
|
V
+-----------+ +---------+
|User Client| |Other NMS|
+-----------+ +---------+
| | | |
| +-------------+ |
| +------------+ | |
V V V V
+--------------+ +-----------------+
|Server | |Traditional |
|Virtualization| |Network |
|Management | |Management |
|System | |System (NMS) |
+--------------+ +-----------------+
| | |
V V V
+--------------+ +-------+ +-------+
|Server | |Network| |Network|
|Virtualization| |Switch | |Switch |
|Platform | +-------+ +-------+
|+--+ +-------+|
||VM| |Virtual||
|+--+ |Switch ||
| +-------+|
+--------------+
Figure 1: Overview of a data center network management system
This conventional management architecture causes the following two
problems which increase the operation time taken by operators of the
data center networks and thus increase operational costs.
1. When operators want to examine the network structure of a virtual
network containing virtual switches, they have to access multiple
management systems.
2. When operators want to examine the mapping of a virtual network
to corresponding physical components, they have to access
multiple management systems.
To solve these problems and save the operation time for data center
networks, the following two requirements must be met.
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1. The data center network should provide an integrated management
system that enables operators to get network structure
information about virtual network.
2. The data center network should provide an integrated management
system that enables operators to get mapping information about
virtual switches and their underlying physical platforms.
2.2. System Architecture Requirements
A system architecture that effectively satisfies the above-described
requirements is proposed in the following.
An integrated network management system (NMS) effectively reduces the
network operation time needed for managing virtual switches and
physical switches. It is referred to as a VNMS (Virtual Network
Management System.) It integrates multiple existing management
interfaces into a single interface. Operators can thus reduce their
operation time.
The VNMS manages device connectivity in the managed target network.
To perform this task, it stores network management information about
configured virtual networks in the target network.
Figure 2 shows an overview of the system architecture of the target
system. The virtual-network management information about the VNMS is
based on the proposed model .
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+-----------+ +-----------+
|User Client| |User Client|
+-----------+ +-----------+
| |
V V
+-----------+ +---------------+ +---------------+
|User Client| |Traditional NMS| |Traditional NMS|
+-----------+ +---------------+ +---------------+
| | |
= NMI = NMI =NMI
| | +------------+
+----------------------------------+
|Virtual Network Management System |
| +-----------------------------+ |
| |Virtual Network | |
| |Management Information | |
| |(based on the proposed model)| |
| +-----------------------------+ |
+----------------------------------+
| | |
= DMI = DMI = DMI
| | |
+--------------+ +-------+ +-------+
|Server | |Network| |Network|
|Virtualization| |Switch | |Switch |
|Platform | +-------+ +-------+
|+--+ +-------+|
||VM| |Virtual||
|+--+ |Switch ||
| +-------+|
+--------------+
Figure 2: Overview of system architecture
The following three types of elements exist around this VNMS.
o User clients or traditional NMS
o Network switches
o Server virtualization platforms
The user client or network application uses management information
about device connections in the managed network. The network
switches are virtualized as multiple virtual switches. Moreover, the
server virtualization platforms are virtualized as multiple virtual
machines and internal virtual switches. A set of virtual switches
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and virtual machines forms a virtual system for a user.
Among the elements described above, we define the following two
management interfaces.
o Network Management Interface (NMI)
o Device Management Interface (DMI)
The network management interface (NMI) is set between the network
application and the VNMS. This interface is used by the VNMS to
transport virtual-network management information to network
applications in response to their request.
Datamodels provide the definition and format of the virtual-network
management information transported on the NMI. The definition
describes an encoding scheme and an underlying transport protocol.
The VNMS may use, for example, SNMP (Simple Network Management
Protocol) and MIB (Management Information Base) specified in the
Internet-standard management framework [RFC3410] or an XML-based
management framework [RFC3535] as the datamodel.
The device-management interface (DMI) is set between the VNMS and
network devices, which include the server virtualization platforms
and network switches. The DMI is used by the VNMS to query
management information about a target device. This interface is
device specific and not standardized by this document.
2.3. Requirements for Virtual Network Management Information Model
This document focuses on an information model for the virtual-network
management information described in the previous section. The
requirements for the information model are listed below. These
requirements arise from the two problems stated above.
1. Connection Information: The proposed model should represent a
connection between virtual switches, a connection between
physical switches, and a connection between a virtual switch and
a physical switch in the target network.
2. Virtual-Physical Mapping Information: The proposed model should
represent mapping of a virtual switch to the physical server that
the virtual switch is created on.
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3. Relationships to Existing MIBs
A lot of RFCs about MIBs have been published from the IETF. These
existing MIBs provide each information models implicitly. For
avoiding inventing the wheel, we researched relationships between the
requirements for the virtual network management information model and
existing MIBs.
3.1. Relationships to LLDP-MIB
Protocols for network topology discovery like Link Layer Discovery
Protocol (LLDP) use some of MIB modules. These MIB modules are used
to describe link state information in the managed network. For
example, the LLDP-MIB [IEEE.802-1AB.2005] standardized as IEEE
Standard 802.1AB supports this function.
The LLDP-MIB can be used to describe a connection between neighboring
layer-2 MAC bridges. In the LLDP-MIB, there is an lldpRemTable which
contains one or more rows per physical network connection. The row
contains a chassis ID, a port ID, a port description, and system
information for each neighboring layer-2 MAC bridge.
As described above, the LLDP-MIB can be used to describe the
connection information between physical entities like physical
switches. However, the LLDP-MIB cannot be used to describe the
connection information between logical entities. Thus, it cannot be
used to describe the connection information between a virtual switch
and a virtual machine on the same physical server. Moreover, it
cannot be used to describe the connection information between a
virtual switch and an external physical switch.
As the result, the LLDP-MIB does not satisfy the first requirement in
section 2.3 for the virtual network management information model.
3.2. Relationships to ENTITY-MIB
The ENTITY-MIB [RFC2737] was published by the IETF entmib WG. It can
be used to represent a single SNMP agent which supports multiple
instances of one MIB. For example, a single physical switch having a
single SNMP agent can support multiple instances of a bridge with the
ENTITY-MIB.
The ENTITY-MIB can be used to describe following two types of
information.
One is mapping information between logical entities and physical
entities on one network element. The information can be represented
by the entLPMappingTable and the entAliasMappingTable in the
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entityMapping group. For example, these tables support logical
entities which contain OSPF instances and 802.1d bridges. Moreover,
these tables support physical entities which contain bridge ports,
backplanes and chassis.
Another is information about hierarchy relationship among physical
entities. The information can be represented by the
entPhysicalContainsTable in the entityMapping group. The
entPhysicalContainsTable contains simple mapping information between
'container' entity and 'containee' entity. For example, a chassis is
a 'container' entity. Its bridge ports and its backplane are
'containee' entities.
As described above, the ENTITY-MIB can be used to describe the
mapping information between logical entities and physical entities.
Therefore, the ENTITY-MIB satisfies the second requirement in section
2.3 for the virtual network management information model.
However, the ENTITY-MIB cannot be used to describe the connection
information between logical entities. For example, it is impossible
to describe connection information between virtual switches with the
ENTITY-MIB.
As the result, the ENTITY-MIB does not satisfy the first requirement
in section 2.3 for the virtual network management information model.
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4. Proposals of Virtual Network Management Information Model
This section defines the proposed virtual-network management
information model, which is an object-oriented information model.
The model can satisfy both of the requirements included in section
2.3. The model is an abstract-information model independent from
encoding schemes and management protocols. The model is written in
Unified Modeling Language (UML) [UML] .
4.1. TargetedNetwork Object
The proposed model starts with a TargetedNetwork object. This object
represents the overall network. In the network, two types of network
exist: a physical network and a virtual network. In the proposed
model, a PhysicalNetwork object represents a physical network, and a
VirtualNetwork object represents a virtual network. To represent
this structure, the TargetedNetwork object has one or multiple
references to PhysicalNetwork objects and VirtualNetwork objects.
Furthermore, the PhysicalNetwork object and the VirtualNetwork have a
reference between them. Since a physical network can create multiple
virtual networks, the PhysicalNetwork object can have multiple
references to corresponding VirtualNetwork objects. On the contrary,
the VirtualNetwork object has only one reference to the
PhysicalNetwork object, since the virtual network is created on the
specific physical network.
Figure 3 shows a class diagram of the proposed virtual-network
management information model containing the TargetedNetwork object,
PhysicalNetwork objects, and VirtualNetwork objects.
+---------------+
|TargetedNetwork|
+---------------+
<> <>
|1 |1 +---------------+
| +--------|VirtualNetwork |------Virtual network related objects
| 0..* +---------------+ (Figure.5)
| |0...n
| |
| |1
| <>
| +---------------+
+------------|PhysicalNetwork|------Physical network related objects
0..* +---------------+ (Figure.4)
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Figure 3: Class diagram of the proposed virtual-network management
information model
4.2. PhysicalNetwork Object
To represent the structure of a physical network, the proposed model
defines the following six types of managed objects under the
TargetedNetwork object.
o PhysicalNetwork
o PhysicalNode
o PhysicalNodeGroup
o PhysicalInterface
o PhysicalInterfaceGroup
o PhysicalLink
PhysicalNetwork:
This object represents an actual network composed of actual
devices. This object aggregates zero or more PhysicalNode
objects.
PhysicalNode:
This object represents an actual device in a physical network.
The actual device is a server, a server virtualization
platform, or a network switch. The object has an association
with a PhysicalNetwork object. It also has an association with
a PhysicalNodeGroup object when the actual device is a member
of a group of devices. It also aggregates zero or more
PhysicalInterface objects. The PhysicalNode object can contain
one "Configurations" object, which stores configuration data of
the device represented by the PhysicalNode object. The
Configurations object contains, for example, virtual LAN (VLAN)
configuration, link aggregation (LAG) configuration or server
virtualization configuration. Although this memo defines the
Configurations object as a child object of the PhysicalNode
object, defining the model for the configuration information is
out of scope of this memo. The main reason is that the model
of the Configurations object differs from one device to
another.
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PhysicalNodeGroup:
This object represents a set of multiple actual devices. For
example, this object represents the chassis of a blade server,
which includes multiple server blades and multiple network
switches. This object aggregates one or more PhysicalNode
objects.
PhysicalInterface:
This object represents an actual network interface of an actual
device. The network interface is a port of a network interface
card equipped in a server or a port of a network switch. The
object also represents an internal network interface used to
connect a server blade and an internal switch in a blade
server. This object has an association with a PhysicalNode
object. This object also has an association with a
PhysicalInterfaceGroup object when the network interface is a
port of the line card represented by the PhysicalInterfaceGroup
object. This object also has an association with a
PhysicalLink object when the network interface is connected to
another network interface by an actual network cable.
PhysicalInterfaceGroup:
This object represents a set of actual network interfaces. For
example, it represents a network interface card or a network
switch's line card (which is equipped with multiple ports). It
aggregates one or more PhysicalInterface objects.
PhysicalLink:
This object represents an actual network cable used to connect
two actual network interfaces. For example, it represents a
generic Ethernet cable. It also represents an internal
connection between a server blade and an internal switch in a
blade server. This object aggregates two PhysicalInterface
objects.
Figure 4 shows an abstract class diagram of the objects related to
the physical network.
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+---------------+
|TargetedNetwork|
+---------------+
<>
|1 0..* +---------------+
+------------------|PhysicalNetwork|
+---------------+
<>
+-----------------+ |1
|PhysicalNodeGroup| |
+-----------------+ |
<> |
0..1 | |
+---------------+ |
0..* | |0..*
+------------+1 +--------------+
|PhysicalNode|------|Configurations|
+------------+ 0..1+--------------+
<>
+----------------------+ |1
|PhysicalInterfaceGroup| |
+----------------------+ |
<> |
0..1 | |
+-------------+ |
0..* | |0..*
+---------+ +--------+
|Physical |-------<>|Physical|
|Interface|2 0..1 |Link |
+---------+ +--------+
Figure 4: Class diagram of physical-network-related objects
4.3. VirtualNetwork Object
To represent the structure of a virtual network, the proposed model
defines the following five types of managed objects under the
TargetedNetwork object.
o VirtualNetwork
o VirtualNode
o VirtualNodeGroup
o VirtualInterface
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o VirtualLink
VirtualNetwork:
This object represents a virtual network composed of multiple
virtual network devices, including not only actual devices but
also virtual devices. It aggregates zero or more VirtualNode
objects.
VirtualNode:
This object represents a virtual network device in a virtual
network. Examples of the virtual devices are virtual switches
and virtual machines on a server virtualization platform.
Other examples are virtual-router functions configured on a
router. The object has an association with a VirtualNetwork
object and a VirtualNodeGroup object.
VirtualNodeGroup:
This object represents a set of virtual devices that are
created from the same actual device. It aggregates one or more
VirtualNode objects. It also has an association with a
PhysicalNode object, which represents an actual device.
VirtualInterface:
This object represents a virtual network interface of a virtual
device. An example of such an interface is a virtual network-
interface card (VNIC) of a virtual machine on a server
virtualization platform. This object has an association with a
VirtualNode object. This object also has an association with a
VirtualLink object when the virtual network interface is
connected to another virtual network interface by a virtual
network link.
VirtualLink:
This object represents a virtual network link used to connect
two virtual network interfaces. For example, it represents a
connection between a virtual machine and a virtual switch
created on a server virtualization platform. This object
aggregates two VirtualInterface objects.
The relationship between the VirtualNetwork, the VirtualNode, the
VirtualInterface, and this VirtualLink object is almost the same as
the relationship between the PhysicalNetwork, the PhysicalNode, the
PhysicalInterface, and the PhysicalLink object.
Figure 5 shows an abstract class diagram of the objects related to
the virtual network.
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+---------------+
|TargetedNetwork|
+---------------+
<>
|1 0..* +--------------+
+-------------------|VirtualNetwork|
+--------------+
<>
+----------------+ |1
|VirtualNodeGroup| |
+----------------+ |
1..* | <> |
| |1 |
| +----------+ |
| 1..* | |0..*
| +-----------+
| |VirtualNode|
| +-----------+
| <>
| |1
| |
| |0..*
| +---------+ +-------+
| |Virtual |-------<>|Virtual|
1| |Interface|2 0..1 |Link |
<> +---------+ +-------+
+------------+
|PhysicalNode|
+------------+
Figure 5: Class diagram of virtual-network-related objects
4.4. Id Object
All objects except the TargetedNetwork object must contain each "id"
object which stores an identifier (ID). The ID must be unique within
the group formed by the same type of objects associated with the same
parent object as following.
o PhysicalNetwork object ID is unique within a TargetedNetwork
object.
o PhysicalNodeGroup object ID is unique within a PhysicalNetwork
object.
o PhysicalNode object ID is unique within a PhysicalNetwork object.
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o PhysicalInterface object ID is unique within a PhysicalNode
object.
o PhysicalInterfaceGroup object ID is unique within a PhysicalNode
object.
o PhysicalLink object ID is unique within a PhysicalNetwork object.
o VirtualNetwork object ID is unique within a TargetedNetwork
object.
o VirtualNode object ID is unique within a VirtualNetwork object.
o VirtualInterface object ID is unique within a VirtualNode object.
o VirtualLink object ID is unique within a VirtualNetwork object
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5. XML-based Implementation of the Proposed Information Model
This section shows an example data model that is created according to
the proposed information model described above. This example data
model is intended to help readers check the feasibility of the
proposed information model. Thus, this section will be removed when
the proposed information model is fixed.
This example data model is defined as an XML-based data model.
Therefore, it is represented as an XML tree, which has an
"targetedNetwork" element as its top node. In this XML tree, each
class in the proposed information model is mapped to an XML element
and located hierarchically.
Because of the difference between UML and XML, several new objects
exist in the example XML data model. For example, a "physicalLinks"
element appeared under a "physicalNetwork" element in order to
aggregate multiple "physicalLink" elements. To represent the
reference to one of these "physicalLink" elements, a String-type
"linkId" element appears in a "physicalInterface" element.
The XML below shows the definition of the example data model written
in W3C XML Schema.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace="http://www.hitachi.com/vnetmodel-0.1"
elementFormDefault="qualified"
xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:vnm="http://www.hitachi.com/vnetmodel-0.1">
<xs:element name="targetedNetwork"
type="vnm:targetedNetworkType"></xs:element>
<xs:complexType name="targetedNetworkType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="physicalNetwork"
type="vnm:physicalNetworkType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="virtualNetwork"
type="vnm:virtualNetworkType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
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<xs:complexType name="physicalNetworkType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="physicalNodeGroup"
type="vnm:physicalNodeGroupType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="physicalNode" type="vnm:physicalNodeType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="physicalLinks" type="vnm:physicalLinksType"
maxOccurs="1" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="physicalNodeGroupType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="physicalNode" type="vnm:physicalNodeType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0"></xs:element>
<xs:element name="physicalNodeGroup"
type="vnm:physicalNodeGroupType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
<xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="physicalNodeType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="physicalInterface"
type="vnm:physicalInterfaceType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="physicalInterfaceGroup"
type="vnm:physicalInterfaceGroupType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="configurations" type="xs:anyType"
maxOccurs="1" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
<xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="physicalLinksType">
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<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="physicalLink" type="vnm:physicalLinkType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0"></xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="physicalInterfaceType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="linkId" type="xs:string"
maxOccurs="1" minOccurs="0"></xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
<xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="physicalInterfaceGroupType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="physicalInterfaceId" type="xs:string"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="1">
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
<xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="physicalLinkType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="physicalInterface" type="xs:string"
maxOccurs="2" minOccurs="2"></xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
<xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="virtualNetworkType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="virtualNode" type="vnm:virtualNodeType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="virtualNodeGroup"
type="vnm:virtualNodeGroupType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="virtualLinks" type="vnm:virtualLinksType"
maxOccurs="1" minOccurs="0"></xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
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<xs:complexType name="virtualNodeGroupType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="virtualNodeId" type="xs:string"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="1">
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="physicalNodeId" type="xs:string"
maxOccurs="1" minOccurs="1">
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
<xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="virtualLinksType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="virtualLink" type="vnm:virtualLinkType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="1"></xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="virtualNodeType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="virtualInterface"
type="vnm:virtualInterfaceType"
maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0">
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
<xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="virtualLinkType">
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="virtualInterfaceType">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="linkId" type="xs:string"
maxOccurs="1" minOccurs="0"></xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
<xs:attribute name="type" type="xs:string"></xs:attribute>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:element name="NewElement" type="xs:string"></xs:element>
</xs:schema>
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6. Summary
This document proposes a management information model for a virtual
network in a data center network. This information model can
represent the network structure of a virtual network composed of
virtual switches and physical switches. It can also represent the
mapping between the virtual switch and the physical switch.
The network management system, which manages virtual-network
management information according to the proposed information model,
reduced VLAN configuration time by 35%. This result demonstrates
that the virtual-network management information model is effective in
reducing the management time of a data center network containing
virtual switches.
The proposed management information model does not contain
implementation specifications. Therefore, to implement the
information model, developers have to select an encoding scheme and a
management protocol for transporting management information data.
For example, developers can use SNMP and MIB specified in the
Internet-standard management framework [RFC3410] or an XML
[W3C.REC-xml] -based management framework [RFC3535]
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7. Security Considerations
The virtual-network management information as defined in this
document provides administrative information about a data center
network. This information could be used to aid an attack on the
network.
It is assumed that accesses to the data defined in this document are
subject to appropriate access control in the network management
system.
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8. IANA Considerations
The document does not request any IANA action, since the proposed
model is an abstract information model. However, a concrete data
model based on this information model should request IANA actions if
necessary.
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9. References
9.1. Normative References
[IEEE.802-1AB.2005]
"Local Area Networks and Metropolitan Area Networks:
Station and Media Access Control Connectivity Discovery",
IEEE Standard 802.1AB, May 2005.
[RFC2737] McCloghrie, K. and A. Bierman, "Entity MIB (Version 2)",
RFC 2737, December 1999.
[UML] OMG, "Unified Modeling Language", September 2002,
<http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/uml.htm>.
9.2. Informative References
[EVB-PAR] Congdon, P., "Edge Virtual Bridging Draft PAR",
September 2009, <http://www.ieee802.org/1/files/public/
docs2009/new-congdon-evb-PAR5c-0909-v1.pdf>.
[PE-PAR] Pelissier, J., "Port Extension Draft PAR Proposal",
September 2009, <http://www.ieee802.org/1/files/public/
docs2009/new-pelissier-portextension-par5c-0909.pdf>.
[RFC3410] Case, J., Mundy, R., Partain, D., and B. Stewart,
"Introduction and Applicability Statements for Internet-
Standard Management Framework", RFC 3410, December 2002.
[RFC3535] Schoenwaelder, J., "Overview of the 2002 IAB Network
Management Workshop", RFC 3535, May 2003.
[VEB] Ganga, I., "Virtual Ethernet Bridging in Server end
stations", September 2008, <http://www.ieee802.org/1/
files/public/docs2008/
new-dcb-ganga-virtual-bridging-in-server-end-stations-
0908.pdf>.
[W3C.REC-xml]
Bray, T., Paoli, J., Sperberg-McQueen, C., and E. Maler,
"Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (2nd ed)", W3C REC-
xml, October 2000, <http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml>.
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Authors' Addresses
Hideki Okita
Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd.
292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka
Yokohama, Kanagawa 244-0817
Japan
Phone: +81-45-860-2155
Fax: +81-45-860-2113
Email: hideki.okita.pf@hitachi.com
Masahiro Yoshizawa
Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd.
292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka
Yokohama, Kanagawa 244-0817
Japan
Phone: +81-45-860-2138
Fax: +81-45-860-2113
Email: masahiro.yoshizawa.bt@hitachi.com
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