Transforming Lab Automation with Layer-1 switching fabrics based on SDN and whitebox switches

Modern test environments increasingly rely on automation of compute and network resources. The Continuous Integration/Continuous Development paradigm puts even mor …

Modern test environments increasingly rely on automation of compute and network resources. The Continuous Integration/Continuous Development paradigm puts even more pressure on lab administrators to deliver a fully automated lab environment, where multiple developers groups share expensive lab resources and can build on-demand network topologies without incurring in any downtime. The Layer-1 switching infrastructure interconnecting all the lab resources is at the core of the transformation of the lab into a self-service, on-demand, automated infrastructure. Traditionally Layer-1 switching fabrics relied on packet broker switches, or optical cross-connects with either a very high per-port cost, or limited flexibility to accommodate the variety of port speeds and media types required by the DUT(s) in the lab. This talk explores how merchant silicon based whitebox switches coupled with Openflow-style technologies and VxLAN transport can enable Lab managers to build a highly distributed, multi-site, programmable and cost effective Layer-1 fabric to support any device, anywhere with Layer-1 transparency.