New Directions in Cloud Plumbing

The cloud is not only "other people's computers," it is also "other people's networks." In fact, the network behind the cloud is just as important as the compute and storage resources it interconnects with. To support the massive scale required, cloud network operators focus on a very narrow range of network topologies, typically some form of the spine-and-leaf, and often build highly customized control planes. This session will focus on changes taking place in the world of cloud networking; specifically, the disaggregation of software from hardware, and the movement from BGP as the "standard" control plane to the use of link state protocols combined with Software Defined Networking (SDN) principles. About the presenter: Russ White began working with computers in the mid-1980's, and computer networks in 1990. He has experience in designing, deploying, breaking, and troubleshooting large scale networks, and is a strong communicator from the white board to the board room. Across that time, he has co-authored more than forty software patents, participated in the development of several Internet standards, helped develop the CCDE and the CCAr, and worked in Internet governance with the Internet Society. Russ has a background covering a broad spectrum of topics, including radio frequency engineering and graphic design, and is an active student of philosophy and culture. Russ is a co-host at the Network Collective, serves on the Routing Area Directorate at the IETF, co-chairs the BABEL working group, serves on the Technical Services Council/as a maintainer on the open source FR Routing project, and serves on the Linux Foundation (Networking) board. His most recent works are Computer Networking Problems and Solutions, The Art of Network Architecture, Navigating Network Complexity, and the Intermediate System to Intermediate System LiveLesson.