P4 and Data Plane Programming BoF

Different teams in Europe have recently explored data plane programming (DPP) for several use cases, such as the RARE production grade router, network flow monitoring via In-Band Network Telemetry (INT), or DDoS detection and mitigation. Those developments run on different platforms including DPDK devices, switches based on a P4 forwarding chipset and FPGA cards. This BoF will present examples of such DPP use cases with a view to soliciting feedback and discussion on the practical next steps towards deploying the technology in production R&E networking environments.

A distributed P4 lab (GÉANT P4 Lab) made up of four P4 switches hosted at GÉANT backbone PoPs in four different countries and interconnected by 10 Gbit links is now available.  The Lab is able to host new P4 development and test it at line rate performance, and already a number of NREN and university organisations from Europe and beyond have connected to it to run a variety of tests. 

This BoF aims to help grow the DPP-interested community within the R&E environment (including GÉANT, NRENs, campuses and research organisations), focusing on practical R&E use cases, and building expertise through the sharing of best practices, with the goal to help drive the uptake of current P4 solutions in production networks.  What are the best early adopter use cases to focus on?  Where does DPP give the most benefit?  Are there gaps that need to be addressed?  We welcome network operators, researchers and all those interested in joining the discussion.

VC parameters:

    Direct link: https://geant.zoom.us/j/67740827922 pwd=Z3F6UWlhL2wrbEpnRFMzRHRJVHVFQT09
    Meeting ID: 677 4082 7922
    Password: 606894