I. Introduction
Cloud computing and virtualization are the current trend in the computer field. More and more manufacturers are constantly introducing various technologies to build virtualized environments and encouraging people to step into cloud services to promote energy and hardware savings. The emergence of cloud computing in a sense stripped the link between software and hardware. Traditional administrators need not only maintain the hardware of the server, but also need to manage the application of the software, which makes the enterprise to pay a great deal of cost. Cloud computing does not limit the inextricable link between application programs and hardware. In other words, an application program can be executed on different hardware by means of parallel computing to completely release the fixed correspondence between application services and hardware resources.
Virtualization is the cornerstone of cloud computing. A cloud computing application must be based on virtualization, and the two are integral. Cloud computing is already the third generation of IT. The first generation is static IT, the second generation is a shared concept, the sharing of data and information, and the third generation is dynamic. All information and data are in a dynamic architecture. on. Turning hardware into a service must be dynamic. It depends on the ability of product virtualization. Virtualization is the foundation of dynamics. Cloud computing is only possible in a virtualized environment.
For the IT industry, this is a great step forward. Whether it is a large-scale enterprise or a small- and medium-sized enterprise, the number of hardware devices required will be less and less, resulting in lower initial investment and lower management costs. However, for network hardware device manufacturers, cloud computing and virtualization bring disasters and opportunities. They promote hardware devices to high-end development and propose more efficient and comprehensive performance and feature integration.
Second, cloud computing and virtualization applications and requirements
As early as the 1970s, large-scale computers have been running multiple operating system instances at the same time. Each instance is independent of each other. However, until recently, advancements in hardware and software made it possible for virtualization technology to appear on popular X86 hardware devices based on industry standards. The virtualization technology of the CPU can enable the single CPU to simulate multiple CPUs in parallel, allowing one platform to run multiple operating systems at the same time, and the applications can all operate independently of each other without affecting each other, thereby significantly improving the efficiency of the computer. The rapid development and comprehensive coverage of the network makes it possible to distribute computing tasks over a large pool of computer-generated resources. Cloud computing brings together all the computing resources in the network world, enabling various application systems to acquire computing power, storage space, and various software services as needed.
1, the application of cloud computing
Imagine that when you are traveling by car, just use your mobile phone to connect to the Internet, you can directly see the satellite map and real-time traffic conditions in your area, you can quickly query their own preset route, you can ask friends on the network Recommend the best scenic spots and restaurants nearby, quickly book your destination hotel, and share photos or video clips you just took to distant friends and family...
It can be seen that cloud computing provides almost unlimited space for storing and managing data, and it also provides almost unlimited and powerful computing power for us to complete various applications. But at the same time, we also need to see that so much personal information transmission and storage in the “cloud†put forward more stringent requirements for network physical layer and application layer security. It is believed that no individual or company wants to appear due to data leakage problems. In newspapers and online media.
Therefore, the hardware platform equipped with cloud computing must have high network security.
2, the application of virtualization
In the 1980s and 1990s, many large computers were configured with more than a dozen individual servers and networks, eventually forming an "one application, one server" situation, resulting in de facto isolation. With the rapid increase in PC and server processing and the rapid decline in prices, this trend has changed. Dual-core/quad-core CPUs, several gigabytes of memory, and several terabytes of storage capacity emerged as hardware devices. As long as there are sufficient network interfaces and computing capabilities, it is not myth that “one device acts as a few serversâ€. After virtualization technology is used to partition and block hardware resources, each virtual machine becomes a resource block that can be scheduled independently. Cloud computing can be used to schedule multiple virtual machines on multiple host servers. And dynamic allocation, the real integration of virtualization and cloud computing, unlimited scalability and scalability.
Therefore, a virtualized hardware platform requires more network interfaces and higher processing performance. The benefits of virtualization lie not only in the consolidation of hardware resources, but also in the energy and cooling costs of the data center, and in meeting the pulse of the society's development toward a green economy. The same security protection required by the virtual environment is also important.
3, cloud computing and virtualization requirements of the hardware platform
Cloud computing requires that the nodes of the network hardware platform used in the vast “cloud†resources do not have constraints in performance, and can expand their performance to the maximum extent according to application requirements. Virtualized hardware platforms are designed with virtualization in mind. With the introduction of the latest generation of the X86Xeon55XX processor code-named Nehalem, we saw virtualization support for the first time at the CPU level. From the test data, the latency of Nehalem's virtualization application is more than 40% shorter than the previous generation.
Specific requirements for the network hardware platform have the following points:
1, IT flexibility: In the past to manage multiple servers, now only need to manage a multi-function network hardware device gateway. .
2, virtual multi-user: You can achieve dynamic load balancing, application optimization, acceleration and pressure relief for multiple users to reduce the demand for background servers.
3. Proximity detection, redundancy and reliability: Multi-network interfaces enable global service load balancing to ensure that network services continue to operate in the event of a node failure.
4, security: multi-core processor, by separating the operating system and applications from the processor layer, viruses and other security threats can not infect other applications.
5, green economy: SOC design, low power design, fanless design, in the same 2U device to provide the best performance power ratio.
Third, based on cloud computing and virtualization of network hardware platform solutions
In order to meet the new requirements of cloud computing and virtualization on the network hardware platform, Beijing Lihua Laikang Platform Technology Co., Ltd. has conducted in-depth research on cutting-edge technologies and has developed a comprehensive and integrated solution. The core of this application program is Huawei FW88XX series and MR95X series multi-core network hardware platform products.
The characteristics of the FW88XX series multi-core hardware platform products are:
With Intel5520 Northbridge + ICH10R South Bridge chipset, the front-side bus adopts IntelQPI technology and the maximum speed can reach 6.4GT. The system is applicable to the latest QuadCoreXeon55XX series processors released by Intel. The CPU internal integrated memory controller can support three-channel DDR3800/1066MHz memory and 12 memory slots, supporting up to 48GB of capacity. The network interface is fully modular and expands. It supports up to 25 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet ports and supports one standard PCI-E*4 and one OPMA expansion slot to meet the full-scale security protection and expansion requirements of the equipment.
These characteristics are precisely adapted to the requirements of cloud computing and virtualization on the hardware platform. The powerful 45nm, quad-core Xeon processor and front-end modular network interface not only support virtual multiuser application pressure, but also enable multiple network security applications on a single device. Currently, users have already achieved the full Gigabit service applications such as firewall, IPS, VPN, anti-virus, and traffic filtering on the platform.
The features of the FW95X series multi-core hardware platform products are:
On-board Cavium CN58XX16 core MIPS64-bit multi-core processor with 900MHz clock speed and integrated hardware acceleration unit such as TCP, QoS, VPN plus algorithm, compression/decompression, and pattern matching engine. The TCP acceleration engine implements tag generation, checksums, timers, and buffer management. The QoS hardware unit provides full scheduling of input and output packets. The compression and decompression hardware engine implements various compression protocols such as GZIP and PKZIP. The pattern matching hardware engine can provide pattern analysis and content matching for applications such as intrusion detection, anti-virus, and content processing.
This single-chip SOC solution, green energy is its biggest feature, the measured data show that the power consumption under the 16-core full load is less than 40W. The network interface of this platform is very extensible. It can support up to 36 Gigabit Ethernet ports and can support 10G XFP interfaces to meet the business applications of cloud computing core network data transmission, access, and distribution.
Fourth, the conclusion
In the near future, we only need a laptop or a mobile phone to implement everything we need through web services, including even supercomputing tasks. With the development of new network technologies and network products, the compositional structure of the network will continue to change, and it is more urgent for hardware manufacturers to quickly introduce new network hardware platform solutions that adapt to the network topology architecture.