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OpenSolaris Project: Clearview: Network Interface Coherence

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Device Drivers
Networking
OS/Net (ON)

Clearview is a project to rationalize, unify, and enhance the way network interfaces are handled in Solaris at the programmatic and administrative levels. While this sounds a bit opaque, the effects of ensuring that all network interfaces have these attributes are far-reaching and eminently practical. For example, as a result of the Clearview project, customers will be able to:

  • Observe all IP layer network traffic, including loopback, IPMP group and IP tunnel traffic.
  • Observe all IP layer network traffic flowing to and from a zone.
  • Administrate all network interfaces using dladm(1M).
  • Use VLANs and form link aggregations on all Ethernet devices.
  • Use IPMP with technologies such as DHCP and routing protocols.
  • Select names for network interfaces, easing migration of network configuration information between systems or zones, and markedly improving Dynamic Reconfiguration.

… and more.

This short presentation gives an overview of the projects goals, the specific architectural problems it aims to solve, and the components that make up the solution.

This illustration shows the relationships between links and interfaces on the software layer of the networking stack, as well as with associated devices on the hardware layer. The drawing also shows how features of the Clearview project, such as vanity naming and IPMP rearchitecture, would be implemented in future networking scenarios.

We are now hard at work on designing and implementing the key components of project Clearview that deliver the capabilities listed above. These components are:

In order to complete these components, the following supporting work is included in the list of deliverables for the project:

More on each of these components can be found through the links above. The Clearview project umbrella description is useful for understanding how these pieces all fit together.

Please direct any discussion concerning this project to the Clearview discussion list, clearview dash discuss at opensolaris dot org.

Blogs

meem - Clearview IPMP in Production

May 31, 10:39 PM

When I was first getting obsessed with programming in my early teens, I recall waking up on many a Saturday to the gleeful realization I had the whole day to improve some crazy piece of home-grown ...

Xiang Samuel Zhou - Clearview IPMP Introduction - Step By Step

May 13, 1:41 AM

Since Clearview/IPMP was putback in Solaris Nevada Build 107 in this January, we've got the new experience with IPMP configuration and management in Solaris. This article will give you a brief ...

meem - Hunting Cruft

May 12, 11:43 PM

It's no secret that I am borderline-O.C.D. in many aspects of my life -- and especially so when it comes to developing software. However, large-scale software development is inherently a messy ...

meem - Clearview IPMP in OpenSolaris

Jan 21, 5:27 PM

Clearview IPMP in OpenSolaris At long last, and somewhat belatedly, I'm thrilled to announce that the Clearview IPMP Rearchitecture has integrated into Solaris Nevada (build 107)! Build 107 has just ...

seb - Observe Loopback and Inter-Zone IP Packets With OpenSolaris

Nov 18, 6:47 AM

I'm happy to announce that the IP Observability Devices component of the Clearview project has integrated into OpenSolaris build 103 (also see Phil Kirk's announcement to the ON community).  This ...