Introduction

Getting Started with Napatech Link-Virtualization™ Software

Platform
Napatech SmartNIC
Content Type
Getting Started
Getting Started Guide
Capture Software Version
Link-Virtualization™ Software 4.5

Use this guide to get you up and running with Napatech Link-Virtualization™ Software.

The Link-Virtualization™ Software solution provides an accelerated open source switching stack (Open vSwitch or OVS) for multitenant network virtualization environments.

The environment that is created using this guide provides the fundamental framework required to run Link-Virtualization™ Software.

OVS is proven to be a large consumer of CPU resources in virtualized server deployments. Link-Virtualization™ Software provides hardware-based virtual switching, using OVS technology within the Napatech SmartNIC to offload traffic and free up CPU usage.

Link-Virtualization™ Software uses OpenFlow communications protocol rules and standard OVS API commands. See https://docs.openvswitch.org/en/latest/ for more information.

The diagram shows the architecture that we will create:

Page-1 Sheet.57 Sheet.2 Sheet.3 Dynamic connector.8 Dynamic connector.9 Ellipse.11 OVS-DPDK OVS-DPDK Rectangle.12 VM mynet2 VM Dynamic connector.13 Sheet.9 Sheet.10 Dynamic connector.14 Sheet.12 Sheet.13 Ellipse.19 OVS-DPDK OVS-DPDK Rectangle.20 VM mynet1 VM Dynamic connector.21 Sheet.17 Sheet.18 Dynamic connector.22 Sheet.20 Sheet.21 Sheet.22 Port 0 to Port 0 Port 0 to Port 0 Sheet.23 Port 1 to Port 1 Port 1 to Port 1 Rectangle Rectangle.26 Sheet.28 host 1 host1 Sheet.29 host 2 host2 Rectangle.35 Rectangle.36 Text Callout Management port Sheet.33 Sheet.34 Management port Text Callout.34 Management port Sheet.36 Sheet.37 Management port Sheet.27 VM representor port Virtual port Sheet.42 VM representor port Virtual port Text Callout.45 Management port Sheet.46 Sheet.47 Physical port Sheet.48 Text Callout.53 Management port Sheet.54 Sheet.55 Physical port Sheet.56

Setup

The following steps are required to complete the installation:
  1. To install Link-Virtualization™ Software with OpenStack integration, see Link-Virtualization™ Software with OpenStack Integration via Packstack otherwise continue to step 2
  2. Prepare the Operating System: OS Preparation
  3. Install the Link-Virtualization™ Software driver: Installing the Link-Virtualization™ Software Package
  4. Compile and install DPDK with the Napatech PMD: Compiling and Installing DPDK with the Napatech PMD
  5. Compile and install OVS with the Napatech modifications: Compiling and Installing OVS with the Napatech Modifications
  6. Install QEMU: Installing QEMU