Network virtualization in multi-tenant datacenters

TLDR

Multi‑tenant datacenters present a challenging networking environment where tenants need to migrate unmodified workloads while providers must maintain operational flexibility without operator intervention, a need unmet by traditional networking approaches. The authors aim to design and implement a network virtualization solution that satisfies these tenant and provider requirements. The solution enables tenant workloads to migrate unmodified to provider datacenters while preserving the tenants’ original networking configurations and provider operational flexibility.

Abstract

Multi-tenant datacenters represent an extremely challenging networking environment. Tenants want the ability to migrate unmodified workloads from their enterprise networks to service provider datacenters, retaining the same networking configurations of their home network. The service providers must meet these needs without operator intervention while preserving their own operational flexibility and efficiency. Traditional networking approaches have failed to meet these tenant and provider requirements. Responding to this need, we present the design and implementation of a network virtualization solution for multi-tenant datacenters.