We present unikernels, a new approach to deploying cloud services via applications written in high-level source code. Unikernels are single-purpose appliances that are compile-time specialised into standalone kernels, and sealed against modification when deployed to a cloud platform. In return they offer significant reduction in image sizes, improved efficiency and security, and should reduce operational costs. Our Mirage prototype compiles OCaml code into unikernels that run on commodity clouds and offer an order of magnitude reduction in code size without significant performance penalty. The architecture combines static type-safety with a single address-space layout that can be made immutable via a hypervisor extension. Mirage contributes a suite of type-safe protocol libraries, and our results demonstrate that the hypervisor is a platform that overcomes the hardware compatibility issues that have made past library operating systems impractical to deploy in the real-world.

Network services underpin operator revenues, and value-added services provide income beyond core (voice and data) infrastructure capability. Today, operators face multiple challenges: a need to innovate and offer a wider choice of value-added services, whilst increasing network scale, bandwidth and flexibility. They must also reduce operational costs, and deploy services far faster - in minutes rather than days or weeks. In the recent years, the network community, motivated by the aforementioned challenges, has developed production network architectures and seeded technologies, like Software Defined Networking, Application-based Network Operations and Network Function Virtualization. These technologies enhance the highly desired properties for elasticity, agility and cost-effectiveness in the operator environment. A key requirement to fully exploit the benefits of these new architectures and technologies is a fundamental shift in management and control of resources, and the ability to orchestrate the network infrastructure: coordinate the instantiation of high-level network services across different technological domains and automate service deployment and re-optimization. This paper surveys existing standardization efforts for the orchestration - automation, coordination, and management - of complex set of network and function resources (both physical and virtual), and highlights the various enabling technologies, strengths and weaknesses, adoption challenges for operators, and areas where further research is required

We present unikernels , a new approach to deploying cloud services via applications written in high-level source code. Unikernels are single-purpose appliances that are compile-time specialised into standalone kernels, and sealed against modification when deployed to a cloud platform. In return they offer significant reduction in image sizes, improved efficiency and security, and should reduce operational costs. Our Mirage prototype compiles OCaml code into unikernels that run on commodity clouds and offer an order of magnitude reduction in code size without significant performance penalty. The architecture combines static type-safety with a single address-space layout that can be made immutable via a hypervisor extension. Mirage contributes a suite of type-safe protocol libraries, and our results demonstrate that the hypervisor is a platform that overcomes the hardware compatibility issues that have made past library operating systems impractical to deploy in the real-world.

Modern high-speed networks have evolved from relatively static networks to highly adaptive networks facilitating dynamic reconfiguration. This evolution has influenced all levels of network design and management, introducing increased programmability and configuration flexibility. This influence has extended from the lowest level of physical hardware interfaces to the highest level of network management by software. A key representative of this evolution is the emergence of software-defined networking (SDN). In this paper, we review the current state of the art in reconfigurable network systems, covering hardware reconfiguration, SDN, and the interplay between them. We take a top-down approach, starting with a tutorial on software-defined networks. We then continue to discuss programming languages as the linking element between different levels of software and hardware in the network. We review electronic switching systems, highlighting programmability and reconfiguration aspects, and describe the trends in reconfigurable network elements. Finally, we describe the state of the art in the integration of photonic transceiver and switching elements with electronic technologies, and consider the implications for SDN and reconfigurable network systems.

Wireless home networks are increasingly deployed in people's homes worldwide. Unfortunately, home networks have evolved using protocols designed for backbone and enterprise networks, which are quite different in scale and character to home networks. We believe this evolution is at the heart of widely observed problems experienced by users managing and using their home networks. In this paper we investigate redesign of the home router to exploit the distinct social and physical characteristics of the home. We extract two key requirements from a range of ethnographic studies: users desire greater understanding of and control over their networks' behaviour. We present our design for a home router that focuses on monitoring and controlling network traffic flows, and so provides a platform for building user interfaces that satisfy these two user requirements. We describe and evaluate our prototype which uses NOX and OpenFlow to provide per-flow control, and a custom DHCP implementation to enable traffic isolation and accurate measurement from the IP layer. It also provides finer-grained per-flow control through interception of wireless association and DNS resolution. We evaluate the impact of these modifications, and thus the applicability of flow-based network management in the home.