Tap-as-a-Service: Enabling Traffic Monitoring in OpenStack Clouds | @CloudExpo #API #Cloud

It is no surprise that OpenStack has evolved into a widely adopted cloud management framework. As it hurtles on a trajectory of rapid growth, a new breed of demands are making themselves felt – demands that a mature platform of this nature and scope must satisfy. One such requirement is the ability to monitor traffic flowing in the myriad of virtual networks found in an OpenStack datacenter. Conceptually speaking, the monitoring process involves placing tap devices at appropriate locations within the network infrastructure and attaching traffic analyzers to them. These analyzers can then see the same packets passing through those network segments, as if they were also in-line. A logical tap device can be easily constructed using the port-mirroring function of a network switching element, which makes it possible to have a copy of the packets traversing one or more switch ports delivered to another port on the same switch. This capability is supported by almost all modern physical and virtual switches. So, why is it [still] not possible to monitor the activity in OpenStack virtual networks?

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