{"id":168415,"date":"2015-08-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/msr-research-item\/enabling-end-host-network-functions\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T03:51:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T10:51:00","slug":"enabling-end-host-network-functions","status":"publish","type":"msr-research-item","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/publication\/enabling-end-host-network-functions\/","title":{"rendered":"Enabling End-host Network Functions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Many network functions executed in modern datacenters, e.g., load balancing, application-level QoS, and congestion control, exhibit three common properties at the data plane: they need to access and modify state, to perform computations, and to access application semantics — this is critical since many network functions are best expressed in terms of application-level messages. In this paper, we argue that the end hosts are a natural enforcement point for these functions and we present Eden, an architecture for implementing network functions at end hosts with minimal network support.<\/p>\n

Eden comprises three components, a centralized controller, an enclave at each end host, and Eden-compliant applications called stages. To implement network functions, the controller configures stages to classify their data into messages and the enclaves to apply action functions based on a packet’s class. Our Eden prototype includes enclaves implemented both in the OS kernel and on programmable NICs. Through case studies, we show how application-level classification and the ability to run actual programs on the data-path allows Eden to efficiently support a broad range of network functions at the network’s edge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many network functions executed in modern datacenters, e.g., load balancing, application-level QoS, and congestion control, exhibit three common properties at the data plane: they need to access and modify state, to perform computations, and to access application semantics — this is critical since many network functions are best expressed in terms of application-level messages. 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