This book focuses on the networking aspects of cloud computing and provides insights to these questions. We believe the future network architectures that enable the global cloud computing model will be based on three architectural principles: fast, flat, and flexible. Specifically, the book outlines how these architectural principles will shape the architectures in data center networks, core networks, and edge networks. We discuss critical requirements, major architecture patterns, and key areas of innovation needed for the future cloud-enabling networks. We hope the book will be a useful guide to researchers and system designers to develop these emerging network technologies, as well as to CIOs and corporate IT leaders to plan and design their future networks to enable cloud services.

As cloud computing emerges as the next architecture paradigm and business model for computing and IT service delivery, the underlining networking architecture needs to be reconsidered. Key technology trends such as virtualization, warehouse-scale computing, and Internet-scale data intensive applications bring fundamental challenges to today’s network architecture, both in the data center environment and in the wide-area network environment. What limitation does today’s network architecture have on cloud computing? How will network architecture evolve to better support cloud computing and cloud-based service delivery? What is the network’s role in security, reliability, performance, and scalability of cloud computing? Should the network be a dumb transport pipe or an intelligent stack that is cloud workload aware?