OpenDaylight is an open source project and open to all. Developers can contribute at the individual level just like any other open source project. This blog series highlights the people who are collaborating to create the future of Software Defined-Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV).
Hugo Trippaers currently works as a mission critical engineer for Schuberg Philis with 20 years of IT experience in roles ranging from network architect to software developer. Within every role, Hugo had an eye for open source projects and has often been contributing code and knowledge. In his current position he is spending most of his time writing code for open source projects.
How did you get involved with OpenDaylight? What is your background?
I got involved with SDN when one of my colleagues asked me to look at integrating Nicira NVP with Apache CloudStack (ACS). When I said yes, I got on a rollercoaster ride that took me to the Nicira offices in Palo Alto where I was able to meet with Martin Casado and the other folks at Nicira. That really got me hooked on the whole concept of SDN, and I integrated SDN support into Apache CloudStack. Since that day I’ve been deeply involved with the Apache CloudStack (ACS) community where I am one of the members of the Project Management Committee. My goal for ACS is to make sure that Apache CloudStack supports as many SDN solutions as possible. When I learned of the OpenDaylight Project I knew I wanted to have support for that as well. After e-meeting with Brent Salisbury and Madhu Venugopal on how to do the integration, I got really interested in the internals of OpenDaylight and started to help out where I could.
What projects are you working on for OpenDaylight? Any new developments to share?
My main focus is the Open vSwitch database plugin (OVSDB). This project is instrumental in getting overlay-based network virtualization supported using Open vSwitch, which is what I wanted to support in Apache CloudStack. As a company, we are using this technology on a daily basis, so I have some practical experience that I can use to deal with real world scenarios.
I’ve been simultaneously working on two sides of the project. While working on the OVSDB project to get all the features supported that a cloud management system expects, I’ve also been working on the ACS side to get the integration plugin ready for the main branch. By being involved with the OVSDB project I could immediately discuss my challenges and develop solutions. For somebody writing an integration layer between two products it’s awesome to be able to tackle challenges on both ends at the same time.
