Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the relationship between IVS and Indigo2?

IVS leverages the Indigo2 framework and implements forwarding using the openvswitch kernel module.

How is IVS different from OVS?

IVS is a pure OpenFlow vSwitch. Focusing on OpenFlow allows us tosimplify management and increase performance. For example, IVS does not include a database. IVS does include scalable GRE tunnels and multi-core upcall processing, both important for large deployments.

Why did you create IVS?

We created IVS because the available open-source virtual switches did not meet the needs of large-scale deployments and were held hostage by incumbent vendors, preventing community-based innovation. And we didn't need the overhead of traditional networking stacks. We wanted a thin, lightweight OpenFlow speaker that just worked, and scaled up with low latency and multi-threading.