Tungsten Fabric is an open-source project developed under the umbrella of the Linux Foundation. It serves as an important part of many network infrastructures. The project is, however, ending its development. Due to the community’s decision, active development and project services have ceased but the resources will remain accessible until August 1, 2024.
As members of the TF community, we wanted to share our thoughts on what this change means for Tungsten Fabric users and how to prepare for it.
What is Tungsten Fabric?
Tungsten Fabric started out as OpenContrail, an open-source project created in 2013 by Juniper Networks (an open-source version of their Juniper Contrail product). It was a multi-cloud networking platform providing a single point of control, observability, and analytics for networking and security. It gained popularity within the networking community and many users worldwide. In 2018, the project was taken over by The Linux Foundation and renamed Tungsten Fabric.
This solution offered automated and fortified network virtualization alongside comprehensive security features across diverse cloud environments and technology stacks. This multifaceted platform supported companies in connecting, managing, and safeguarding virtual, containerized, or bare-metal workloads. With seamless integrations into major orchestrators, mainly OpenStack, but also others like Kubernetes or Red Hat Openshift, Tungsten Fabric served as a unifying factor in the realm of multi-cloud and multistack software-defined networking. Resolving the challenges of tooling complexity and overload simplifies network and security administration, culminating in substantial time savings and reducing the number of needed tools.
Tungsten Fabric's sunset on August 1, 2024, marks the conclusion of a remarkable community-driven endeavor that has significantly impacted the SDN platforms landscape.
What was Tungsten Fabric used for?
Tungsten Fabric has been an integral part of many network infrastructures. Here are some of the ways various companies have utilized this project:
- Multi-cloud Networking: Tungsten Fabric enabled organizations to establish consistent networking and security policies across multiple cloud providers. For instance, a company using AWS and Azure could use Tungsten Fabric to ensure uniform connectivity and security measures.
- Kubernetes Networking: Tungsten Fabric simplified networking setup and ensured secure communication between pods in a Kubernetes cluster. It helped manage networking policies, load balancing, and traffic routing in a Kubernetes environment.
- OpenStack Integration: Tungsten Fabric could be integrated with OpenStack to provide network virtualization and security for virtual machines within an OpenStack deployment. It helped manage network overlays, routing, and security groups.
- Container Network Security: Tungsten Fabric could enforce security policies between different microservices for containerized applications, ensuring that container communication is secure and controlled.
- Microservices Architecture: In a microservices architecture, Tungsten Fabric helped manage the complex network interactions between different microservices while maintaining security boundaries.
- Bare-Metal Workloads: Tungsten Fabric was not limited to virtual or containerized workloads. It could also be applied to bare-metal servers, ensuring network segmentation and security for traditional applications.
- Hybrid Cloud Networking: For organizations using a combination of on-premises infrastructure and public cloud services, Tungsten Fabric provided seamless networking and security policies across both environments.
- Network Segmentation: Tungsten Fabric could segment networks into isolated zones, improving security by preventing unauthorized access between network segments.
- Policy Enforcement: It helped enforce network policies and access controls, ensuring traffic adheres to predefined rules and restrictions.
- Centralized Management: Tungsten Fabric provided a centralized management interface for network configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting, making it easier to manage complex network setups.
- Multi-Stack Environments: In environments with technology stacks including OpenStack, Kubernetes, and traditional VMs, Tungsten Fabric offered a networking and security solution that unified these tools.
- Network Analytics: Tungsten Fabric's analytics capabilities provided insights into network traffic, performance, and potential issues, aiding optimization and troubleshooting.
As you can see, the TF project provided a plethora of benefits for those who used it. It was a versatile tool that could be applied in various contexts. At CodiLime, we have used this SDN solution in many scenarios, for example, for managing data center physical infrastructure, seamlessly transitioning to CNFs,
Tungsten Fabric is closing
The official Tungsten Fabric website 
states that the project will be shut down on August 1, 2024. The decision to shut down Tungsten Fabric was made by the project's community. The community cited a lack of resources and momentum as the reasons for the shutdown.
This means many TF users will need to migrate to different SDNs. Migration is a complex process that requires comprehensive preparations and planning. Some of the factors that are necessary to consider in this scenario include:
- evaluation of different solutions to choose a new one that meets the requirements/needs,
- architecture update (if needed),
- timeline,
- testing procedures,
- data backup,
- training,
- security review,
- updating documentation.
By adhering to a proper migration strategy, you can minimize disruptions and continue to manage your network virtualization and security needs effectively.
How to approach SDN migration?
To prepare for such migration, one should start by defining the objectives and requirements for the new solution. This may result in finding new needs or possible changes in the target architecture. Having done this, one would need to investigate possible alternative technologies. Depending on the case and requirements, it might turn out that no single solution or tool can provide all the functionalities and benefits that Tungsten Fabric offered. That means that one would have to integrate and use a mix of various open-source tools or employ commercial solutions. You could also consider extending existing solutions with custom functionalities to fit your specific needs. The choice of a proper solution is case-specific and depends on what you used Tungsten Fabric for.
Support in SDN migration
As stated above, the end of the Tungsten Fabric project might cause a challenge for TF users. In such cases, it’s good to look for informed guidance from experts in SDNs. With an in-depth understanding of Tungsten Fabric's intricacies, we can offer such informed guidance throughout the migration process. This includes expert advice on selecting the most suitable alternative solution based on specific requirements, conducting thorough testing to ensure a smooth transition, and devising a well-structured migration plan.
Our expertise extends to efficiently transferring existing network configurations, policies, and data while offering training and support to integrate the new solution seamlessly. By leveraging our comprehensive knowledge, users can confidently navigate the migration process, optimizing their new network virtualization and security environment effectively. Beyond that, we can integrate new solutions to replace TF efficiently, including any development services.
Conclusion
While Tungsten Fabric was a useful tool that significantly impacted the realm of networks, the Linux Foundation no longer sees possibilities for its further development. This change will impact a lot of organizations that utilize Tungsten Fabric for various purposes. Now is the time to strategize and prepare for that change.
