YANET

Note: This project is currently in active development.

YANET is a high-performance modular software router built on DPDK (Data Plane Development Kit) that provides exceptional packet processing capabilities. It's designed to be a versatile network solution that functions as a router, decapsulator, firewall, L3 load balancer, and NAT device, all in one platform.

🌐 Key Features

🚀 High Performance

• DPDK-accelerated packet processing bypasses the kernel networking stack for maximum throughput.
• Achieves near-hardware performance with the flexibility of software.
• NUMA-aware resource management for optimal multi-socket performance.
• Optimized memory management with huge pages support.

🧩 Modular Architecture

• Module system allows enabling only required networking functions.
• Clean separation between control plane and data plane components.
• Flexible pipeline configuration for customized packet processing flows.
• Add or remove functionality without affecting the entire system.

🛡️ Safe Initialization Process

• Multi-stage configuration process orchestrated by the Coordinator component.
• Controlled system initialization with failsafe mechanisms.
• BGP route announcement control based on system health.

🏗️ Architecture

YANET follows a modular architecture with clear separation between control and data planes:

Data Plane (C & DPDK)

• Implements fast-path packet processing.
• Uses DPDK for direct hardware access and kernel bypass.
• Applies routing decisions, filtering, and packet transformations.
• Achieves high packet throughput with minimal latency.

Control Plane (Go)

• Exposes management API.
• Handles configuration and management functions.
• Manages routing tables and policy.
• ACL compilation (TDB).

Key Components

1. Module System - Pluggable modules (route, acl, balancer, etc.) providing specific network functions.
2. Pipeline System - Configurable packet processing chains.
3. Coordinator - Orchestrates multi-stage system configuration.
4. Announcer (TDB) - Monitors system health and controls BGP announcements.
5. CLI Tools - Management interfaces with consistent command structure.
6. Web UI (TDB) - Browser-based management interface.

🛠️ Technologies

YANET employs a multi-language approach to leverage the strengths of different programming languages:

• C - Data plane and performance-critical components.
• Go - Control plane and orchestration components.
• Rust - CLI tools.
• DPDK - Kernel-bypass networking for high-performance packet processing.
• gRPC - Communication framework for inter-component messaging.
• Protocol Buffers - Efficient binary serialization format.
• Meson - Build system for core components.

🔧 Building & Requirements

System Requirements

• Linux-based operating system (Ubuntu 22.04+ or equivalent recommended).
• Hardware supporting DPDK (Mellanox NICs recommended).
• At least 64GB RAM recommended for production.

Dependencies

• Go 1.21+.
• Rust 1.84+.
• Protobuf compiler 3.0+.
• Meson 0.61+.
• Ninja build system.
• GCC/Clang.

Build Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yanet-platform/yanet2.git
   cd yanet2
   git submodule update --init   

2. Configure and build with Meson:

   meson setup build
   meson compile -C build

3. Build CLI tools:

   cargo build --release

4. Install:

   meson install -C build

Testing

meson test -C build

Running in a Virtual Environment

YANET includes QEMU virtualization support for development and testing without physical hardware:

1. Configure QEMU VM with virtual network interfaces.
2. Set up shared folder for code access.
3. Follow detailed instructions in the documentation.

📄 License

YANET2 is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

🔗 Additional Resources

• Documentation
• Contributing Guidelines