[ovs-discuss] Use of ovs-vsctl with ovs-dpctl questions

[John Galgay]

I have a few questions about using the 2 components of open vswitch - the
VSCTL elements with bridge compatibility to create a traditional switch .
and the DPCTL elements to create specific datapaths.  My goals are . in
order 1) create one or multiple host-based switches to isolate traffic of
multiple customers on a common KVM host (using VLANs), 2) define specific
datapaths between 2 ports that will be not switched according to a MAC
table, 3) integrate this operation with an external provisioning element
such as openflow.

1.  What are the modes in which ovs-vsctl (switch) and ovs-dpctl work
together .. or separately.  And how do they relate to loading the
openvswitch_mod.ko and brcompat_mod.ko modules?

2.  Can I -or- Must I use the switch functions of ovs-vsctl in conjunction
with the datapath functions of ovs-dpctl ... or are they exclusive from each
other.  In other words, can I get the benefits of the vswitch for
bridging/switching and still define strict datapaths between ports on the
switch?  

3.  Are the ovs-dpctl capabilities tied to openflow?  If not, cool.  If so,
can I use the openflow capabilities for datapaths without an openflow
controller?

4.  What are the best options regarding openflow controllers today?

5.  Can an openflow controller also manage real 10G switches in the network
(such as Arista with its EOS)?

Thanks.

John

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