An open source high availability middleware solution

based on the Application Interface Specification from

the Service Availability Forum™
What is OpenSAF?
OpenSAF is an open source community with projects
focused on high availability middleware. The goal of
OpenSAF projects is to develop HA middleware that is Highly Available Applications
consistent with the Service Availability™ Forum (SA
Forum™) specifications. OpenSAF software is freely
available to anyone under the LGPL v2.1 license, and
anyone may contribute to the code base. Other Middleware and Application Services
The SA Forum has authored specifications in two key areas (Database, Java, Protocols)
of core middleware. The first, the Application Interface
Specification, delivers services for creating highly available
applications and services. The second SA Forum SA Forum HA Middleware Services
specification is the Hardware Platform Interface, which is
focused on managing hardware. OpenSAF includes an open
source implementation of the SA Forum’s AIS specification.
OpenSAF software is designed to be the core component of
OpenSAF HW Management
a highly available software stack that can be used in
(AIS Middleware) (HPI Middleware)
mission-critical applications in many industries, including
telecommunications, military and aerospace, financial and
industrial automation. The OpenSAF software, combined
with a carrier grade class of operating system and fault-
tolerant hardware, can be used to build network elements
and other equipment, such as mission critical defense Linux Operating System
systems, meeting stringent system availability requirements. with HA or Other Carrier Grade Features
OpenSAF is designed to be flexible and adaptable enough to
work on many different kinds of hardware platforms and
operating systems. It is a highly scalable and modular Redundant Hardware Platforms
architecture that can be used in many types of devices,
ranging from small access points to large packet switches.
By standardizing on OpenSAF across multiple product lines,
organizations can take advantage of a standards-based,
Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) open source middleware Figure 1. Components of a highly available system
component to deliver more cost-effective solutions for using OpenSAF
complex networks such as next-generation broadband or 4G
LTE networks.

OpenSAF Release 4.0

The latest release of the OpenSAF high availability (HA)
middleware project, OpenSAF 4.0, became available in
July 2010. Go to the OpenSAF Foundation website at
www.opensaf.org for more information, or download
OpenSAF at: http://devel.opensaf.org/wiki/downloads.
In addition to the OpenSAF software, a full set of
documentation describes all the services. A set of sample
applications and makefiles is included that eases the
development of applications. The sample applications
illustrate the use of the various APIs and serve as a starting
point for development.
OpenSAF 4.0 introduces several key new features that
improve scalability, hardware and software management.
The OpenSAF code base was re-architected to be much
more modular. The effect of this is improved scalability and
packaging for applications that do not require all the services
available with OpenSAF. Other key services include the
Software Management Framework, which allows
management of both OpenSAF, as well as application code.
This provides in-place upgrade capabilities for applications.
The Platform Management Service provides a bridge
between OpenSAF and the Hardware Platform Interface
specification.
 SA Forum-based AIS Services Additional Services

SA Forum Information Management Model Message-based

Checkpoint Service
SA Forum Cluster SA Forum Availability
Membership Management Framework
System Description XML

Distributed Tracing
SA Forum Message SA Forum Checkpoint Service
Service Service

SA Forum Log Service SA Forum Notification

Service Persistent Store
Service

SA Forum Lock Service SA Forum Event

Service

SA Forum Platform SA Forum SW HPI Integration Service

Management Service Management Framework

Message Distribution Service (MDS over TIPC)

Figure 2. OpenSAF 4.0 architecture

Benefits of Using OpenSAF 4.0 SA Forum Services

As industries continue to migrate from proprietary software The following table lists the Application Interface
to solutions based on open source, there is an increasing Specification (AIS) services implemented in OpenSAF
demand for an open source-based middleware solution that Release 4.0.
meets high availability industry standard interface
specifications. Because OpenSAF is an open source SA Forum
AIS Service
solution, there are additional benefits not found with Specification
proprietary implementations: Availability Management Framework (AMF) B.01.01
• Leverage of a broad community of developers Checkpoint Service (CKPT) B.02.02
Cluster Membership Service (CLM) B.04.01
• Open Source business models and licensing
Event Service (EVT) B.03.01
• Fast innovation of the open source model
Global Lock Service (LCK) B.01.01
• Modular architecture that allows companies to use only the
Information Model Management Service (IMM) A.02.01
services they need while providing a future-proof solution
Log Service (LOG) A.02.01
for next-generation devices
Message Service (MSG) B.03.01
• A complete ecosystem, including commercial OpenSAF
Notification Service (NTF) A.01.01
providers, hardware vendors supporting OpenSAF and
ISVs that are integrating support for OpenSAF/AIS services Platform Management Service (PLM) A.01.02
in their applications Software Management Framework (SMF) A.01.01

• Flexibility of having multiple suppliers offering the same

core, standards-based implementation
OpenSAF AIS Services
The AIS services are implemented in OpenSAF Release 4.0
as follows:
Availability Management Framework – Provides a
standardized means to model system components and
standardized mechanisms for monitoring, fault reporting,
fault recovery and repair of components. The OpenSAF 4.0
AMF implementation supports the AMF B.04.01 information
model and implementation is conformant to AMF B.01.01.
Checkpoint Service – Coordinates the creation and
deletion of checkpoints and maintains the checkpoint
inventory within a cluster.
Cluster Membership Service – Defines which computing
elements are in the cluster and allows them to join or leave
membership. This defines the key scope of operation for the
availability framework and the other SA Forum-based
services. In this release, CLM is re-architected and upgraded
to the latest CLM B.04.01 conformance.
Event Service – Provides a standardized means to publish
events and to subscribe to events anywhere in a cluster.
Global Lock Service – Provides a means to control access
to cluster resources by competing distributed clients.
Information Model Management Service – Provides a
mechanism for AIS services and applications to configure
and manage using the SA Forum AIS information model. In
Additional OpenSAF Services
OpenSAF includes a set of additional services that are
necessary for an implementation of high availability
middleware. These services address additional requirements
for a complete service availability solution.
Distributed Trace Service – Allows clients to direct debug
information to a file for later analysis.
Message-Based Checkpointing Service – Provides
message-based checkpointing between an active
component and one or more stand-by components. It is
especially useful when large amounts of active call “state”
information must be passed between redundant entities.
Message Distribution Service – Provides a reliable
message distribution mechanism, working on top of TIPC.
HPI Integration Service – Creates a consistent interface for
other OpenSAF services to access HPI events and to invoke
HPI functions.
Persistent Store Service – Uses the standard Linux DRDB
service that provides a lightweight mechanism for storing
state information. The stored, persistent information may be
used by a component when it is restarted.
OpenSAF 4.0 all the AIS services are integrated with the
information model defined by the SA Forum for the
respective services.
Log Service – Collects high-level function-based information
for use by network or system administrators or automated
tools to assist in troubleshooting misconfigurations, lost
network connections and related operational issues.
Message Service – Provides a standardized means for
distributed applications to send messages among
themselves.
Notification Service – Enables applications to be updated
on the state of the system and enables the availability
service to take appropriate action based on the indications it
receives.
Platform Management Service – New in Release 4.0, this
service matches the configured system to the hardware
actually present and makes hardware states easily
accessible for software via the information model. PLM also
extends the IMM with objects that represent operating
systems and virtualization layers.
Software Management Framework – New in Release 4.0,
the Software Management Framework (SMF) enables
system developers to create capabilities to manage various
software components within the system.
For More Information
To learn more about OpenSAF Release 4.0 or the OpenSAF
project, visit the website at http://www.opensaf.org/, which is
maintained by the OpenSAF Foundation. The OpenSAF
Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established by
leading communications and computing companies to
facilitate the work of the OpenSAF project and to accelerate
the adoption of OpenSAF in commercial products.
OpenSAF Foundation
401 Edgewater Place
Suite 600
Wakefield, MA 01880 USA
Phone +1 781 876-8998
Fax +1 781 623-0480
www.opensaf.org