Nexus-Guard-Suite/reference/namespace-vrf/README.md

Namespace + VRF Summary

Enterprise Network Isolation for NexusGuard SD-WAN — Reference Architecture

Executive Summary

This document provides a high-level summary of the Namespace + VRF architecture for enterprise-grade network isolation in NexusGuard.

Key Concepts

1. Network Namespace

What: Complete network stack isolation at kernel level

Benefits:

• Isolated network interfaces
• Isolated routing tables
• Isolated nftables rules
• Isolated socket bindings

Use Case: Multi-tenant SD-WAN, compliance isolation

2. VRF (Virtual Routing and Forwarding)

What: Routing table isolation within a namespace

Benefits:

• Multiple routing tables per namespace
• Same IP across different VRFs
• Policy routing support

Use Case: Development/testing isolation, network segmentation

3. Multi-User API Access

What: Role-based access control per namespace

Benefits:

• Multiple users per namespace
• Different permission levels (admin, operator, viewer)
• Audit trail per user

Use Case: Enterprise deployments, team collaboration

Architecture Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Linux Kernel                                            │
│                                                         │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  Default Namespace (root)                        │   │
│  │    └── eth0, wg0 (server mgmt)                  │   │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                         │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  Namespace: ns_zerocode                          │   │
│  │    ├── VRF: vrf_main (table 100)                │   │
│  │    │     └── wg-z-main (10.100.0.1/24)          │   │
│  │    │           ├── Device A: 10.100.0.2         │   │
│  │    │           └── Device B: 10.100.0.3         │   │
│  │    └── nftables (isolated rules)                 │   │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                         │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  Namespace: ns_alice                             │   │
│  │    ├── VRF: vrf_main (table 100)                │   │
│  │    │     └── wg-a-main (10.100.0.1/24) ← SAMA! │   │
│  │    │           ├── Device C: 10.100.0.2         │   │
│  │    │           └── Device D: 10.100.0.3         │   │
│  │    └── nftables (isolated rules)                 │   │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Document Index

Document	Description	Key Topics
architecture.md	Main architecture document	Concept, data model, API design
quick-reference.md	Kernel commands cheat sheet	Namespace, VRF, WireGuard commands
comparison.md	Comparison with current architecture	Pros/cons, use cases, decision matrix
implementation-guide.md	Step-by-step implementation	Database, API, testing, deployment
troubleshooting.md	Troubleshooting guide	Common issues, debugging, logs
security.md	Security considerations	Isolation, attacks, compliance
performance.md	Performance considerations	Overhead, benchmarks, optimization

Key Features

1. Complete Isolation

✅ Network interfaces (per namespace)
✅ Routing tables (per VRF)
✅ nftables rules (per namespace)
✅ Socket bindings (per namespace)
✅ API access (per namespace)

2. IP Conflict Prevention

✅ Same IP across different namespaces
✅ Same IP across different VRFs
✅ Automatic isolation
✅ No manual configuration

3. Multi-User Access

✅ Role-based access control
✅ Multiple users per namespace
✅ Admin, operator, viewer roles
✅ Audit trail per user

4. Compliance Ready

✅ PCI DSS isolation
✅ HIPAA data isolation
✅ SOC 2 monitoring
✅ Audit logging

Implementation Timeline

Phase	Description	Duration	Status
Phase 1	Database schema	1 week	Not started
Phase 2	Namespace manager	1 week	Not started
Phase 3	VRF manager	1 week	Not started
Phase 4	WireGuard integration	1 week	Not started
Phase 5	Firewall integration	1 week	Not started
Phase 6	API gateway	1 week	Not started
Phase 7	Dashboard UI	1 week	Not started
Phase 8	Testing & documentation	1 week	Not started
Total		8 weeks

Resource Requirements

Small Deployment (< 10 users)

CPU: 2 cores
RAM: 4GB
Network: 1Gbps
Storage: 50GB

Medium Deployment (10-100 users)

CPU: 8 cores
RAM: 16GB
Network: 10Gbps
Storage: 200GB

Large Deployment (100-1000 users)

CPU: 32 cores
RAM: 64GB
Network: 40Gbps
Storage: 1TB

Performance Impact

Metric	Current	Namespace + VRF	Overhead
Memory per user	~10KB	~1.1MB	+10x
Routing latency	~0.1ms	~0.2ms	+100%
Throughput	~950Mbps	~900Mbps	-5%
Setup time	~5ms	~15ms	+200%

Security Guarantees

Aspect	Isolation Level	Notes
Network interfaces	HIGH	Complete per namespace
Routing tables	HIGH	Complete per VRF
nftables rules	HIGH	Complete per namespace
Kernel	LOW	Shared
Filesystem	LOW	Shared

Use Cases

1. Multi-Tenant SD-WAN

Company A → ns_company_a → vrf_main → wg-a-main
Company B → ns_company_b → vrf_main → wg-b-main
Same IP, complete isolation!

2. Development/Testing

Developer → ns_dev → vrf_dev → wg-dev
QA Team → ns_qa → vrf_test → wg-test
Same IPs, no conflicts!

3. Compliance Isolation

PCI DSS → ns_pci → vrf_pci → wg-pci
HIPAA → ns_hipaa → vrf_hipaa → wg-hipaa
Isolated workloads!

Decision Matrix

Choose Current Architecture If:

• Single tenant deployment
• Simple network requirements
• Limited resources
• Quick time-to-market
• Low complexity tolerance

Choose Namespace + VRF If:

• Multi-tenant deployment
• Strong isolation requirements
• Compliance needs (PCI DSS, HIPAA)
• Same IP across tenants
• Role-based API access

Next Steps

1. Review — Read all reference documents
2. Decide — Choose architecture based on requirements
3. Plan — Create detailed implementation plan
4. Implement — Follow implementation guide
5. Test — Verify isolation and performance
6. Deploy — Roll out to production

References

• Linux Network Namespaces: man ip-netns
• Linux VRF: man ip-link (vrf type)
• WireGuard: man wg
• nftables: man nft

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Status: Reference architecture — not yet implemented Last Updated: 2026-07-10 Author: NexusGuard Team