A characterisation of reliability tools for Software Defined Networks
Lavado, Leticia,Panizo-Jaime, Laura,Gallardo-Melgarejo, María del Mar,Merino-Gómez, Pedro
- Published
- 2017
- Language
- en
Abstract
Software Defined Network (SDN) is a new paradigm in networking that introduces great flexibility, allowing the dynamic configuration of parts of the network through centralised programming. SDN has been successfully applied in field networks, and is now being applied to wireless and mobile networks, generating Software Defined Mobile/Wireless networks (SDWNs). SDN can be also combined with Network Function Virtualization (NFV) producing a software network in which the specific hardware is replaced by general purpose computing equipment running SDN and NFV software solutions. This highly programmable and flexible network introduces many challenges from the point of view of reliability (or robustness), and operators need to ensure the same level of confidence as in previous, less flexible deployments. This paper provides a first study of the current tools used to analyse the reliability of SDNs before deployment and/or during the exploitation of the network. Most of these tools offer some kind of automatic verification, supported by algorithms based on formal methods, but they do not differentiate between fixed and mobile/wireless networks. In the paper we provide a number of classifications of the tools to make this selection easier for potential users, and we also identify promising research areas where more effort needs to be made.
Full text
Submitted to: PROLE 2017 c L. Lavado, L. Panizo, M. M.Gallardo & P. Merino This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. A characterisation of reliability tools for Software Defined Networks∗ Leticia Lavado Laura Panizo Mar´ ıa-del-Mar Gallardo Pedro Merino Universidad de M´ alaga, Andaluc´ ıa Tech, Dept. Lenguajes y Ciencias de la Computaci´ on, Espa˜ na. [leticialavmu, laurapanizo, gallardo, pedro]@lcc.uma.es Software Defined Network (SDN) is a new paradigm in networking that moves the network control logic from the network devices to a set of network applications running in a centralised controller. This paradigm introduces great flexibility, allowing the dynamic configuration of parts of the network through centralised programming. SDN has been successfully applied in field networks, and is now being applied to wireless and mobile networks. SDN can also be combined with Network Function Virtualization (NFV) producing a software network in which the specific hardware is replaced by general purpose computing equipment running SDN and NFV software solutions. This highly programmable and flexible network introduces many challenges from the point of view of reliability (or robustness), and operators need to ensure the same level of confidence as in previous, less flexible deployments. This paper provides a first study of the current tools used to analyse the reliability of SDNs before deployment and/or during the exploitation of the network. Most of these tools offer some kind of automatic verification, supported by algorithms based on formal methods, but they do not differentiate between fixed and mobile/wireless networks. In the paper we provide a number of classifications of the tools to make this selection easier for potential users, and we also identify promising research areas where more effort needs to be made. ∗This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness project TIN2015-67083-R.
