Xspider: A Multi-Switch Testbed for Software Defined Networks

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging network architecture. SDN is currently attracting significant attention from both academia and industry. A large number of studies have been carried out in academic circles. However, how to build small scale experimental Software-Defined Networking is the basis of various researches. This paper builds a physical device called Xspider for building real SDN experimental environment based on NetFPGA with OpenFlow support. Xspider has the characteristics of saving space, being easy to carry, and the ability to simulate multiple topologies. This kind of physical device can facilitate the application of SDN teaching and experiment, which is beneficial to promote the technological progress of SDN.