Challenges and solution for measuring available bandwidth in software defined networks

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging paradigm that is expected to revolutionize computer networks. Methods for measuring Quality of Service (QoS) parameters such as bandwidth utilization, packet loss, and delay have been recently introduced in literature for SDN-based scenarios, but they required almost invariably a completely different approach with respect to traditional network environments, thus facing new challenges and exploiting new opportunities. An important dynamic path characteristic is Available Bandwidth (ABW), that has strong impact on a wide range of applications, but is a metric very hard to estimate with traditional approaches. In this paper we focus our analysis on ABW measurement based on messages in the OpenFlow protocol. We present both analytical results and experimental evaluation (in Mininet emulation and using Floodlight, OpenDaylight and ONOS controllers) of measurement error due to network delay between the SDN switches and the controller. Based on our results we propose to extend the OpenFlow protocol with a local timestamping mechanism, providing and discussing two different implementations of this feature. The presented analysis and the proposed extension of OpenFlow protocol are not restricted to ABW, and can benefit measurement of other network metrics in SDN.

[1]  Ian F. Akyildiz,et al.  A roadmap for traffic engineering in SDN-OpenFlow networks , 2014, Comput. Networks.

[2]  Nick McKeown,et al.  Reproducible network experiments using container-based emulation , 2012, CoNEXT '12.

[3]  M. Frans Kaashoek,et al.  A measurement study of available bandwidth estimation tools , 2003, IMC '03.

[4]  Miguel A. Labrador,et al.  Traceband: A fast, low overhead and accurate tool for available bandwidth estimation and monitoring , 2010, Comput. Networks.

[5]  Phuoc Tran-Gia,et al.  On the accuracy of leveraging SDN for passive network measurements , 2013, 2013 Australasian Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (ATNAC).

[6]  Nick McKeown,et al.  A network in a laptop: rapid prototyping for software-defined networks , 2010, Hotnets-IX.

[7]  Harsha V. Madhyastha,et al.  FlowSense: Monitoring Network Utilization with Zero Measurement Cost , 2013, PAM.

[8]  Daniel Raumer,et al.  MonSamp: A distributed SDN application for QoS monitoring , 2014, 2014 Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems.

[9]  John B. Carter,et al.  SDN traceroute: tracing SDN forwarding without changing network behavior , 2014, HotSDN.

[10]  David Rincón,et al.  Extending OpenFlow for SDN-enabled synchronous Ethernet networks , 2015, Proceedings of the 2015 1st IEEE Conference on Network Softwarization (NetSoft).

[11]  Richard G. Baraniuk,et al.  pathChirp: Efficient available bandwidth estimation for network paths , 2003 .

[12]  David L. Mills,et al.  Internet Engineering Task Force (ietf) Network Time Protocol Version 4: Protocol and Algorithms Specification , 2010 .

[13]  Antonio Pescapè,et al.  Unified architecture for network measurement: The case of available bandwidth , 2012, J. Netw. Comput. Appl..

[14]  Jim Esch,et al.  Software-Defined Networking: A Comprehensive Survey , 2015, Proc. IEEE.

[15]  Jordi Ferrer Riera,et al.  An OpenNaaS Based SDN Framework for Dynamic QoS Control , 2013, 2013 IEEE SDN for Future Networks and Services (SDN4FNS).

[16]  Antonio Pescapè,et al.  Available bandwidth measurement in software defined networks , 2016, SAC.

[17]  Zdravko Bozakov,et al.  Measurement-based flow characterization in centrally controlled networks , 2016, IEEE INFOCOM 2016 - The 35th Annual IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications.

[18]  Haoyu Song,et al.  Protocol-oblivious forwarding: unleash the power of SDN through a future-proof forwarding plane , 2013, HotSDN '13.

[19]  Kostas Pentikousis,et al.  An OpenFlow Implementation for Network Processors , 2014, 2014 Third European Workshop on Software Defined Networks.

[20]  Antonio Pescapè,et al.  A tool for the generation of realistic network workload for emerging networking scenarios , 2012, Comput. Networks.

[21]  Antonio Pescapè,et al.  Do you trust your software-based traffic generator? , 2010, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[22]  Manish Jain,et al.  End-to-end available bandwidth: measurement methodology, dynamics, and relation with TCP throughput , 2003, TNET.

[23]  Sujata Banerjee,et al.  DevoFlow: scaling flow management for high-performance networks , 2011, SIGCOMM 2011.

[24]  Fernando A. Kuipers,et al.  OpenNetMon: Network monitoring in OpenFlow Software-Defined Networks , 2014, 2014 IEEE Network Operations and Management Symposium (NOMS).

[25]  Tal Mizrahi,et al.  Using ReversePTP to distribute time in Software Defined Networks , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Symposium on Precision Clock Synchronization for Measurement, Control, and Communication (ISPCS).

[26]  Nick Feamster,et al.  The road to SDN: an intellectual history of programmable networks , 2014, CCRV.

[27]  Al Morton,et al.  Active and Passive Metrics and Methods (with Hybrid Types In-Between) , 2016, RFC.

[28]  László Gulyás,et al.  SDN based testbeds for evaluating and promoting multipath TCP , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC).

[29]  Raouf Boutaba,et al.  PayLess: A low cost network monitoring framework for Software Defined Networks , 2014, 2014 IEEE Network Operations and Management Symposium (NOMS).

[30]  Mathieu Bouet,et al.  Monitoring latency with OpenFlow , 2013, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Network and Service Management (CNSM 2013).

[31]  Bruce Lowekamp,et al.  Using passive traces of application traffic in a network monitoring system , 2004, Proceedings. 13th IEEE International Symposium on High performance Distributed Computing, 2004..

[32]  Antonio Pescapè,et al.  Analysis and experimentation of an open distributed platform for synthetic traffic generation , 2004, Proceedings. 10th IEEE International Workshop on Future Trends of Distributed Computing Systems, 2004. FTDCS 2004..

[33]  Nick McKeown,et al.  OpenFlow: enabling innovation in campus networks , 2008, CCRV.

[34]  Bruce S. Davie,et al.  The Open vSwitch Database Management Protocol , 2013, RFC.

[35]  Müge Sayit,et al.  An SDN-assisted system design for improving performance of SVC-DASH , 2015, 2015 Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (FedCSIS).

[36]  Manish Jain,et al.  End-to-end available bandwidth: measurement methodology, dynamics, and relation with TCP throughput , 2003, IEEE/ACM Trans. Netw..

[37]  Tal Mizrahi,et al.  Time-based Updates in OpenFlow : A Proposed Extension to the OpenFlow Protocol , 2013 .

[38]  Anirudh Sivaraman,et al.  In-band Network Telemetry via Programmable Dataplanes , 2015 .

[39]  Giuseppe Aceto,et al.  Active Techniques for Available Bandwidth Estimation: Comparison and Application , 2013, Data Traffic Monitoring and Analysis.

[40]  Orhan Gemikonakli,et al.  BaProbSDN: A probabilistic-based QoS routing mechanism for Software Defined Networks , 2015, Proceedings of the 2015 1st IEEE Conference on Network Softwarization (NetSoft).

[41]  Anurag Kumar,et al.  netmon: An SNMP Based Network Performance Monitoring Tool for Packet Data Networks , 2000 .

[42]  kc claffy,et al.  Bandwidth estimation: metrics, measurement techniques, and tools , 2003, IEEE Netw..