PROJECT PROPOSAL

An Evaluation of Software Defined Network

Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 2
Background ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Aims and Objectives ......................................................................................................................... 4
Methodology .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Literature Review ............................................................................................................................... 5
SDN Controllers .................................................................................................................................. 7
A Review on Controllers their strengths and weaknesses ............................................................. 8
Project Management ........................................................................................................................... 12
References ............................................................................................................................................ 13

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Introduction

This report isabout Software Defined Network using ‘Mininet’ Emulator. It focuses on why
we use Software Defined Network, difference between traditional Versace Software Defined
Networkand features of ‘Mininet’.

Traditionally, networking architecture was based on using multiple routers and switches. To
do a change in network architecture, network administrator has to do a lot of work i.e. adding
or removing single device requires reconfiguration of the networkwhich takes a lot of time.
This also means that for a single device, whole network must be stopped before configuration
has been completed. Similarly connecting devices of different vendors in a single network is
very difficult because devices of different vendors require different configurations.

To cope with these challenges, Software Defined Networking was introduced. SDN is
defined as ‘open user-controlled management of the forwarding hardware of network
element’. SDN consists of two planes:

 The plane that determines where to send traffic.(Control plane)

 The plane that executes decisions and forwards traffic. (Data plane)

By decoupling the data plane and control plane means data plane will work with the hardware
and control layer will function on software.SDN uses ‘Openflow’ protocol to perform these
functions. SDN provides more configuration accuracy, consistency and flexibility. In
traditional networks we used to have device by- device configuration, whereas in SDN we
configure the SDN Controller and it does all the work of network. A key approach of SDN is
automating this process and enabling admin to manage the network as a single device. This
helps admin to manage the network with more ease and network takes less time to configure.
Second benefit of SDN is optimization of data flows. In previous network we use to have
route from source to destination. Whereas in SDN we can have multiple routes from source to
destination. This increases network performance and optimization.

A MININET is an emulator which provides the features of implementing SDN. MININET

has a capability to emulate different of networks i.e. hosts, layer-2 switches, layer-3 routers.
It works on Linux kernel and it utilizes virtualization for emulating a complete network. A
network can be created in MININET by a single command;

$ sudomn

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Background

In the traditional networks we use to have issues whenmore devices are added to the network.
Similarly, configuration of network became difficult when new device is added to the
network. Networks were complex previously and to solve single issue would require a lot of
time and deep understanding of the network.

To add a single device i.e. router or switch. Whole network would be shutdown and network
admin must reconfigure the whole network devices before turning it on. This would cause
delay for the users and makes network optimization slow. Similarly, devices from different
vendors also require admin to have deep knowledge and understanding of their configuration.
If there are devices from multiple vendors, then admin needs to memorize different
configuration for all of them. A single device failure can cause the network to shut down.
Because of the complexity of the architecture of traditional network, it became very difficult
to find error in the network. Standardization of new protocol took a lot of time in traditional
networks.

To solve these issues related to traditional networks, SDN was introduced. SDN is complete
opposite in approach of network architecture and design. In SDN whole is based on SDN
controller. SDN controller works on ‘Openflow’ controller.

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Aims and Objectives

Aim of this project to evaluate the performance of SDN using Mininet by increasing the
number of routers or switches. Starting of with few network devices and then increasing the
devices and seeing how network is performing. What would happen to the network when
there is a new connection. Is it performing similarly, or performance rate has slowed down?
What benefit we get over traditional network using SDN, which we didn’t had before.

The objective is to achieve this using Mininet emulator. Mininet provides the platform to see
how in actual environment it would perform. Mininet has the features which allow to make a
real-world kind of scenario. Mininethas its limitations and drawbacks but still Itprovides the
required features which are important to measure the performance of SDN.

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Methodology
Literature Review

From the research work done read so far, shows that a lot work has been done in the field of
SDN. Starting from what it SDN, how it is different from traditional network, how many
types of SDN controllers, how Mininet is used to measure the performance of SDN etc. My
work will be mainly on measuring performance Of SDN by starting off with few routers and
switches and then gradually increasing and switches and routers and observing the
performance. Will the performance will be same, or will it increase or decrease after that.

Starting from the issues in the traditional networks i.e. network convergence rate was slow,
network was more error prone, network took more time to function if there is some error in
network connection, configuration was different for devices of different vendors. To solve
these issues SDN was introduced.

SDN works on Openflow protocol. It consists of decoupled data and control plane. SDN is
based on SDN controller. SDN controller is a brain of a network. All the network functions
are initiated here. SDN controller function is based onOpenflow protocol. SDN benefits in
Enhancing configuration, improving province and encouraging innovation. Enhance
configurationmeans it uses a single point for configuration of the network via software
controlling. It improves performance by having a centralized control of the network. It
consists of Application, Infrastructure and Control layer.

Challenges are still there and most important one being adoption and standardization. SDN
offers a great solution to traditional network but still moving from traditional to SDN is not
easy.

There are many reasons that trigger the use of Mininet Emulator. Mininet offers the required
tools to perform the function related to SDN operations. Following are the features that
guided the creation of Mininet.

1. Flexibility.
2. Interactivity.
3. Scalability.
4. Applicability.
5. Realistic.

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 6. Share-able.

In Mininet the entire virtual network can be controlled and managed from a single console.
For example, the CLI command

Mininet>h1 ping –c3h2

Is used to pingh2 from h1

Mininet> nodes

To see the list of nodes available

Mininet> help

To see a list of available commands

Dpctl: control and edit flow tables.

Iperf: TCP speed test.

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SDN Controllers

SDN controller is a brain of a network. Different SDN controllers have been made by
different vendors i.e. Cisco, juniper etc. SDN controller consists of multiple plugins which
perform different tasks.

Following are some of the SDN controllers.

1. Pox(Python).
2. Nox(C++).
3. Ryu(Python).
4. Floodlight(Java).
5. Beacon(Java).
6. ODL(Java).
7. ONOS(Java).

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A Review on Controllers their strengths and weaknesses

Given below are the features of different controllers which are made by different vendors.
First 5 are centralized controllers, whereas last 2 are distributed controller.

1. Pox(Python)

POX is aOpenflowplatform for python based SDN controller. POX enables rapid
developments and prototyping is more commonly used then NOX.

2. Nox(C++)

NOX is a open source development platform for SDN controller. Older version NOX classis
supports C++ and Python is not used anymore.

3. Ryu(Python)

Ryu is a SDN controller used to increase the agility of the network by making it easy to
manage and adapt how traffic is handled. Ryu is handled and developed by NTT data centre.

4. Floodlight(Java)

Floodlight offers module loading system. It is easy to setup with minimal dependencies.
Supports broad range of virtual and physical Openflow. Designed to be high performance.

5. Beacon(Java)

Beacon is written in java and runs on many platforms from high-end multicore servers to
android phones. It is easy to getup and running. Code bundles in beacon can
started/stopped/refreshed anytime without interrupting other bundles.

6. ODL(Java)

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Open Daylight controller supports Openflow but also some other SDN standards. It gives the
businesses to adapt to their changing needs and have greater control over their network.

7. ONOS(Java)

ONOS is SDN controller which supports transition from ‘brownfield’ networks to SDN
networks.

The table below shows the throughput and latency of different controllers.

Controllers Throughput (rps/ms) Latency(ms)

Pox 105 0.0416
Nox 687 0.0179
Ryu 106 0.037
Beacon 2303 0.0164
Floodlight 670 0.0222
ODL 9 0.111
ONOS 49 0.026

Table-1: SDN Controller Features

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Given below are the screenshots which show the basic usage of Mininet. These figures
include basic commands used in Mininet.

The following figure shows how a simple network can be formed using simple command
‘sudomn’. The network consists of two hosts (h1,h2), connected to a switch (s1), which is
connected to Controller (c1).

Figure-1: Mininet network with two Hosts

The second figure shows the use of command to see the IP address of hosts(h1, h2),
switch(s1) and controller(c1).

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 Figure-2: Mininet network with IP Address of Hosts

The following shows the new network formed using ‘sudomn –topo=single,4’.

This means 4 hosts (h1,two

h2,Hosts
h3, h4), connected to switch s1, which is connected to controller
C1.

Figure-3: Mininet network with Four Hosts

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Project Management

Week No Milestone
Week 1 Writing Project Proposal
Week 2 Read Research Papers
Week 3 Writing Project Introduction and Literature Review
Week 4 Doing Project Experiment
Week 5 Writing Evaluation
Week 6 Writing Results
Week 7 Writing Conclusion and References
Week 8 Proofreading Project Report

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References

[1] Y. Zhao, “SDN Controller Performance,” [Online]. Available:

https://www.ietf.org/proceedings/96/slides/slides-96-sdnrg-11.pdf.

[2] “NOX,” [Online]. Available: https://searchsdn.techtarget.com/definition/NOX.

[3] “What is Ryu Controller?,” [Online]. Available: https://www.sdxcentral.com/sdn/definitions/sdn-

controllers/open-source-sdn-controllers/what-is-ryu-controller/.

[4] “ONOS Project,” [Online]. Available: https://onosproject.org/.

[5] “What is an OpenDaylight Controller? AKA: OpenDaylight Platform,” [Online]. Available:

https://www.sdxcentral.com/sdn/definitions/sdn-controllers/opendaylight-controller/.

[6] “Project Floodlight,” [Online]. Available: http://www.projectfloodlight.org/floodlight/.

[7] “Beacon,” [Online]. Available: https://www.sdxcentral.com/projects/beacon/.

[8] “David Mahler,” September 2013. [Online]. Available:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmlgXaocwiE&t=146s.

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