SDNRoute: Proactive routing optimization in Software Defined Networks

Abstract

Despite opening attractive perspectives, the concept of Software Defined Networking raises doubts about the performance and practical feasibility. To contradict these concerns, we propose a deployment-ready system aimed at proactive and periodic optimization of flow paths. The modular system consists of modules responsible for traffic prediction, static optimization, measurements, flow management, and validation of optimization results. To make the system efficient, we resolved several scientific issues and proposed novel and valuable solutions, for example methods for efficient proactive flow management and periodic re-optimization of routing policies. Simultaneously, to make the system production-ready and create a reliable research environment, we provide solutions to several technical obstacles.

We validate the proposed system with three network topologies, each with three load levels, following real-life traffic models. We consider Equal-Cost Multi-Path Routing as a baseline. The results indicate that the system allows network operators to handle more traffic (packet loss reduced by up to 30%), improve quality of service (less congested links resulted in even 2.5 times lower latency), and reduce operational expenses (energy consumption lowered by up to 10%).