Software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) processed in multi-access edge computing (MEC) cloud systems have been proposed as critical paradigms for achieving the low latency requirements of the tactile Internet. While virtual network functions (VNFs) allow greater flexibility compared to hardware-based solutions, the VNF abstraction also introduces additional packet processing delays. In this paper, we investigate the practical feasibility of NFV with respect to the tactile Internet latency requirements. We develop, implement, and evaluate Chain-based Low latency VNF ImplemeNtation (CALVIN), a low-latency management framework for distributed Service Function Chains (SFCs). CALVIN classifies VNFs into elementary, basic, and advanced VNFs; moreover, CALVIN implements elementary and basic VNFs in the kernel space, while the advanced VNFs are implemented in the user space. Throughout, CALVIN employs a distributed mapping with one VNF per Virtual Machine (VM) in a MEC system. Furthermore, CALVIN avoids the metadata structure processing and batch processing of packets in the conventional Linux networking stack so as to achieve short per-packet latencies. Our rigorous measurements on off-the-shelf conventional networking and computing hardware demonstrate that CALVIN achieves round-trip times from a MEC ingress point via two elementary forwarding VNFs (one in kernel space and one in user space) and a MEC server to a MEC egress point on the order of 0.32 ms. Our measurements also indicate that MEC network coding and encryption are feasible for small 256 byte packets with an MEC latency budget of 0.35 ms; whereas, large 1400 byte packets can complete the network coding, but not the encryption within the 0.35 ms.

Reducing Latency in Virtual Machines: Enabling Tactile Internet for Human-Machine Co-Working

Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS) is recognized to be one of the most catastrophic attacks against various digital communication entities. Software-defined networking (SDN) is an emerging technology for computer networks that uses open protocols for controlling switches and routers placed at the network edges by using specialized open programmable interfaces. In this article, a detailed study on DDoS threats prevalent in SDN is presented. First, SDN features are examined from the perspective of security, and then a discussion on SDN security features is done. Further, two viewpoints on protecting networks against DDoS attacks are presented. In the first view, SDN utilizes its abilities to secure conventional networks. In the second view, SDN may become a victim of the threat itself because of the centralized control mechanism. The main focus of this research work is on discovering critical security implications in SDN while reviewing the current ongoing research studies. By emphasizing the available state-of-the-art techniques, an extensive review of the advancement of SDN security is provided to the research and IT communities.

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Software-defined Networking-based DDoS Defense Mechanisms

Hybrid SDN evolution: A comprehensive survey of the state-of-the-art

With the ever-growing data traffic in computer networks nowadays, the management of large-scale networks is a challenge for guaranteeing the quality of the provided services. This is due to the increasingly usage of connected applications, such as Internet of Things and cloud computing environments. Software-defined networking (SDN) is a new paradigm that aims to make this management process easier by centralizing the configuration of all network devices into a single programmable central controller. However, as any centralized service, this architecture is susceptible to security vulnerabilities, such as distributed denial of service (DDoS) and port scan attacks. Thus, security methods are necessary to guarantee the normal operation of SDN’s central controller. Furthermore, networks are transporting an increasingly amount of information day by day, which could mean data loss in case of long network unavailability. For this reason, security mechanisms must operate online, with fast-responding countermeasures to mitigate the impact of the detected attacks over the SDN. In this paper, we present a fast SDN defense system against DDoS and port scan attacks, which runs directly into the central controller and uses a game theoretical approach for attack mitigation. For the detection, we compare three different approaches, particle swarm optimization, multi-layer perceptron neural network, and discrete wavelet transform. We test our approach over IP flow data generated over Mininet network emulator, along with floodlight controller, and the presented defense system achieved good outcomes for both detection and mitigation processes.

Fast Defense System Against Attacks in Software Defined Networks

Energy efficient network service deployment across multiple SDN domains

Information centric networking (ICN) and software-defined networking (SDN) are two emerging networking paradigms that promise to solve different aspects of networking problems. ICN is a clean-slate design for accommodating the ever increasing growth of the Internet traffic by regarding content as the network primitive, adopting in-network caching, and name-based routing, while SDN focuses on agile and flexible network management by decoupling network control logic from data forwarding. ICN and SDN have gained significant research attention separately in the most of the previous work. However, the features of ICN have profound impacts on the design and operation of SDN, such as in-network caching and data-centric security. Conversely, SDN provides a powerful tool for experimenting and deploying ICN architectures and can greatly facilitate ICN functionality and management. In this paper, we point out the necessity of surveying the scattered works on integrating SDN and ICN (SD-ICN) for improving operational networks. Specifically, we analyze the points of SD-ICN strengths and opportunities, and discuss the SDN enablers for deploying ICN architectures. In addition, we review and classify the recent work on improving the network management by SD-ICN and discuss the potential security benefits of SD-ICN. Finally, a number of open issues and future trends are highlighted.

Software Defined Networking Meets Information Centric Networking: A Survey

Locating the cached content accurately and timely is critical for utilizing in-network storage in information-centric networks (ICN). However, an enormous number of cached contents and their volatility nature make it a challenge to collect and maintain a consistent view of the network cache information. In this letter, we propose a novel cached content locating mechanism for ICN, which jointly uses the bloom filter and compressed sensing to efficiently represent the cached contents and leverages the ability of centralized control of software-defined networking (SDN) to make the cache information consistent in the SDN controller. Simulation results show a large saving in announcement cost with a tolerable decrease in locating accuracy.

Qingyi Zhang

Papers

Software Defined Networking Meets Information Centric Networking: A Survey

Compressed Sensing-Based Cached Content Locating for ICN

LAPGN: Accomplishing information consistency under OSPF in General Networks (an extension)