Data Mining Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques

The Internet has led to the creation of a digital society, where (almost) everything is connected and is accessible from anywhere. However, despite their widespread adoption, traditional IP networks are complex and very hard to manage. It is both difficult to configure the network according to predefined policies, and to reconfigure it to respond to faults, load, and changes. To make matters even more difficult, current networks are also vertically integrated: the control and data planes are bundled together. Software-defined networking (SDN) is an emerging paradigm that promises to change this state of affairs, by breaking vertical integration, separating the network's control logic from the underlying routers and switches, promoting (logical) centralization of network control, and introducing the ability to program the network. The separation of concerns, introduced between the definition of network policies, their implementation in switching hardware, and the forwarding of traffic, is key to the desired flexibility: by breaking the network control problem into tractable pieces, SDN makes it easier to create and introduce new abstractions in networking, simplifying network management and facilitating network evolution. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey on SDN. We start by introducing the motivation for SDN, explain its main concepts and how it differs from traditional networking, its roots, and the standardization activities regarding this novel paradigm. Next, we present the key building blocks of an SDN infrastructure using a bottom-up, layered approach. We provide an in-depth analysis of the hardware infrastructure, southbound and northbound application programming interfaces (APIs), network virtualization layers, network operating systems (SDN controllers), network programming languages, and network applications. We also look at cross-layer problems such as debugging and troubleshooting. In an effort to anticipate the future evolution of this new paradigm, we discuss the main ongoing research efforts and challenges of SDN. In particular, we address the design of switches and control platforms—with a focus on aspects such as resiliency, scalability, performance, security, and dependability—as well as new opportunities for carrier transport networks and cloud providers. Last but not least, we analyze the position of SDN as a key enabler of a software-defined environment.

https://publications.uni.lu/bitstream/10993/20596/1/survey_on_SDN.pdf

Software-Defined Networking: A Comprehensive Survey

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging paradigm that promises to change this state of affairs, by breaking vertical integration, separating the network's control logic from the underlying routers and switches, promoting (logical) centralization of network control, and introducing the ability to program the network. The separation of concerns introduced between the definition of network policies, their implementation in switching hardware, and the forwarding of traffic, is key to the desired flexibility: by breaking the network control problem into tractable pieces, SDN makes it easier to create and introduce new abstractions in networking, simplifying network management and facilitating network evolution. In this paper we present a comprehensive survey on SDN. We start by introducing the motivation for SDN, explain its main concepts and how it differs from traditional networking, its roots, and the standardization activities regarding this novel paradigm. Next, we present the key building blocks of an SDN infrastructure using a bottom-up, layered approach. We provide an in-depth analysis of the hardware infrastructure, southbound and northbound APIs, network virtualization layers, network operating systems (SDN controllers), network programming languages, and network applications. We also look at cross-layer problems such as debugging and troubleshooting. In an effort to anticipate the future evolution of this new paradigm, we discuss the main ongoing research efforts and challenges of SDN. In particular, we address the design of switches and control platforms -- with a focus on aspects such as resiliency, scalability, performance, security and dependability -- as well as new opportunities for carrier transport networks and cloud providers. Last but not least, we analyze the position of SDN as a key enabler of a software-defined environment.

Power Aware Routing in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Emerging mega-trends (e.g., mobile, social, cloud, and big data) in information and communication technologies (ICT) are commanding new challenges to future Internet, for which ubiquitous accessibility, high bandwidth, and dynamic management are crucial. However, traditional approaches based on manual configuration of proprietary devices are cumbersome and error-prone, and they cannot fully utilize the capability of physical network infrastructure. Recently, software-defined networking (SDN) has been touted as one of the most promising solutions for future Internet. SDN is characterized by its two distinguished features, including decoupling the control plane from the data plane and providing programmability for network application development. As a result, SDN is positioned to provide more efficient configuration, better performance, and higher flexibility to accommodate innovative network designs. This paper surveys latest developments in this active research area of SDN. We first present a generally accepted definition for SDN with the aforementioned two characteristic features and potential benefits of SDN. We then dwell on its three-layer architecture, including an infrastructure layer, a control layer, and an application layer, and substantiate each layer with existing research efforts and its related research areas. We follow that with an overview of the de facto SDN implementation (i.e., OpenFlow). Finally, we conclude this survey paper with some suggested open research challenges.

A Survey on Software-Defined Networking

Being the center of commotion in recent times, Blockchain Technology is on its way to bloom in the technological world. With countless applications, even governments and health facilities are adopting blockchain technology into their applications because of the reliability and security it is supposed to provide. Not to mention how it bought about revolution in currency by making it possible for crypto-currency to exist as introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in his ground-breaking paper. Unfortunately like every other technology in existence, blockchain is also potentially vulnerable no matter how secure it was meant to be designed. We will take a look at such potential threats to the blockchain technology in this paper, from seemingly human factors to some technical aspects that are not too deep to understand for anyone. We will also discuss about the possible remedies to the explored threats to the blockchain technology.

Exploring Security Threats on Blockchain Technology along with possible Remedies

In computer networking, simulations are widely used to test and analyse new protocols and ideas. Currently, there are a number of open real testbeds available to test the new protocols. In the EU, for example, there are Fed4Fire testbeds, while in the US, there are POWDER and COSMOS testbeds. Several other countries, including Japan, Brazil, India, and China, have also developed next-generation testbeds. Compared to simulations, these testbeds offer a more realistic way to test protocols and prototypes. In this paper, we examine some available wireless testbeds from the EU and the US, which are part of an open-call EU project under the NGIAtlantic H2020 initiative to conduct Software-Defined Networking (SDN) experiments on intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) networks. Furthermore, the paper presents benchmarking results and failure recovery results from each of the considered testbeds using a variety of wireless network topologies. The paper compares the testbeds based on throughput, latency, jitter, resources available, and failure recovery time, by sending different types of traffic. The results demonstrate the feasibility of performing wireless experiments on different testbeds in the US and the EU. Further, issues faced during experimentation on EU and US testbeds are also reported.

/pdf/future-wireless-networking-experiments-escaping-simulations-eluyght6.pdf

Future Wireless Networking Experiments Escaping Simulations

This report presents a first sketch of the Service Provider DevOps concept including four major management processes to support the roles of both service and VNF developers as well as the operator in a more agile manner. The sketch is based on lessons learned from a study of management and operational practices in the industry and recent related work with respect to management of SDN and cloud. Finally, the report identifies requirements for realizing SP-DevOps within an combined cloud and transport network environment as outlined by the UNIFY NFV architecture.

Initial Service Provider DevOps concept, capabilities and proposed tools

This report provides an understanding of how the UNIFY Service Provider (SP)-DevOps concept can be applied and integrated with a combined cloud and transport network NFV architecture. Specifically, the report contains technical descriptions of a set of novel SP-DevOps tools and support functions that facilitate observability, troubleshooting, verification, and VNF development processes. The tools and support functions are described in detail together with their architectural mapping, giving a wider understanding of the SP-DevOps concept as a whole, and how SP-DevOps tools can be used for supporting orchestration and programmability in the UNIFY NFV framework. The concept is further exemplified in a case study for deployment and scaling of an Elastic Firewall.

Service Provider DevOps network capabilities and tools

In OpenFlow, data and control plane are decoupled from switches or routers. While the data plane resides in the switches or routers, the control plane might be moved into one or more external servers (controllers). In this article, we propose verification mechanisms for the data plane functionality of switches. The latter consists of two parts: (1) Flow-Match Header part (to match a flow of incoming packets) and (2) action part (e.g., to forward incoming packets to an outgoing port). We propose a mechanism to verify the Flow-Match Header part of the data plane. The mechanism can be executed at the controller, or on an additional device or server (or virtual machines) attached to the network. Deploying a virtual machine (VM) or server for verification may decrease the load of the controller and/or consumed bandwidth between the controller and a switch. We propose a heuristic to place external verification devices or VMs in a network such that the verification time can be minimized. Verification time with respect to consumed resources are evaluated through emulation experiments. Results confirm that the verification time using the proposed heuristic is indeed shortened significantly, while requiring low bandwidth resources.

Sachin Sharma

Papers

Exploring Security Threats on Blockchain Technology along with possible Remedies

Future Wireless Networking Experiments Escaping Simulations

Initial Service Provider DevOps concept, capabilities and proposed tools

Service Provider DevOps network capabilities and tools

Verification of Flow Matching Functionality in the Forwarding Plane of OpenFlow Networks