Experimental performance contrast between SDN and traditional networks
Higinio Alberto Facchini, Santiago T. Pérez, R Blanchet, Bruno Roberti, Rodrigo Azcarate · 2021 IEEE CHILEAN Conference on Electrical, Electronics Engineering, Information and Communication Technologies (CHILECON) · 2021
In recent years, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have offered new challenges for the future of networks. The exponential growth of traffic that circulates through the network, together with the changing demand for bandwidth, types of traffic, and the need for rapid deployment of new services, have put into focus the traditional mechanisms in which device configurations are performed manually and statically. Consequently, there is a need to change the design and administration mechanisms to give the network greater dynamism and intelligence. Software Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Automation emerge as revolutionary new network technologies, which promise to provide concrete solutions to these demands. This work tries to relate the needs of traditional networks with what SDN provides, for the analysis of performance and new management capabilities. A simulated laboratory is presented, that allowed different scenarios. For this, different tools for simulation and virtualization were used, such as GNS3, Mininet and ONOS (Open Network Operating System). Within GNS3, topologies were created with Mininet version 2.2.2, connected to the SDN ONOS controller for the required cases. Among some tests, it was possible to determine the shortest convergence time before the fall of links or switchs, for SDN networks compared to traditional networks. The numerical results can be useful for simulation analysts, and network planners and administrators.