Improving Network Management with Software Defined Networking using OpenFlow Protocol
Koketso Molemane Rodney Mokoena, Ramahlapane Lerato Moila, Mthulisi Velempini · 2023
With the advancement of network-based devices, resulting in communication networks also growing rapidly and becoming more complex, resulting in large and heterogeneous network architecture has brought a lot of challenges in network management. Therefore, managing the network has become an increasingly a challenge given the existing network architectures. In this study, we have investigated how network operators operate, maintain and secure telecommunications networks. The study has also investigated the effectiveness of Software Defined Networking (SDN) in improving network management. The study has also investigated how the architecture minimizes the challenges users face. To improve network management with SDN using the OpenFlow protocol, we created network topologies and configured devices using the graphical network simulator 3, Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager, and Mininet VM. Our approach implemented both Git and Ansible in a centralized network architecture to solve the problems facing existing network architectures with the rapid growth of network-based devices on the Internet. This research paper has shown how to use Ansible playbooks to manage your network and overcome the challenges you face. The simulation results shows that the proposed scheme performs better in terms of efficiency and flexibility than the traditional OpenFlow protocol. These improvements have been achieved through the separation of the control and data planes, allowing for more centralized network management and easier implementation of network policies.