Routing Optimization in Hybrid Software-Defined Networks: A Heuristic Approach
Samiullah Mehraban, Rajesh Kumar Yadav · IETE Journal of Research · 2025
In modern networking infrastructure, integrating Software-Defined Networking (SDN) ideas with traditional networking methodologies has given rise to Hybrid Software Defined Networks (HSDN); this type of network leverages the benefits of both conventional and SDN networks, the flexibility and programmability of SDN with the familiarity and stability of conventional network architectures. As both network devices integrate in a hybrid network, Traffic Engineering (TE) necessitates creative solutions to improve network efficiency, performance, and resource utilization. In this article, we studied the challenges associated with TE in a hybrid SDN environment, where traditional network devices coexist alongside SDN nodes; we investigated the optimal migration sequence from a conventional network to a hybrid SDN to address the optimization impact on controllable traffic and then for the routing optimization in the migrated hybrid network, we introduced a heuristic algorithm (H-STE) that optimizes both the OSPF weight setting and the splitting ratio of SDN nodes in the hybrid environment. Extensive tests on real network topologies are used to validate our methods, and the results demonstrate that with a 30% SDN deployment ratio, we can control more than 70% of network traffic; we observe a reduction in the Maximum Link Utilization (MLU) as it stabilizes, leading to a near-optimal result.