Skip to main content
Log in

On network update problems for software defined networks

  • Published:
Automatic Control and Computer Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Designing network update algorithms is an important line of research in developing software for new-generation telecommunication networks—software defined networks (SDNs). A specific case of the network update problem is seamless recovery of network configurations after the loss of some forwarding rules, as can happen, e.g., due to expiry of their timeouts. This paper initiates a systematic study of this problem using a formal SDN model. As a result, two algorithms a presented for safe and correct insertion of lost forwarding rules in SDN flow tables and it is shown that in the general case, seamless recovery of network configurations cannot be achieved without forwarding rules with multiple priorities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. McKeown, N., Anderson, T., Balakrishnan, H., et al., Openflow: Enabling innovation in campus networks, SIGCOMM Comp. Commun. Rev., 2008, vol. 38, no. 2, p. 69–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Foster, N., Guha, A., Reitblatt, M., et al., Languages for software-defined networks, IEEE Commun. Mag., 2013, p. 128–134.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Cai, T.S.E.N.Zh. and Cox, A.L., Maestro: A system for scalable OpenFlow control, in Technical Report TR1008, Rice University, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Voellmy, A., Kim, H., and Feamster, N., Procera: A language for high-level reactive network control, Proceedings of the 1-st Workshop on Hot Topics in Software Defined Networks, 2012, p. 43–48.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  5. OpenFlow Switch Specification. Version 1.4.0. www.opennetworking.org

  6. Francois, P., Shand, M., and Bonaventure, O., Disruption-free topology reconfiguration in ospf networks, IEEE INFOCOM, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Francois, P., Coste, P.-A., Decraene, B., and Bonaventure, O., Avoiding disruptions during maintenance operations on BGP sessions, IEEE Trans. Network and Service Management, 2007, vol. 4, no. 7, p. 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Raza, S., Zhu, Y., and Chuah, C.-N., Graceful network state migrations, IEEE/ACM Trans. Networking, 2011, vol. 19, no. 4, p. 1097–1110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Vanbever, L., Vissicchio, S., Pelsser, C., Francois, P., and Bonaventure, O., Seamless network-wide IGP migration, ACM SIGCOMM Comput. Commun. Rev., SIGCOMM '11, 2011, vol. 41, no. 4, p. 314–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Reitblatt, M., Foster, N., Rexford, J., and Walker, D., Consistent updates for software-defined networks: Change you can believe in!, HotNets, 2011, vol. 7.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Reitblatt, M., Foster, N., Rexford, J., Schlesinger, C., and Walker, D., Abstractions for network update, Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM 2012 Conference on Applications, Technologies, Architectures, and Protocols for Computer Communication, 2012, p. 323–334.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Katta, N.P., Rexford, J., and Walker, D., Incremental consistent updates, Proceedings of the 2-nd Workshop on Hot Topics in Software Defined Networks, 2013, p. 49–54.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Noyes, A., Warszawski, T., Cernyand, P., and Foster, N., Toward synthesis of network updates, Proceedings of the 2-nd Workshop on Synthesis, Saint Petersburg, 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Liu, A.X., Meiners, C.R., and Torng, E., TCAM Razor: A systematic approach towards minimizing packet classifiers in TCAMs, IEEE/ACM Trans. Networking, 2010, vol. 18, p. 490–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kogan, K., Nikolenko, S.I., Culhane, W., Eugster, P., and Ruan, E., Towards efficient implementation of packet classifiers, Proceedings of the 2-nd Workshop on Hot Topics in Software Defined Networks, 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Zakharov, V.A., Smelyansky, R.L., and Chemeritsky, E.V., A formal model and verification problems for software defined networks, Model. Anal. Inf. Syst., 2013, vol. 20, no. 6, p. 36–51.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kazemian, P., Chang, M., Zeng, H., Varghese, G., McKeown, N., and Whyte, S., Real time network policy checking using header space analysis, Proceedings of the 10-th USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation, 2013.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. V. Chemeritskiy.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © E.V. Chemeritskiy, V.A. Zakharov, 2014, published in Modelirovanie i Analiz Informatsionnykh Sistem, 2014, No. 6, pp. 57–70.

The article was translated by the authors.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chemeritskiy, E.V., Zakharov, V.A. On network update problems for software defined networks. Aut. Control Comp. Sci. 49, 437–444 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0146411615070202

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0146411615070202

Keywords

Navigation