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Scenario-based virtual network infrastructure management in research and educational testbeds with VNUML

Application cases and current challenges

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Abstract

Virtual machine technologies have evolved during the last 40 years from mainframe to commodity (x86) systems. Although these techniques are nowadays quite mature in data center environments (consolidation, service continuity, etc.), scenario-based virtual infrastructure management tools keep evolving in research and educational areas. In this work, one such tool is described, Virtual Network User Mode Linux (VNUML), which has been successfully used during the past few years to help researchers and educators to build testbeds in a wide range of innovative network environments (such as IPv6 IX design and third-generation networks). Such application cases are detailed in this paper, assessing the soundness and flexibility of the tool. However, in spite of these successful applications, several challenges remain to be solved in virtual scenario management (distributed management, decoupling from any particular virtualization technique, and alignment with industry standards), and the way they are being addressed as part of VNUML’s evolution is also discussed.

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Notes

  1. Also known as guest operating system virtualization, native virtualization, or hardware emulation.

  2. Due to this fact, some authors do not consider this approach as machine virtualization. However, we are describing it along with the other types to provide a homogenous description for the sake of clarity.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is partially supported by the Business-Oriented Infrastructure group within the Business Support Systems unit at Telefónica I+D and by the Spanish Ministry of Industry under the PASITO project. The authors would also like to thank Miriam García for her valuable suggestions in the language revision of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Telefónica Investigación y Desarrollo (TID), Madrid, Spain

    Fermín Galán & Miguel Gómez

  2. Departamento de Ingeniería de Sistemas Telemáticos (DIT), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain

    David Fernández

  3. Departamento de Ingeniería Informática, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Madrid, Spain

    Walter Fuertes & Jorge E. López de Vergara

Authors
  1. Fermín Galán
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  2. David Fernández
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  3. Walter Fuertes
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  4. Miguel Gómez
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  5. Jorge E. López de Vergara
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fermín Galán.

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Galán, F., Fernández, D., Fuertes, W. et al. Scenario-based virtual network infrastructure management in research and educational testbeds with VNUML. Ann. Telecommun. 64, 305–323 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12243-009-0104-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12243-009-0104-3

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