Cognitive Software Defined Networking and Network Function Virtualization and Applications

The emergence of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) has revolutionized the Internet. Using SDN, network devices can be controlled from a centralized, programmable control plane that is decoupled from their data plane, whereas with NFV, network functions (such as network address translation, firewall, and intrusion detection) can be virtualized instead of being implemented on proprietary hardware. In addition, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques will be key to automating network operations and enhancing customer service. Many of the challenges behind SDN and NFV are currently being investigated in several projects all over the world using AI and ML techniques, such as AI- and software-based networking, autonomic networking, and policy-based network management. Contributions to this Special Issue come from the above areas of research. Following a rigorous review process, four excellent articles were accepted that address and go beyond many of the challenges mentioned above

S6: a Smart, Social and SDN-based Surveillance System for Smart-cities

Abstract In the last few years, Software Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) have been introduced in the Internet as a new way to design, deploy and manage networking services. Working together, they are able to consolidate and deliver the networking components using standard IT virtualization technologies not only on high-volume servers, but also in end user premises, Telco operator edge and access nodes thus allowing the emergence of new services. In this context, this paper presents a smart video surveillance platform designed to exploit the facilities offered by full SDN-NFV networks. This platform is based on free and open source software running on Provider Equipment (PE), so allowing function deployment simplification and management cost reduction

Managing NFV using SDN and control theory

Control theory and SDN (Software Defined Networking) are key components for NFV (Network Function Virtualization) deployment. However little has been done to use a control-theoretic approach for SDN and NFV management. In this paper, we describe a use case for NFV management using control theory and SDN. We use the management architecture of RINA (a clean-slate Recursive InterNetwork Architecture) to manage Virtual Network Function (VNF) instances over the GENI testbed. We deploy Snort, an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as the VNF. Our network topology has source and destination hosts, multiple IDSes, an Open vSwitch (OVS) and an OpenFlow controller. A distributed management application running on RINA measures the state of the VNF instances and communicates this information to a Proportional Integral (PI) controller, which then provides load balancing information to the OpenFlow controller. The latter controller in turn updates traffic flow forwarding rules on the OVS switch, thus balancing load across the VNF instances. This paper demonstrates the benefits of using such a control-theoretic load balancing approach and the RINA management architecture in virtualized environments for NFV management. It also illustrates that GENI can easily support a wide range of SDN and NFV related experiments

orchestrating softwarized networks with a marketplace approach

Abstract In the last years, network softwarization is gaining increasing popularity since it allows to achieve dinamicity and flexibility in network management, stimulating a lot of interest by both academia and industry. Cloud computing paradigm together with the new networking paradigms of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are supporting this evolution, by providing network services as single Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) or chains of them. The main problem is scalability of both infrastructure and management. In fact, in order to support the SDN/NFV paradigm, the Telco Operator should deploy huge data centers, which have to be geographically distributed to guarantee low latencies to time-constrained flows, and implement complex orchestration policies. To this purpose, this paper proposes to extend the SDN/NFV framework with a marketplace where Telco Operator customers behave as third-party sellers with their hardware and software resources providing VNF as a service (VNFaaS), so helping the Telco Operator in providing network services in an efficient and scalable way

Threat Landscape and Good Practice Guide for Software Defined Networks/5G

5G represents the next major phase of mobile telecommunication systems and network architectures beyond the current 4G standards, aiming at extreme broadband and ultra-robust, low latency connectivity, to enable the programmable connectivity for the Internet of Everything2. Despite the significant debate on the technical specifications and the technological maturity of 5G, which are under discussion in various fora3, 5G is expected to affect positively and significantly several industry sectors ranging from ICT to industry sectors such as car and other manufacturing, health and agriculture in the period up to and beyond 2020. 5G will be driven by the influence of software on network functions, known as Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV). The key concept that underpins SDN is the logical centralization of network control functions by decoupling the control and packet forwarding functionality of the network. NFV complements this vision through the virtualization of these functionalities based on recent advances in general server and enterprise IT virtualization. Considering the technological maturity of the technologies that 5G can leverage on, SDN is the one that is moving faster from development to production. To realize the business potential of SDN/5G, a number of technical issues related to the design and operation of Software Defined Networks need to be addressed. Amongst them, SDN/5G security is one of the key issues, that needs to be addressed comprehensively in order to avoid missing the business opportunities arising from SDN/5G. In this report, we review threats and potential compromises related to the security of SDN/5G networks. More specifically, this report contains a review of the emerging threat landscape of 5G networks with particular focus on Software Defined Networking. It also considers security of NFV and radio network access. To provide a comprehensive account of the emerging threat SDN/5G landscape, this report has identified related network assets and the security threats, challenges and risks arising for these assets. Driven by the identified threats and risks, this report has also reviewed and identified existing security mechanisms and good practices for SDN/5G/NFV, and based on these it has analysed gaps and provided technical, policy and organizational recommendations for proactively enhancing the security of SDN/5G

Integrated SDN/NFV management and orchestration architecture for dynamic deployment of virtual SDN control instances for virtual tenant networks

Software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) have emerged as the most promising candidates for improving network function and protocol programmability and dynamic adjustment of network resources. On the one hand, SDN is responsible for providing an abstraction of network resources through well-defined application programming interfaces. This abstraction enables SDN to perform network virtualization, that is, to slice the physical infrastructure and create multiple coexisting application-specific virtual tenant networks (VTNs) with specific quality-of-service and service-level-agreement requirements, independent of the underlying optical transport technology and network protocols. On the other hand, the notion of NFV relates to deploying network functions that are typically deployed in specialized and dedicated hardware, as software instances [called virtual network functions (VNFs)] running on commodity servers (e.g., in data centers) through software virtualization techniques. Despite all the attention that has been given to virtualizing IP functions (e.g., firewall; authentication, authorization, and accounting) or Long-Term Evolution control functions (e.g., mobility management entity, serving gateway, and packet data network gateway), some transport control functions can also be virtualized and moved to the cloud as a VNF. In this work we propose virtualizing the tenant SDN control functions of a VTN and moving them into the cloud. The control of a VTN is a key requirement associated with network virtualization, since it allows the dynamic programming (i.e., direct control and configuration) of the virtual resources allocated to the VTN. We experimentally assess and evaluate the first SDN/NFV orchestration architecture in a multipartner testbed to dynamically deploy independent SDN controller instances for each instantiated VTN and to provide the required connectivity within minutes

A characterisation of reliability tools for Software Defined Networks

Software Defined Network (SDN) is a new paradigm in networking that introduces great flexibility, allowing the dynamic configuration of parts of the network through centralised programming. SDN has been successfully applied in field networks, and is now being applied to wireless and mobile networks, generating Software Defined Mobile/Wireless networks (SDWNs). SDN can be also combined with Network Function Virtualization (NFV) producing a software network in which the specific hardware is replaced by general purpose computing equipment running SDN and NFV software solutions. This highly programmable and flexible network introduces many challenges from the point of view of reliability (or robustness), and operators need to ensure the same level of confidence as in previous, less flexible deployments. This paper provides a first study of the current tools used to analyse the reliability of SDNs before deployment and/or during the exploitation of the network. Most of these tools offer some kind of automatic verification, supported by algorithms based on formal methods, but they do not differentiate between fixed and mobile/wireless networks. In the paper we provide a number of classifications of the tools to make this selection easier for potential users, and we also identify promising research areas where more effort needs to be made.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Algorithms for advance bandwidth reservation in media production networks

Media production generally requires many geographically distributed actors (e.g., production houses, broadcasters, advertisers) to exchange huge amounts of raw video and audio data. Traditional distribution techniques, such as dedicated point-to-point optical links, are highly inefficient in terms of installation time and cost. To improve efficiency, shared media production networks that connect all involved actors over a large geographical area, are currently being deployed. The traffic in such networks is often predictable, as the timing and bandwidth requirements of data transfers are generally known hours or even days in advance. As such, the use of advance bandwidth reservation (AR) can greatly increase resource utilization and cost efficiency. In this paper, we propose an Integer Linear Programming formulation of the bandwidth scheduling problem, which takes into account the specific characteristics of media production networks, is presented. Two novel optimization algorithms based on this model are thoroughly evaluated and compared by means of in-depth simulation results