Information Exchange Management as a Service for Network Function Virtualization Environments

The Internet landscape is gradually adopting new communication paradigms characterized by flexibility and adaptability to the resource constraints and service requirements, including network function virtualization (NFV), software-defined networks, and various virtualization and network slicing technologies. These approaches need to be realized from multiple management and network entities exchanging information between each other. We propose a novel information exchange management as a service facility as an extension to ETSI's NFV management and orchestration framework, namely the virtual infrastructure information service (VIS). VIS is characterized by the following properties: 1) it exhibits the dynamic characteristics of such network paradigms; 2) it supports information flow establishment, operation, and optimization; and 3) it provides a logically centralized control of the established information flows with respect to the diverse demands of the entities exchanging information elements. Our proposal addresses the information exchange management requirements of NFV environments and is information-model agnostic. This paper includes an experimental analysis of its main functional and non-functional characteristics

A flexible information service for management of virtualized software-defined infrastructures

Summary There is a major shift in the Internet towards using programmable and virtualized network devices, offering significant flexibility and adaptability. New networking paradigms such as software-defined networking and network function virtualization bring networks and IT domains closer together using appropriate architectural abstractions. In this context, new and novel information management features need to be introduced. The deployed management and control entities in these environments should have a clear, and often global, view of the network environment and should exchange information in alternative ways (e.g. some may have real-time constraints, while others may be throughput sensitive). Our work addresses these two network management features. In this paper, we define the research challenges in information management for virtualized highly dynamic environments. Along these lines, we introduce and present the design details of the virtual infrastructure information service, a new management information handling framework that (i) provides logically centralized information flow establishment, optimization, coordination, synchronization and management with respect to the diverse management and control entity demands; (ii) is designed according to the characteristics and requirements of software-defined networking and network function virtualization; and (iii) inter-operates with our own virtualized infrastructure framework. Evaluation results demonstrating the flexible and adaptable behaviour of the virtual infrastructure information service and its main operations are included in the paper. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

A Service-Aware Virtualized Software-Defined Infrastructure

The Internet infrastructure is gradually improving its flexibility and adaptability due to the incorporation of new promising technologies, such as the software-defined networks and the network function virtualization. The main goal is to meet the diverse communication needs of the users, while the global system operation satisfies the business and societal goals of the infrastructure and service providers. This calls for solutions that consider both local and global network viewpoints and provide sophisticated system control in a stable and predictable way, while being service-aware. We propose a fully integrated solution along these lines: the VLSP, a service-aware software-defined infrastructure for networks and clouds. The VLSP consists of three main distributed systems: a facility performing uniformly logically-centralized management and control of the infrastructure, called the virtual infrastructure management; an information management infrastructure able to maintain an accurate view of the infrastructure environment at both the local and system levels, called the virtual infrastructure information service; and a lightweight virtualization hypervisor able to perform configuration changes in the infrastructure resources, called the lightweight network hypervisor. We discuss representative use-case scenarios, while we demonstrate how VLSP tunes performance trade-offs for particular service demands

On the Selection of Management/Monitoring Nodes in Highly Dynamic Networks

This paper addresses the problem of provisioning management/monitoring nodes within highly dynamic network environments, particularly virtual networks. In a network, where nodes and links may be spontaneously created and destroyed (perhaps rapidly) there is a need for stable and responsive management and monitoring, which does not create a large load (in terms of traffic or processing) for the system. A subset of nodes has to be chosen for management/monitoring, each of which will manage a subset of the nodes in the network. A new, simple, and locally optimal greedy algorithm called Pressure is provided for choice of node position to minimize traffic. This algorithm is combined with a system for predicting the lifespan of nodes, and a tunable parameter is also given so that a system operator could express a preference for elected nodes to be chosen to reduce traffic, to be "stable,” or some compromise between these positions. The combined algorithm called PressureTime is lightweight and could be run in a distributed manner. The resulting algorithms are tested both in simulation and in a testbed environment of virtual routers. They perform well, both at reducing traffic and at choosing long lifespan nodes

A Marketplace-based Approach to Cloud Network Slice Composition Across Multiple Domains

Cloud network slicing can be defined as the process that enables isolated end-to-end and on-demand networking abstractions, which: (a) contain both cloud and network resources, and (b) are independently controlled, managed and orchestrated. This paper contributes to the vision of the NECOS project and relevant platform, that aim to address the limitations of current cloud computing infrastructures to accomplish the challenging requirements of the slicing approach. The NECOS platform implements the Slice-as-a-Service model, enabling the dynamic creation of end-to-end (E2E) slices from a set of constituent slice parts contributed from multiple domains. A challenging issue is to define the facility that implements dynamic slice resource discovery, aligned to the requirements of the slice owner or tenant, over different infrastructure providers. Here, we propose a Marketplace-based approach implementing relevant federated interactions for the resource discovery and we detail its architecture, workflows, and information model. We also present its initial implementation details and provide both quantitative and qualitative experimental results validating its main operation

Slicing and Allocation of Transformable Resources for the Deployment of Multiple Virtualized Infrastructure Managers (VIMs)

In the context of 5G networks, the concept of network slicing allows network providers to flexibly share infrastructures with mobile service providers and verticals. While this concept has been widely investigated considering mostly the network issues, in this work we focus on a slice as a service model that takes into account the data center (DC) perspective. In particular, we propose an architecture where DC slices are created over transformable (compute and storage) resources, which can be virtualized or de-virtualized on-demand. Then, on top of each slice, an on-demand VIM is instantiated to control the allocated resources. As a realization of this architecture, we introduce the DC Slice Controller, a system able to deploy and delivery full operational VIMs based on generic templates. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed system deploying three VIMs (VLSP, Kubernetes, and OpenStack) over commodity hardware. Experimental results show that the DC Slice Controller can timely provide a slice even when dealing with sophisticated VIMs such as OpenStack. As an example, we were able to delivery a fully functional OpenStack in four nodes in less than 10 minutes

Platforms and software systems for an autonomic internet

The current Internet does not enable easy introduction and deployment of new network technologies and services. This paper aims to progress the Future Internet (FI) by introduction of a service composition and execution environment that re-use existing components of access and core networks. This paper presents essential service-centric platforms and software systems that have been developed with the aim to create a flexible environment for an Autonomic Internet.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

NECOS Project: Towards Lightweight Slicing of Cloud Federated Infrastructures

The Novel Enablers for Cloud Slicing (NECOS) project addresses the limitations of current cloud computing infrastructures to respond to the demand for new services, as presented in two use-cases, that will drive the whole execution of the project. The first use-case is focused on Telco service provider and is oriented towards the adoption of cloud computing in their large networks. The second use-case is targeting the use of edge clouds to support devices with low computation and storage capacity. The envisaged solution is based on a new concept, the Lightweight Slice Defined Cloud (LSDC), as an approach that extends the virtualization to all the resources in the involved networks and data centers and provides uniform management with a high-level of orchestration. In this position paper, we discuss the motivation, objectives, architecture, research challenges (and how to overcome them) and initial efforts for the NECOS project

Elsevier EFFORT / GAINS DYNAMICS IN HETEROGENEOUS NETWORKS

We investigate the behavior of TCP ( , ) protocols in the presence of wireless networks. We seek an answer to strategic issues of maximizing energy and bandwidth exploitation, without damaging the dynamics of multiple-flow equilibrium. We take a fresh perspective on protocol design: What is the return of the effort that a protocol expends? Can we achieve more gains with less effort? We study first the design assumptions of TCP ( , ) protocols and discuss the impact of equation-based modulation of and on protocol efficiency. We introduce two new metrics to capture protocol behavior: The “Extra Energy Expenditure ” and the “Unexploited Available Resource Index”. We confirm experimentally that, in general, smoothness and responsiveness constitute a tradeoff; however, we show that this tradeoff does not graft its dynamics into a conservative/aggressive behavior, as it is traditionally believed. We uncover patterns of unjustified tactics; our results suggest that an adaptive congestion control algorithm is needed to integrate the dynamics of heterogeneous networks into protocol behavior. 1