Merlin: A Language for Provisioning Network Resources

This paper presents Merlin, a new framework for managing resources in software-defined networks. With Merlin, administrators express high-level policies using programs in a declarative language. The language includes logical predicates to identify sets of packets, regular expressions to encode forwarding paths, and arithmetic formulas to specify bandwidth constraints. The Merlin compiler uses a combination of advanced techniques to translate these policies into code that can be executed on network elements including a constraint solver that allocates bandwidth using parameterizable heuristics. To facilitate dynamic adaptation, Merlin provides mechanisms for delegating control of sub-policies and for verifying that modifications made to sub-policies do not violate global constraints. Experiments demonstrate the expressiveness and scalability of Merlin on real-world topologies and applications. Overall, Merlin simplifies network administration by providing high-level abstractions for specifying network policies and scalable infrastructure for enforcing them

Software-Programmed Optical Networking with Integrated NFV Service Provisioning

We showcase demonstrations of “program & compile” styled optical networking as well as open platforms & standards based NFV service provisioning using a proof-of-concept implementation of the Software-Programmed Networking Operating System (SPN OS). We showcase demonstrations of “program & compile” styled optical networking as well as open platforms & standards based NFV service provisioning using a proof-of-concept implementation of the Software-Programmed Networking Operating System (SPN OS)

Languages for Path-Based Network Programming

The notion of a path is an important abstraction for reasoning about and managing computer networks. By thinking of network configuration in terms of paths (instead of individual devices), network administrators can reap significant benefits in terms of usability, performance and correctness. Paths themselves can be specified and reasoned about using foundational computational tools such as regular expressions and Kleene Algebras. Furthermore, path-based abstractions can express key network behavior such as isolation requirements and bandwidth constraints, while supporting heterogeneity in terms of devices, physical substrates and administrative domains. This dissertation shows that it is possible to use specifications of network paths, extended with constraints on traffic classes, bandwidth, and the capabilities of network devices, to enable flexible management of modern networks. This is realized by developing path-oriented domain-specific languages to express network policies. These languages show that by starting with abstractions for network paths, it is possible to specify route and bandwidth requirements for classes of traffic, delegate policy management to trusted parties, and enable high-level management of heterogenous networks. Furthermore, by leveraging techniques and tools such as mixed-integer programming, SAT solvers and SDN controller frameworks, we have built practical compilers and runtimes for these languages. These compilers take high-level specifications of network policies and generate efficient configurations for a range of network devices including packet and optical switches, middlebox frameworks and end-hosts. We have tested these implementations by building and benchmarking a range of practical applications on real-world networks

Scalable Network Management with Merlin

This paper presents the Merlin network management framework. With Merlin, network administrators express functionality such as accounting, bandwidth provisioning, and traffic filtering in a high-level policy language, and use automated tools and mechanisms to implement them. The framework includes: (i) a declarative language for specifying policies, (ii) infrastructure for distributing, refining, and coordinating enforcement of policies, and (iii) a run-time monitor that inspects incoming and outgoing traffic on end hosts. We describe Merlin's policy language and enforcement infrastructure, illustrate the use of Merlin on case studies, and present experimental results demonstrating that Merlin is more efficient and scalable than equivalent implementations based on programmable switches and centralized middleboxes. Overall, Merlin simplifies the task of network administration by providing high-level abstractions and tools for specifying and enforcing rich network policies

Asylum seekers in the Finnish football clubs : case study of the opportunities and challenges in the collaboration

The study refers to the social need of Finnish football clubs in learning how to collaborate with culturally distant asylum seekers from the Middle East. The recent influx of 30.000 asylum seekers happened in Finland, in 2015. Many of these asylum seekers intend to stay in Finland on a permanent basis. At the same time, the large number of asylum seekers from the Middle East possess a high interest in football. Finnish football clubs, obtaining a constant need in volunteers, start recruiting asylum seekers, as volunteers. However, there appears to be a gap in literature detailing the collaboration between football clubs and asylum seeker volunteers. The main aim of this paper is to interpret reasons for engaging into a collaboration, describing benefits and challenges arising from it. In order to reach the main aim of this study, 9 theme interviews have been conducted with 5 representatives of Finnish football clubs and 4 volunteers with asylum seekers background. As the result of content analysis, seven inductive categories have been created. Results of the study indicated reasons for football clubs (e.g. lack of volunteers), for asylum seekers (e.g. internal motivation to play), and common reasons (e.g. spare energy usage / consumption). In addition, results proclaim the main benefit for asylum seekers being the social integration, while football clubs receive the opportunities of utilizing football academy background and young age of asylum seekers, covering costs through potential governmental grant, and growing popularity through asylum seekers’ community attraction. The downside of the collaboration is that football clubs constantly need to offer asylum seekers the supervision, while asylum seekers might experience loneliness, cultural shock, injuries, as well as prioritize other issues in life and experience certain unrealistic expectations from football clubs. The identification of reasons, benefits and challenges demonstrates that football clubs might be lacking the competence and volunteers for mentoring asylum seekers, which promotes poor social integration and might even lead to the end of collaboration. In such context, the role of Manager of Reception Centre becomes central, as he mediates expectations of football clubs to asylum seekers, helping them to learn and integrate in Finnish culture. As the result, the team commitment of asylum seekers enhances, promoting rather mutually beneficial than challenging collaboration. Such collaboration can be seen as worthful for both parties