A comparative evaluation of the performance of open-source SDN controllers
Abstract
Software-defined Networking (SDN) constitutes a new era in the development of internetworking. The SDN paradigm splits the data plane from the control plane. It uses controller equipment, which is responsible for centrally managing several network devices simultaneously. This study analyzes three open-source controllers for SDN based on the OpenFlow protocol. Specifically, the performance of FloodLight, OpenDayLight (ODL), and Ryu controllers is evaluated in terms of latency, throughput, and scalability. In doing so, the Cbench tool is used in an emulated environment with Mininet. The results show that the Ryu controller presents the lowest performance in all the evaluated parameters; ODL provides lower latency and FloodLight higher throughput. Regarding scalability, we conclude that Floodlight can be used in small networks, whereas ODL can be used in dense networks. Furthermore, we evaluate their main characteristics, which must be considered for their choice prior to implementation and deployment.
Downloads
References
Y. Li and M. Chen. “Software-defined network function virtualization: A survey”, in IEEE Access, vol. 3, pp.2542–2553, 2015.
Open Networking Foundation, “Software definednetworking: The new norm for networks”, ONF White Paper, vol. 2, pp. 2-6, 2012.
S. Higginbotham, “Google launches andromeda, a software-defined network underlying its cloud”, 2014.
M. Latah and L. Toker, “Load, and stress testing for SDN's northbound API”, SN Appl. Sci. 2,vol. 122, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-019-1917-y
C. Laissaoui, N. Idboufker, R. Elassali, and K. El Baamrani, "A measurement of the response times of various OpenFlow/SDN controllers with CBench," 2015 IEEE/ACS 12th International Conference of Computer Systems and Applications (AICCSA), Marrakech, 2015, pp. 1-2, DOI:10.1109/AICCSA.2015.7507203.
L. Mamushiane, A. Lysko and S. Dlamini, "A comparative evaluation of the performance of popular SDN controllers," Wireless Days (WD), Dubai, pp. 54-59, 2018. DOI: 10.1109/WD.2018.8361694.
Y. Li, X. Guo, X. Pang, B. Peng, X. Li and P. Zhang, "Performance Analysis of Floodlight and Ryu SDN Controllers under Mininet Simulator," 2020 IEEE/CIC International Conference on Communications in China (ICCC Workshops), Chongqing, China, 2020, pp. 85-90, DOI:10.1109/ICCCWorkshops49972.2020.9209935.
O. Salman, I. H. Elhajj, I. A. Kayssi, and A. Chehab, “SDN controllers: A comparative Study”, in 18th Mediterranean Electrotechnical Conference (MELECON), 2016. doi:10.1109/melcon.2016.7495430
D. Rodríguez Herlein, N. Talay, C. González, L. Marrone, “Explorando las redes definidas por software (SDN)”, in XXII Workshop de Investigadores en Ciencias de la Computación, 2020. http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/103546
G. Salazar and L. Marrone, “SDN– Redes Definidas por Software”, 2019.
Y. A. Marín Muro, “Plataforma de pruebas para evaluar el desempeño de las redes definidas por software basadas en el protocolo Openflow”, PhD thesis, Universidad Central "Marta Abreu" de Las Villas. Facultad de Ingeniería, 2016.
A. García Centeno, C. M. Rodríguez Vergel, C. A. Calderón, and F. C. Casmartiño Bondarenko, “Controladores SDN, elementos para su selección y evaluación”, Revista Telemática, vol. 13, no. 3, pp.10–20, 2014.
Open Networking Foundation, “SDN Migration Considerations and Use Cases”, ONF Solution Brief, 2014.
Z. K. Khattak, M. Awais, and A. Iqbal, “Performance evaluation of opendaylight SDN controller”, in 2014 20th IEEE international conference on parallel and distributed systems (ICPADS), 2014, pp. 671–676.
G. V. Sánchez Guindulain et al., “Aplicación de SDN para el control del tráfico de red en base a usuarios”, 2017.
A. Shalimov, D. Zuikov, D. Zimarina, V. Pashkov, and R. Smeliansky, “Advanced study of SDN/OpenFlow controllers”, in Proceedings of the 9th Central & Eastern European Software Engineering Conference, 2013, pp.1–6.
R. L. Santos De Oliveira, C. M. Schweitzer, A. A. Shinoda, and L. Rodrigues Prete, “Using mininet for emulation and prototyping software defined networks”, in 2014 IEEE Colombian Conference on Communications and Computing (COLCOM), pp. 1–6, 2014.
K. Phemius and M. Bouet, “Monitoring latency with OpenFlow”, in 9th International Conference on Network and Service Management (CNSM 2013), pp. 122–125, 2013.
R. Farre, “Opendaylight: Beryllium released”, 2016 [online] Available: https://blog.rojerfarre.com/2016/02/22/opendaylightberyllium-released/. [Accessed: Sep. 25, 2020].
This article is published by LAJC under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike 4.0 International License. This means that non-exclusive copyright is transferred to the National Polytechnic School. The Author (s) give their consent to the Editorial Committee to publish the article in the issue that best suits the interests of this Journal. Find out more in our Copyright Notice.
Disclaimer
LAJC in no event shall be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, or consequential copyright infringement claims related to articles that have been submitted for evaluation, or published in any issue of this journal. Find out more in our Disclaimer Notice.
