Virtual Router Design and Modeling for Future Networks with QoS Guarantees

A virtual router model with a static and dynamic resource reconfiguration for future internet networking was developed. This technique allows us to create efficient virtual devices with optimal parameters (queue length, queue overflow management discipline, number of serving devices, mode of serving devices) to ensure the required level of quality of service (QoS). An analytical model of a network device with virtual routers is proposed. By means of the mentioned mathematical representation, it is possible to determine the main parameters of the virtual queue system, which are based on the first in, first out (FIFO) algorithm, in order to analyze the efficiency of network resources utilization, as well as to determine the parameters of QoS flows, for a given intensity of packets arrival at the input interface of the network element. In order to research the guaranteed level of QoS in future telecommunications networks, a simulation model of a packet router with resource virtualization was developed. This model will allow designers to choose the optimal parameters of network equipment for the organization of virtual routers, which, in contrast to the existing principle of service, will provide the necessary quality of service provision to end users in the future network. It is shown that the use of standard static network device virtualization technology is not able to fully provide a guaranteed level of QoS to all present flows in the network by the criterion of minimum delay. An approach for dynamic reconfiguration of network device resources for virtual routers has been proposed, which allows more flexible resource management at certain points in time depending on the input load. Based on the results of the study, it is shown that the dynamic virtualization of the network device provides a guaranteed level of QoS for all transmitted flows. Thus, the obtained results confirm the feasibility of using dynamic reconfiguration of network device resources to improve the quality of service for end users.

High-Fidelity Router Emulation Technologies Based on Multi-Scale Virtualization

Virtualization has the advantages of strong scalability and high fidelity in host node emulation. It can effectively meet the requirements of network emulation, including large scale, high fidelity, and flexible construction. However, for router emulation, virtual routers built with virtualization and routing software use Linux Traffic Control to emulate bandwidth, delay, and packet loss rates, which results in serious distortions in congestion scenarios. Motivated by this deficiency, we propose a novel router emulation method that consists of virtualization plane, routing plane, and a traffic control method. We designed and implemented our traffic control module in multi-scale virtualization, including the kernel space of a KVM-based virtual router and the user space of a Docker-based virtual router. Experiments show not only that the proposed method achieves high-fidelity router emulation, but also that its performance is consistent with that of a physical router in congestion scenarios. These findings provide good support for network research into congestion scenarios on virtualization-based emulation platforms.

Hands-On Network Device Virtualization With VRF (Virtual Routing and Forwarding)

Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) is a technology that allows multiple instances of IP (Internet Protocol) routing table to co-exist within the same Router at the same time. The routing instances are independent, allowing the same or overlapping IP addresses to be used without conflict. Using VRF technology, users can virtualize a network device from a Layer 3 standpoint of creating different “Virtual Routers” in the same physical device. Internet Service Providers (ISP) often use VRF technology to create separate routing table in a single physical Router which are completely isolated one from the others. This chapter discusses about the configuration of VRF-Lite in GNS3 (Graphical Network Simulator-3) on RIP/v2, EIGRP and OSPF protocols.

SDN-Based WAN Optimization: PCE Implementation in Multi-Domain MPLS Networks Supported By BGP-LS

In order to provide efficient and flexible resource management and path set-up in high-speed MPLS/GMPLS networks, the PCE (Path Computation Element) architecture was proposed by IETF. Implementation of a central module for the path set-up enables network operators to run path establishment operations for applications with explicitly defined objective functions and QoS requirements. The paper reports on recent research and experimental investigations with PCE-based path computation performed according to the 3- layered traffic engineering (TE) system consisting of: (1) a PCE module equipped with the IBM Cplex LP solver used in the highest layer 3, and (2) a SDN controller in the intermediate layer 2 responsible for transferring path setup requests towards virtual routers in the lowest layer 1. The presented results show usefulness of the PCE-supporting architecture with an SDN controller and applicability of bandwidth-oriented optimization based on real-time focused constraints (path delay limits). We emphasise that even a simple optimization approach shows the power provided by the SDN, i.e., flexibility of flows. This property is in practice not feasible in classical IP or MPLS networks, that is the usage of flow-based routing provided by network programmability really opens opportunities in network tuning