Investigating the Impact of Tree-Based Network Topology on the SDN Controller Performance

Abstract

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is an important technology that enables a new approach to how we develop and manage networks. SDN divides the data plane and control plane and promotes logical centralization of network control so that the controller can schedule the data in the network effectively through the OpenFlow protocol. The performance and capabilities of the controller itself are important. The impact of network topology type on controller performance can be very significant. In order to have better communication in SDN, it is essential to have an analysis of the performance of specific network topologies. In this paper, we simulate ONOS and RYU controllers and compare their different network parameters under the proposed complex custom Tree-based topology. A network topology has been designed using a Mininet emulator, and the code for topology is executed in Python. From the throughput, packet transmission rate, and latency analysis, the ONOS controller displayed better results than RYU, showing that it can respond to requests more efficiently under complex SDN topologies and traffic loads. On the contrary, the RYU controller provides better results for the less complex SDN networks.