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

Abstract

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 minimise 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.

Adaptive Resource Management and Control in Software Defined Networks

“…[21] [22]). In this work, we develop an approach based on a modified version of the leader node selection algorithm proposed by Clegg et al in [23], which more closely relates to our application scenario. The algorithm, called Pressure, aims at determining, given a dynamic network environment, the subset of nodes on which to install monitoring points in order to minimize the average distance (in terms of hop count) between the monitoring entities and the network nodes.…”

“…The main principle is to select, at each step, the location at which, if a LC is installed, will lead to the largest reduction in terms of average distance. To decide on the location, the algorithm maintains a list of locations at which it is still possible to install a LC and, at each step, it calculates the Pressure score of the node i associated with each of these locations as follows [23]:…”

On the placement of management and control functionality in software defined networks

“…The problem of the allocation of network functions has been investigated in a wide range of contexts, ranging from the placement of monitoring agents (e.g. [10]) to the selection of network service gateways (e.g. [11]).…”

“…The decision on to which node to attach the next LM is based on a metric, called Pressure score [10], defined for each node, which measures the benefits of selecting the node as a LM location in terms of average LM-node distance reduction. More specifically, the Pressure score of node i is defined as:…”

Management of Software Driven Networks - Research Challenges

“…This development is a small software-based service and network testbed -the Very Lightweight Software Driven Network and Services (VLSP) [1] [11], which comprises a very lightweight virtual router element combined with virtual network connectivity. These elements can be combined in order to build any network topology required.…”