Sangsik Yoon

SuVMF: software-defined unified virtual monitoring function for SDN-based large-scale networks

Traffic and resource monitoring is the essential function for large-scale enterprises, service providers, and network operators to ensure reliability, availability, and security of their resources. For this reason, many large-scale enterprises and providers have been investing in various standalone dedicated monitoring solutions. However, they find the cost of a dedicated standalone appliance per-feature prohibitive, inflexible, slow to install and difficult to maintain. Network Function Virtualization (NFV)-based virtualization trends represent an attractive opportunity for such stakeholders trying to meet the above requirements while controlling OPEX and CAPEX. Although there are many advantages that virtualization of monitoring function brings, some challenges remained to be solved are ensuring scalability and performance of single or distributed multiple virtual monitoring functions and flexibility and easiness of virtual functions lifecycle management. In this paper, to address such problems, we propose a novel architecture of software-defined unified virtual monitoring function for SDN-based large-scale networks (SuVMF). SuVMF is an essential component to build a scalable, reliable, secure and high-performance SDN architecture by providing intelligent control and monitoring management abstraction and filtering layer. In this paper, we present design, implementation, and evaluation results of SuVMF.

SUMA: Software-defined Unified Monitoring Agent for SDN

Software-Defined Network (SDN) enables agile network traffic control and configuration as well as shortens the network function deployment time. Despite the projected benefits of SDN, the abstractions toward the remote and centralized control tend to impose excessive control traffic overhead in order for the controller to acquire the global network visibility as well as to extend the legacy networks inaccurate and unreliable management problems into the control plane. In addition, a complex combination of multiple and heterogeneous management channels further aggravates the scalability problem. In this paper, to address the above management problems. We propose an intelligent management middlebox called Software-defined Unified Monitoring Agent (SUMA). SUMA builds a hybrid SDN architecture by providing intelligent control, management abstraction, and a filtering layer, that eventually will serve as an essential component for the reliable, scalable, and secure SDN deployment. In this paper, we present design, implementation, deployment, and evaluation results of a SUMA.

IRIS-CoMan: Scalable and Reliable Control and Management Architecture for SDN-Enabled Large-Scale Networks

Abstract A software-defined network (SDN) enables agile network control and configuration as well as shortens the network function deployment time. Despite the projected benefits of an SDN, the abstractions toward the remote and centralized control tend to impose excessive control traffic overhead in order for the controller to acquire global network visibility as well as extend the legacy network’s inaccurate and unreliable management problems into the control plane. In addition, many recent SDNs facilitate multiple management pillars (such as customized interfaces and protocols) so that user applications can directly communicate to the data plane to measure and monitor specific information. Not only logical control centralization, but also virtualization of the underlying computing and network resources add demands of more flexible and programmable monitoring functions per the virtual domain. A complex combination of multiple and heterogeneous management channels introduces the significant scalability, control tuning, and reliability problems in SDN. In this paper, to address the above control and management problems, we propose a highly scalable and reliable SDN control and management architecture, called IRIS Control and Management (IRIS-CoMan). It builds an intelligent agent based hybrid SDN architecture by providing a control and management abstraction and filtering layer. It serves an essential component for the reliable, scalable, and secure SDN deployment. We present design, implementation, deployment, and feasibility evaluation results of IRIS-CoMan.

NGN Performance Monitoring and Management: Standard Perspective and its Applications

IPTV has become a hot issue in various regions of the world recently. Although its meaning and capabilities may vary depending on their specific communications infrastructure and regulations and policies of broadcasting services, various field trials are conducted by the major telecommunications or content providers, especially focusing on providing higher quality services with bi-directional interactivity capabilities. And mobile communication services are evolving toward better quality based on the 3G or beyond. Efforts to achieve global VoIP interoperability among different service providers across regional boundaries are also actively in progress. NGN is no longer a future issue but has approached to us as a reality that we have to face with. The natural next step once its services are widely deployed is to monitor and manage them so that the promised or contracted quality of services can be delivered. The advances on the research and development as well as the standardization of the relevant technologies are progressing by various research organizations, industries, and SDOs (Standard Development Organizations). In this paper, we describe the standardization efforts on NGN performance monitoring and management which is currently underway in ITU-T. We also provide its applications with some example scenarios.

Virtualized traffic monitoring function and resource auto-scaling in software-defined networks

Traffic monitoring is the essential capability for large-scale enterprises, data centers, service providers, and network operators to ensure reliability, availability, fault assurance, and security of their underlying network resources. Currently, most monitoring solutions are standalone dedicated ones. Major drawbacks of these dedicated standalone appliances per-feature are high-cost, lack of flexibility, slow install time and difficulty of maintenance. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) provides an attractive alternative to cope with such limitations by controlling both CAPEX and OPEX. Network traffic monitoring function virtualization brings not only CAPEX/OPEX advantages but also introduces some challenges such as ensuring scalability and performance of single or distributed multiple virtual monitoring functions, utilization of virtual functions, and flexibility and easiness of virtual functions lifecycle management. To address such challenges, we propose a novel architecture and proof-of-concept implementation of a software-defined Virtual TrAffic Monitoring function with resource Auto-Scaling capability built over a multi-core whitebox server (VTAMAS) in this paper. It virtualizes monitoring functions with the capability of auto-scaling resource of virtual functions for efficient resource utilization especially.

Information fusion based agile streaming telemetry for intelligent traffic analytics of softwarized network

The recent federation of novel softwareization and virtualization architectures as well as Internet of Things (IoT) technologies complicates management of the network and services. In order to cope with expensive and slow network problem detection, isolation, and root cause analysis based on the SNMP driven pull model management, this paper proposes push based open source streaming network traffic analytics technologies by using P4 (Programming Protocol-Independent Packet Processors) INT (Inband Network Telemetry). Real-time information fusion algorithms on the intelligent edge that correlates multi-source micro and macro streaming telemetry data are proposed. And its proof-of-concept implementation with performance evaluation.

Policy-based charging and high precision control for converged multi-gigabit IP networks

Traditionally, charging in IP networks was managed in a simple manner such as flat-rate charging in fixed environment or packet/byte based charging in mobile environment. This is mainly due to the fact that precise traffic metering in a high-speed IP network environment was not a simple task. Control of such traffic was another big challenge. This paper addresses such complicated issues and proposes a novel solution which can precisely meter traffic in high-speed IP networks, classify them per application, create charging information, and control per application basis if necessary. It includes requirements, architecture, and mechanisms in a standardized manner. In this paper, we propose our novel policy-based charging and control methodology. We have embedded packet capturing capability without loss, deep packet inspection, and flow generation into the hardware. We describe major features, design concepts, implementation, and performance evaluation result.

Wire-speed application flow generation in hardware platform for multi-gigabit traffic monitoring

Flow-based traffic monitoring has received strong attention from the traffic measurement research communities. Despite the value provided by flow measurement, its usage has limited for relatively lower speed traffic mainly due to the performance impact it introduces. Recent traffic measurement research has tried to overcome such a limitation of simple flow-based monitoring by utilizing payload inspection for applications signatures or/and by identifying target application group based on common traffic characteristics. Such improvement, however, requires much higher analysis performance, particularly when it comes to the monitoring of high-speed links like 2.5 Gbps or higher. Thus, the traditional approach which consists of traffic capture in a dedicated hardware and traffic analysis on a server with database may be unable to meet such harsh requirements. Although a dedicated hardware is used for traffic measurement, the generation of application flows is normally done in the software. In this paper, we propose our novel traffic measurement methodology which pushes application flow generation functionality into the network processor (NP) based hardware to meet such requirements. We have embedded packet capturing capability without loss, deep packet inspection, and flow generation into the hardware. We describe major features, design concepts, implementation, and performance evaluation result.