۱- Introduction

۲- Related work

۳- System framework

۴- System model and problem formulation

۵- The heuristic deployment algorithm

۶- Performance evaluation

۷- Conclusion

References

Abstract

The emergence of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) enables flexible service provisioning and deployment. However, with the continuous expansion of network scale and sharp increasing of end users, how to flexibly provide network services across multiple SDN domains for users is becoming a critical issue. A major challenge in the multi-domain network service provisioning is the network service deployment method taking into account energy efficiency. In this paper, we study the problem of how to optimally deploy network services across multiple SDN domains with the target of saving energy while achieving the load balancing of multi-domain networks. Specifically, firstly, we propose a novel multi-domain network service deployment framework by integrating SDN architecture and NFV technology, which can intelligently deploy virtual network functions (VNFs) into multi-domain networks. Secondly, we formulate this problem as a multi-objective optimization model to achieve the minimization of energy consumption and load balancing of multi-domain networks. Furthermore, we present a heuristic network service deployment algorithm to solve it. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that the proposed heuristic service deployment algorithm is efficient and outperforms comparison algorithms in terms of energy consumption and load balancing degree.

Introduction

In recent years, a large number of middleboxes (e.g., Network Address Translator (NAT), Firewall (FW) and Intrusion Detection System (IDS)) have been developed and deployed in current networks to provide various network services. However, it is inefficient for service provisioning due to the ossified architecture of traditional network and middleboxes’s heavy dependence on specific hardware equipment [1]. Fortunately, the emergence of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) brings new opportunities to address the challenge [2,3]. It implements network functions in software rather than hardware devices, running on virtual machines hosting on commodity servers [4]. One network service in NFV can be represented as one Service Function Chain (SFC), which is composed of a series of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) in a given order. To provide efficient service, the SFC is deployed in several different servers and traffic is steered to pass through a set of VNFs in a specific sequence. NFV supports flexible service provisioning, significantly reducing Capital Expenditures (CAPEX) and Operational Expenditures (OPEX). On the other hand, Software Defined Networking (SDN), as an emerging networking paradigm, achieves the separation of control plane and data plane, and provides logically centralized control capacity as well as powerful programmable capability [5–۱۰].