Abstract:
In recent years, the networking domain has experienced a significant transition, with Software-
Defined Networking (SDN) emerging as an architectural innovation that provides network
operators with unparalleled programmability and administrative flexibility. By decoupling
network control from forwarding operations, simplifying administration, and accelerating
network advancement, SDN facilitates the creation of new networking abstractions. Because of
the expanding demand for fault tolerance and scalability in SDN systems, the importance of
improving and refining SDN operating systems with distributed architectures is increasingly
growing. However, without access to expensive testbeds, successful implementation of such
systems can be difficult. Various SDN development approaches depend on full system
virtualization or resource-intensive containers, which increases complexity and costs while
decreasing user-friendliness. In response to these issues, this paper introduces P4T (a P4-based
networking testbed) to address the challenges of creating reliable and scalable SDN operating
systems to meet the demands of modern network development. The proposed testbed leverages
the power of P4-based BMv2 switches and Mininet and provides a comprehensive but simplified
platform to simulate SDN-based network topology. With this testbed, several BMv2 switch
instances can be developed inside the same virtual environment, seamlessly orchestrating
forwarding behavior. Moreover, P4T empowers users to create custom topology, easily integrate
an ONOS controller for centralized control, and implement a wide range of P4-based networking
applications. This facilitates detailed evaluation of network programmability and performance,
thereby advancing the field of SDN network simulation.
