P4T: Design and Development of P4 based Networking Testbed

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.