Abstract:
Measuring the performance of a network is not a new domain and there has
been a lot of research done on how to improve the performance of a network. The
performance of a network cannot be improved unless we monitor the network itself.
In that context OpenFlow based monitoring in the SDN-IXP manager using the SDN
(Software Defined Networking) controller is a novel approach to manage and monitor
IXP (Internet Exchange Point). The IXP acts as a local transit point for different ISPs
(Internet Service Providers) and content providers. This approach helps in reducing the
financial burden by lowering the cost of transit point and network's operation.
The said approach also improves system efficiency with better control, reduces
latency by direct connections, and ensures security of the data by keeping traffic in a
local network. SDN provides central network monitoring by keeping eye on the whole
network, traffic engineering can also be leveraged by using network programmability for
applications like centralized device configurations, load balancing, firewall and traffic
optimization in the network. The SDN technology has benefits in diverse industries and
one of those is IXP.
This thesis proposes a novel Laravel based management framework for redesigned
IXP-Manager to monitor flow counters between the SDN controller and OpenFlow
Switch through Grafana Platform. The latter is used to show stats after getting data
from the database and then a user interface is added to the IXP manager dashboard
using redirection. The proposed approach allows SDN IXP Manager to define rules and
establish peering between different ISPs in an IXP environment by passing data from
SDN-IXP manager to SDN-Controller's YAML file directly.
