Adaptive SDN Master Controller Assignment for Maximizing Network Throughput

Jianfeng Xu, Liming Wang, Chen Song, Zhen Xu

Abstract: Software-Defined Networking (SDN) controllers are deployed as a cluster in large-scale networks, for high availability and scalability. A device (e.g., switch) is connected to multiple controllers in cluster while assigned with one master controller, and the controller with master role is only permitted to manage the device. Therefore, the master controller assignment can affect the network throughput seriously. In this paper, we first study the assignment strategy of two well-known SDN platforms (i.e., OpenDayLight and Open Network Operating System) as well as the assignment mechanisms in the existing literature, analyzing their deficiencies. Meanwhile, we present an adaptive controller assignment so as to maximize the network throughput under the fluctuating network environment. We formulate this problem as an Integer Linear Program and propose an algorithm based on Ant Colony optimization to solve it efficiently. Extensive experiments validate that our solution is superior to other existing mechanisms in terms of network throughput and load balancing.

External IDs:dblp:conf/iscc/XuWSX19