Building Extensible Networks with Rule-Based Forwarding

We present a network design that provides flexible and policy-compliant forwarding. Our proposal centers around a new architectural concept: that of packet rules. A rule is a simple if-then-else construct that describes the manner in which the network should – or should not – forward packets. A packet identifies the rule by which it is to be forwarded and routers forward each packet in accordance with its associated rule. Each packet rule is certified, guaranteeing that all parties involved in forwarding a packet agree with the packet’s rule. Packets containing uncertified rules are simply dropped in the network. We present the design, implementation and evaluation of a Rule-Based Forwarding (RBF) architecture. We demonstrate flexibility by illustrating how RBF supports a variety of use cases including content caching, middlebox selection and DDoS protection. Using our prototype router implementation we show that the overhead RBF imposes is within the capabilities of modern network equipment.