POSTER: Performance Management in Application-controlled Software Defined Networks

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging new paradigm that allows for an application-driven control of network resources. Traditional network management systems (NMS) can benefit from an application-controlled SDN approach, which promises to drastically reduce OPEX by translating application requirements into network behavior without human intervention. However, delivering predictable performance for applications remains a challenge as it requires such systems to maintain and forecast the resource utilization and performance of the underlying network. Therefore, this paper proposes a new application-controlled NMS approach for SDN, considering the resource and performance characteristics of the underlying network. The goal is to model the network utilization and to forecast the usage profiles of applications to prevent resource shortages before they occur. The proposed concept focusses on OpenFlow due to its generic approach, well defined resource requirements, and prevalence in scientific research.