Try Before you Buy: SDN Emulation with (Real) Interdomain Routing

Adoption of Software Defined Networking (SDN) remains largely confined to data center networks, where network architects frequently have the luxury of designing and deploying within a tightly controlled greenfield environment. In comparison, adoption of SDN technologies within existing ISP and enterprise networks depends on the network operator’s ability to evaluate SDN’s impact and define a transition plan with confidence. Unfortunately, existing tools for emulating SDN networks do not support the evaluation of interactions with components found in today’s networks, such as intradomain routing policies and interdomain interactions with other autonomous systems. Within this work, we explain how our testbed provides network operators with comprehensive, 1:1 emulation of an existing network, which can then be used to experiment with SDN and evaluate its impact. We believe that our testbed will provide operators with a better understanding of how SDN fits into their existing networks, thus making SDN technologies more accessible to the broader community.