Inter-domain Networking Innovation on Steroids: Empowering IXPs with SDN Capabilities

Marco Chiesa (1) , Christoph Dietzel (2, 3) , Gianni Antichi (4) , Marc Bruyère (5) , Ignacio Castro (6) , Mitch Gusat (7) , Thomas King (3) , Andrew W Moore (4) , Thanh Dang Nguyen (1) , Philippe Owezarski (5) , Steve Uhlig (6) , Marco Canini (1)

1 UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain
2 TU - Technical University of Berlin / Technische Universität Berlin
3 DE-CIX
4 Computer Laboratory [Cambridge]
5 LAAS-SARA - Équipe Services et Architectures pour Réseaux Avancés
6 QMUL - Queen Mary University of London
7 IBM Research

While innovation in inter-domain routing has remained stagnant for over a decade, Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) are consolidating their role as economically advantageous interconnection points for reducing path latencies and exchanging ever increasing amounts of traffic. As such, IXPs appear as a natural place to foster network innovation and assess the benefits of Software-Defined Networking (SDN), a recent technological trend that has already boosted innovation within data-center networks. In this paper, we give a comprehensive overview of use cases for SDN at IXPs, which leverage the superior vantage point of an IXP to introduce advanced features like load-balancing and DDoS mit-igation. We discuss the benefits of SDN solutions by analyzing real-world data from one of the largest IXPs. We also leverage insights into IXP operations to not only shape benefits for members but also for operators.

Domaines: Réseaux et télécommunications [cs.NI]

Marco Chiesa, Christoph Dietzel, Gianni Antichi, Marc Bruyère, Ignacio Castro, et al.. Inter-domain Networking Innovation on Steroids: Empowering IXPs with SDN Capabilities. IEEE Communications Magazine, 2016, 54 (10), pp. 102-108. ⟨hal-01345721⟩