Adaptive Service-Chain Routing for Virtual Network Functions in Software-Defined Networks

Abstract

Software-defined networking is shifting data communication networks toward more centralized control. The availability of virtual machines and lightweight containers enables dynamic placement of virtual network functions on demand. A key challenge is to efficiently route service-chain requests and place processing functions in a network under operational constraints. We present a novel method of solving the node-constrained service chain routing problem in a software-defined network. The main idea is to transform the network representation to a layered graph that considers processing steps and allows the use of conventional shortest-path algorithms, such as Dijkstra's algorithm, to solve the problem. We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach through an emulated prototype implementation that uses dynamic utilization measurements on links and hosts to determine network conditions at runtime.