HotSwap: Correct and efficient controller upgrades for software-defined networks

Laurent Vanbever, Joshua Reich, Theophilus Benson, Nate Foster, Jennifer L. Rexford

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

Like any complex software, SDN programs must be updated periodically, whether to migrate to a new controller platform, repair bugs, or address performance issues. Nowadays, SDN operators typically perform such upgrades by stopping the old controller and starting the new one - an approach that wipes out all installed flow table entries and causes substantial disruption including losing packets, increasing latency, and even compromising correctness. This paper presents HOTSWAP, a system for upgrading SDN controllers in a disruption-free and correct manner. HOTSWAP is a hypervisor (sitting between the switches and the controller) that maintains a history of network events. To upgrade from an old controller to a new one, HOTSWAP bootstraps the new controller (by replaying the history) and monitors its output (to determine which parts of the network state may be reused with the new controller). To ensure good performance, HOTSWAP filters the history using queries specified by programmers. We describe our design and preliminary implementation of HOTSWAP, and present experimental results demonstrating its effectiveness for managing upgrades to third-party controller programs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationHotSDN 2013 - Proceedings of the 2013 ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Hot Topics in Software Defined Networking
Pages133-138
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013
Event2013 2nd ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Hot Topics in Software Defined Networking, HotSDN 2013 - Hong Kong, China
Duration: Aug 16 2013Aug 16 2013

Publication series

NameHotSDN 2013 - Proceedings of the 2013 ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Hot Topics in Software Defined Networking

Other

Other2013 2nd ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Hot Topics in Software Defined Networking, HotSDN 2013
Country/TerritoryChina
CityHong Kong
Period8/16/138/16/13

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Software

Keywords

  • Controller upgrade
  • Dynamic software updating
  • Software-defined network

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'HotSwap: Correct and efficient controller upgrades for software-defined networks'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this