Shared entry logger to eliminate duplicate requests to SDN controller

Abstract

In network architecture domain, software-defined networking (SDN) provides programmable network infrastructure and improves management at the controlling layer level. However, SDN structure is centralized and hence introduces new challenges related to performance and security that require new adaptations. An important problem is that some incoming packets are similar to old packets that have already been processed by the SDN controller. This paper proposes a new model for entry logging with an aim to minimize the number of requests the SDN controller processes. This is achieved by the provision of a logging technique for management of OpenFlow communications. A shared memory is introduced to store recently processed entries to save time and effort for future lookups. The proposed SDN architecture adapts the memory to ensure the controller avoids sending duplicate entries and facilitates switches to obtain an external backup storage. Experimental results show an approximate 30% decrease in the communication load on the controller while maintaining lower latency in the total processing time.