Abstract—Software-defined Networks (SDN) is an innovative idea proposed by an academic institute to reach certain goal of Next Generation Networks (NGN). SDN decouples control plane and data plane from the network core devices for operating purpose. The control plane is the centrally control unit called SDN controller acting as Network Operating Systems (NOS). The data plane resides inside the network core devices and is only responsible for forwarding data packets controlled by central controller. OpenFlow technology is one of the most successful implementation of SDN, and it is a first standard of SDN defined by Open Networking Foundation (ONF). In this paper, an OpenFlow-based network architecture is discussed by comparing with traditional network. Further, a design and performance analysis of OpenFlow-based various network topologies are done. The performance analysis is done by comparing all network topologies on basis of bandwidth utilization, packet transmission rate, round-trip propagation delay between end nodes and maximum obtained throughput. The design of all the OpenFlow-enabled topologies are done using prototype network emulator called Mininet.

Index Terms—Mininet, network topologies, OpenFlow, SDN.

The authors are with the Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, S. V. National Institute of Technology, Ichchhanath, Dumas Road, Surat-395007, Gujarat, India.

Cite:Idris Zoher Bholebawa, Upena D. Dalal, "Design and Performance Analysis of OpenFlow-Enabled Network Topologies Using Mininet," International Journal of Computer and Communication Engineering vol. 5, no. 6, pp. 419-429, 2016.