CoMap: An efficient virtual network re-mapping strategy based on coalitional matching theory

Abstract

Virtualization of resources has been adopted in different environments such as wireless sensor networks (WSN), 5G networks, Fog computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and traditional data center (DC) networks. In DC networks, virtualized resources are provisioned as virtual networks (VNs), which comprise multiple communicating virtual machines (VMs) and virtual links (VLs) capturing their communication dependencies. However these virtual components, i.e., VMs and VLs, often experience fluctuating resource demands and require dynamic re-embedding as part of the management activities undertaken by the service providers (SPs). This paper focuses on addressing the issue of resource re-embedding via solution components (SCs), where a SC comprises a VM and its attached VLs, with either the VM and/or at least one of the VLs facing resource expansion. In fact, the resource provisioning problem for VNs is proven to be NP -Hard. Further, the requirement of distributed allocation of VMs of the VNs across the servers to avoid single point failure and enhance the survivability adds to the existing complexity. We propose a framework called CoMap that aims to generate an efficient relocation plan in polynomial time for VNs to reduce the re-embedding costs and improve the utilization of DC servers. The overall problem is modeled as a one-to-many matching game with coalition formation at the servers. Simulation results confirm a 32% average reduction in re-embedding cost and a 69% improvement in the average server utilization compared to the baseline algorithms.