Abstract
Ethernet is the prevalent link layer mechanism in data communication networks. Today, it is used in enterprise and home networks, data center networks, telecommunication networks, and in various industrial deployments. In addition, more and more hosts are becoming mobile, connecting to Ethernet networks via Wi-Fi, or through virtualization solutions in data centers. Unfortunately, the Ethernet protocol suite itself has no generic support for host mobility.In this paper, we evaluate the effects of host mobility in Ethernet networks using real-time emulation. We compare routing bridges, an IETF-driven Ethernet frame forwarding protocol, with our DBridges design. DBridges is an evolution of the routing bridges standard, integrating a one-hop Distributed Hash Tables (DHT) scheme into the protocol. Our solution offers improved scalability characteristics in Ethernet networks, as well as enhanced support for host mobility.Our evaluation shows that while host mobility without any explicit signaling will remain a best-effort service in Ethernet networks, we can significantly improve its efficiency and reliability in certain use cases, while providing improved scalability and safety properties. We also show that while the host mobility support in DBridges suffers from transient forwarding loops, the problem is exceedingly rare in real networks and is mitigated by the base functionality in routing bridges.
Highlights
Ethernet has found its way into most network deployments in the world
Our evaluation shows that while host mobility without any explicit signaling will remain a best-effort service in Ethernet networks, we can significantly improve its efficiency and reliability in certain use cases, while providing improved scalability and safety properties
We have evaluated our system design through specific test cases and analyzed the resulting output generated with the topologies, traffic models, and mobility model described above
Summary
Ethernet has found its way into most network deployments in the world It is the de facto link layer protocol for large-scale data centers, in home networks to connect various devices to the Internet through a router, and increasingly in access and aggregation segments of telecommunication networks. Each Ethernet device has a unique address that is preconfigured by the manufacturer of the device This allows the basic Ethernet network to function without configuration; each device can receive messages via the unique Ethernet address, and host locations are discovered from frames arriving on an interface (e.g., a switch port). A large part of the flexibility of virtualization stems from the possibility to dynamically migrate virtual machines to different parts (e.g., racks) inside the data center. From the perspective of the network, the live migration [3] of virtual machines often presents itself as a host mobility event
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