Performance modeling of virtual switching systems

Guillaume Artero Gallardo (1) , Bruno Baynat (2) , Thomas Begin (1)

1 DANTE - Dynamic Networks : Temporal and Structural Capture Approach
2 NPA - Networks and Performance Analysis

Virtual switches are a key elements within the new paradigms of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV). Unlike proprietary networking appliances, virtual switches come with a high level of flexibility in the management of their physical resources such as the number of CPU cores, their allocation to the switching function, and the capacities of the RX queues, which gives the opportunity for an efficient sizing of the system resources. We propose a model for the performance evaluation of a virtual switch. Our model resorts to servers with vacation to capture the involved interactions between queues resulting from the implemented polling strategies. The solution to the model is found using a simple fixed-point iteration and it provides estimates for customary performance metrics such as the attained throughput, the packet latency, the buffer occupancy and the packet loss rate. In the tens of explored examples, the predictions of the model were found to be accurate, thereby allowing their use for the purpose of sizing problems.

Domaines: Réseaux et télécommunications [cs.NI]

Guillaume Artero Gallardo, Bruno Baynat, Thomas Begin. Performance modeling of virtual switching systems. IEEE 24th International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems, MASCOTS 2016, Sep 2016, London, United Kingdom. pp.125-134, ⟨10.1109/MASCOTS.2016.22⟩. ⟨hal-01387726⟩