Toward a Network and Traffic Monitoring and Management Platform for Software Defined Networks (SDN)

Abstract

BKMON is a software tool designed to provide an independent monitoring solution for SDN network controllers with scalable capabilities. Therefore, it extends monitoring capabilities based on the network controller by providing visual graphs with information on each switch or port of the switch or even on specific traffic flow. Network monitoring helps to avoid interruption and system’s failure during the operational process, thus, physical errors such as cable breaks or network node failures can be detected and fixed quickly. Those examples show how important network monitoring systems are and furthermore, the complexity and extensibility of the current network makes monitoring an extremely difficult task. Finally, the deployment of new technologies, like SDN, in the network makes it even more challenging. BKMON was defined and prototyped in the direction that will partly provide solutions to this scientific and technological challenge.