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Benchmarking Methodology for SDN Controller Performance
draft-ietf-bmwg-sdn-controller-benchmark-meth-01

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 8456.
Authors Bhuvaneswaran Vengainathan , Anton Basil , Mark Tassinari , Vishwas Manral , Sarah Banks
Last updated 2016-03-21
Replaces draft-bhuvan-bmwg-sdn-controller-benchmark-meth
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draft-ietf-bmwg-sdn-controller-benchmark-meth-01
Internet-Draft                               Bhuvaneswaran Vengainathan
Network Working Group                                       Anton Basil
Intended Status: Informational                       Veryx Technologies
Expires: September 19, 2016                              Mark Tassinari
                                                        Hewlett-Packard
                                                         Vishwas Manral
                                                               Nano Sec
                                                            Sarah Banks
                                                         VSS Monitoring
                                                         March 21, 2016

          Benchmarking Methodology for SDN Controller Performance
             draft-ietf-bmwg-sdn-controller-benchmark-meth-01

Abstract

   This document defines the methodologies for benchmarking control
   plane performance of SDN controllers. Terminology related to
   benchmarking SDN controllers is described in the companion
   terminology document. SDN controllers have been implemented with
   many varying designs in order to achieve their intended network
   functionality. Hence, the authors have taken the approach of
   considering an SDN controller as a black box, defining the
   methodology in a manner that is agnostic to protocols and network
   services supported by controllers. The intent of this document is to
   provide a standard mechanism to measure the performance of all
   controller implementations.

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six
   months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents
   at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress.

   This Internet-Draft will expire on September 19, 2016.

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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors. All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document. Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with
   respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this
   document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in
   Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without
   warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction...................................................3
   2. Scope..........................................................4
   3. Test Setup.....................................................4
      3.1. Test setup - Controller working in Standalone Mode........5
      3.2. Test setup - Controller working in Cluster Mode...........6
   4. Test Considerations............................................7
      4.1. Network Topology..........................................7
      4.2. Test Traffic..............................................7
      4.3. Connection Setup..........................................7
      4.4. Measurement Point Specification and Recommendation........8
      4.5. Connectivity Recommendation...............................8
      4.6. Test Repeatability........................................8
   5. Benchmarking Tests.............................................9
      5.1. Performance...............................................9
         5.1.1. Network Topology Discovery Time......................9
         5.1.2. Asynchronous Message Processing Time................11
         5.1.3. Asynchronous Message Processing Rate................12
         5.1.4. Reactive Path Provisioning Time.....................14
         5.1.5. Proactive Path Provisioning Time....................15
         5.1.6. Reactive Path Provisioning Rate.....................16
         5.1.7. Proactive Path Provisioning Rate....................18
         5.1.8. Network Topology Change Detection Time..............19
      5.2. 6.2 Scalability..........................................20
         5.2.1. Control Session Capacity............................20
         5.2.2. Network Discovery Size..............................21
         5.2.3. 6.2.3 Forwarding Table Capacity.....................22
      5.3. 6.3 Security.............................................23
         5.3.1. 6.3.1 Exception Handling............................23
         5.3.2. Denial of Service Handling..........................25

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      5.4. Reliability..............................................26
         5.4.1. Controller Failover Time............................26
         5.4.2. Network Re-Provisioning Time........................27
   6. References....................................................29
      6.1. Normative References.....................................29
      6.2. Informative References...................................30
   7. IANA Considerations...........................................30
   8. Security Considerations.......................................30
   9. Acknowledgments...............................................30
   Appendix A. Example Test Topologies..............................31
      A.1. Leaf-Spine Topology - Three Tier Network Architecture....31
      A.2. Leaf-Spine Topology - Two Tier Network Architecture......31
   Appendix B. Benchmarking Methodology using OpenFlow Controllers..32
      B.1. Protocol Overview........................................32
      B.2. Messages Overview........................................32
      B.3. Connection Overview......................................32
      B.4. Performance Benchmarking Tests...........................33
         B.4.1. Network Topology Discovery Time.....................33
         B.4.2. Asynchronous Message Processing Time................34
         B.4.3. Asynchronous Message Processing Rate................35
         B.4.4. Reactive Path Provisioning Time.....................36
         B.4.5. Proactive Path Provisioning Time....................37
         B.4.6. Reactive Path Provisioning Rate.....................38
         B.4.7. Proactive Path Provisioning Rate....................39
         B.4.8. Network Topology Change Detection Time..............40
      B.5. Scalability..............................................41
         B.5.1. Control Sessions Capacity...........................41
         B.5.2. Network Discovery Size..............................41
         B.5.3. Forwarding Table Capacity...........................42
      B.6. Security.................................................44
         B.6.1. Exception Handling..................................44
         B.6.2. Denial of Service Handling..........................45
      B.7. Reliability..............................................47
         B.7.1. Controller Failover Time............................47
         B.7.2. Network Re-Provisioning Time........................48
   Authors' Addresses...............................................51

1. Introduction

   This document provides generic methodologies for benchmarking SDN
   controller performance. An SDN controller may support many
   northbound and southbound protocols, implement a wide range of
   applications, and work solely, or as a group to achieve the desired
   functionality. This document considers an SDN controller as a black
   box, regardless of design and implementation. The tests defined in
   the document can be used to benchmark SDN controller for
   performance, scalability, reliability and security independent of

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   northbound and southbound protocols. These tests can be performed on
   an SDN controller running as a virtual machine (VM) instance or on a
   bare metal server.  This document is intended for those who want to
   measure the SDN controller performance as well as compare various
   SDN controllers performance.

   Conventions used in this document

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

2. Scope

   This document defines methodology to measure the networking metrics
   of SDN controllers. For the purpose of this memo, the SDN controller
   is a function that manages and controls Network Devices. Any SDN
   controller without a control capability is out of scope for this
   memo. The tests defined in this document enable benchmarking of SDN
   Controllers in two ways; as a standalone controller and as a cluster
   of homogeneous controllers. These tests are recommended for
   execution in lab environments rather than in live network
   deployments. Performance benchmarking of a federation of controllers
   is beyond the scope of this document.

3. Test Setup

   The tests defined in this document enable measurement of an SDN
   controllers performance in standalone mode and cluster mode. This
   section defines common reference topologies that are later referred
   to in individual tests.

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3.1. Test setup - Controller working in Standalone Mode

          +-----------------------------------------------------------+
          |               Application Plane Test Emulator             |
          |                                                           |
          |        +-----------------+      +-------------+           |
          |        |   Application   |      |   Service   |           |
          |        +-----------------+      +-------------+           |
          |                                                           |
          +-----------------------------+(I2)-------------------------+
                                        |
                                        |
                                        | (Northbound interface)
                       +-------------------------------+
                       |       +----------------+      |
                       |       | SDN Controller |      |
                       |       +----------------+      |
                       |                               |
                       |    Device Under Test (DUT)    |
                       +-------------------------------+
                                        | (Southbound interface)
                                        |
                                        |
          +-----------------------------+(I1)-------------------------+
          |                                                           |
          |          +-----------+              +-----------+         |
          |          |  Network  |l1        ln-1|  Network  |         |
          |          |  Device 1 |---- .... ----|  Device n |         |
          |          +-----------+              +-----------+         |
          |               |l0                        |ln              |
          |               |                          |                |
          |               |                          |                |
          |       +---------------+          +---------------+        |
          |       | Test Traffic  |          | Test Traffic  |        |
          |       |  Generator    |          |  Generator    |        |
          |       |    (TP1)      |          |    (TP2)      |        |
          |       +---------------+          +---------------+        |
          |                                                           |
          |              Forwarding Plane Test Emulator               |
          +-----------------------------------------------------------+

                                     Figure 1

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3.2. Test setup - Controller working in Cluster Mode

          +-----------------------------------------------------------+
          |               Application Plane Test Emulator             |
          |                                                           |
          |        +-----------------+      +-------------+           |
          |        |   Application   |      |   Service   |           |
          |        +-----------------+      +-------------+           |
          |                                                           |
          +-----------------------------+(I2)-------------------------+
                                        |
                                        |
                                        | (Northbound interface)
           +---------------------------------------------------------+
           |                                                         |
           |  ------------------             ------------------      |
           | | SDN Controller 1 | <--E/W--> | SDN Controller n |     |
           |  ------------------             ------------------      |
           |                                                         |
           |                    Device Under Test (DUT)              |
           +---------------------------------------------------------+
                                        | (Southbound interface)
                                        |
                                        |
          +-----------------------------+(I1)-------------------------+
          |                                                           |
          |          +-----------+              +-----------+         |
          |          |  Network  |l1        ln-1|  Network  |         |
          |          |  Device 1 |---- .... ----|  Device n |         |
          |          +-----------+              +-----------+         |
          |               |l0                        |ln              |
          |               |                          |                |
          |               |                          |                |
          |       +---------------+          +---------------+        |
          |       | Test Traffic  |          | Test Traffic  |        |
          |       |  Generator    |          |  Generator    |        |
          |       |    (TP1)      |          |    (TP2)      |        |
          |       +---------------+          +---------------+        |
          |                                                           |
          |              Forwarding Plane Test Emulator               |
          +-----------------------------------------------------------+

                                     Figure 2

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4. Test Considerations

4.1. Network Topology

   The test cases SHOULD use Leaf-Spine topology with at least 1
   Network Device in the topology for benchmarking. The test traffic
   generators TP1 and TP2 SHOULD be connected to the first and the last
   leaf Network Device. If a test case uses test topology with 1
   Network Device, the test traffic generators TP1 and TP2 SHOULD be
   connected to the same node. However to achieve a complete
   performance characterization of the SDN controller, it is
   recommended that the controller be benchmarked for many network
   topologies and a varying number of Network Devices. This document
   includes a few sample test topologies, defined in Section 10 -
   Appendix A for reference. Further, care should be taken to make sure
   that a loop prevention mechanism is enabled either in the SDN
   controller, or in the network when the topology contains redundant
   network paths.

4.2. Test Traffic

   Test traffic is used to notify the controller about the arrival of
   new flows. The test cases SHOULD use multiple frame sizes as
   recommended in RFC2544 for benchmarking.

4.3. Test Emulator Requirements

   The Test Emulator SHOULD time stamp the transmitted and received
   control messages to/from the controller on the established network
   connections. The test cases use these values to compute the
   controller processing time.

4.4. Connection Setup

   There may be controller implementations that support unencrypted and
   encrypted network connections with Network Devices. Further, the
   controller may have backward compatibility with Network Devices
   running older versions of southbound protocols. It is recommended
   that the controller performance be measured with one or more
   applicable connection setup methods defined below.

     1. Unencrypted connection with Network Devices, running same
        protocol version.
     2. Unencrypted connection with Network Devices, running different
        protocol versions.
        Example:

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          a. Controller running current protocol version and switch
             running older protocol version
          b. Controller running older protocol version and switch
             running current protocol version
     3. Encrypted connection with Network Devices, running same
        protocol version
     4. Encrypted connection with Network Devices, running different
        protocol versions.
        Example:
          a. Controller running current protocol version and switch
             running older protocol version
          b. Controller running older protocol version and switch
             running current protocol version

4.5. Measurement Point Specification and Recommendation

   The measurement accuracy depends on several factors including the
   point of observation where the indications are captured. For
   example, the notification can be observed at the controller or test
   emulator. The test operator SHOULD make the observations/
   measurements at the interfaces of test emulator unless it is
   explicitly mentioned otherwise in the individual test.

4.6. Connectivity Recommendation

   The SDN controller in the test setup SHOULD be connected directly
   with the forwarding and the management plane test emulators to avoid
   any delays or failure introduced by the intermediate devices during
   benchmarking tests.

4.7. Test Repeatability

   To increase the confidence in measured result, it is recommended
   that each test SHOULD be repeated a minimum of 10 times.

   Test Reporting

   Each test has a reporting format that contains some global and
   identical reporting components, and some individual components that
   are specific to individual tests. The following test configuration
   parameters and controller settings parameters MUST be reflected in
   the test report.

   Test Configuration Parameters:

     1. Controller name and version
     2. Northbound protocols and versions

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     3. Southbound protocols and versions
     4. Controller redundancy mode (Standalone or Cluster Mode)
     5. Connection setup (Unencrypted or Encrypted)
     6. Network Topology (Mesh or Tree or Linear)
     7. Network Device Type (Physical or Virtual or Emulated)
     8. Number of Nodes
     9. Number of Links
     10. Test Traffic Type
     11. Controller System Configuration (e.g., CPU, Memory, Operating
        System, Interface Speed etc.,)
     12. Reference Test Setup (e.g., Section 3.1 etc.,)

   Controller Settings Parameters:
     1. Topology re-discovery timeout
     2. Controller redundancy mode (e.g., active-standby etc.,)

   To ensure the repeatability of test, the following capabilities of
   test emulator SHOULD be reported

     1. Maximum number of Network Devices that the forwarding plane
        emulates
     2. Control message processing time (e.g., Topology Discovery
        Messages)

   One way to determine the above two values are to simulate the
   required control sessions and messages from the control plane.

5. Benchmarking Tests

5.1. Performance

5.1.1. Network Topology Discovery Time

Objective:

   Measure the time taken by the SDN controller to discover the network
   topology (nodes and links), expressed in milliseconds.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. The controller MUST support network discovery.

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   2. Tester should be able to retrieve the discovered topology
     information either through the controller's management interface,
     or northbound interface to determine if the discovery was
     successful and complete.
   3. Ensure that the controller's topology re-discovery timeout has
     been set to the maximum value to avoid initiation of re-discovery
     process in the middle of the test.

Procedure:

   1. Ensure that the controller is operational, its network
     applications, northbound and southbound interfaces are up and
     running.
   2. Establish the network connections between controller and Network
     Devices.
   3. Record the time for the first discovery message (Tm1) received
     from the controller at forwarding plane test emulator interface
     I1.
   4. Query the controller every 3 seconds to obtain the discovered
     network topology information through the northbound interface or
     the management interface and compare it with the deployed network
     topology information.
   5. Stop the test when the discovered topology information matches the
     deployed network topology, or when the discovered topology
     information for 3 consecutive queries return the same details.
   6. Record the time last discovery message (Tmn) sent to controller
     from the forwarding plane test emulator interface (I1) when the
     test completed successfully. (e.g., the topology matches).

Measurement:

   Topology Discovery Time Tr1 = Tmn-Tm1.

                                     Tr1 + Tr2 + Tr3 .. Trn
   Average Topology Discovery Time = -----------------------
                                     Total Test Iterations

Reporting Format:

   The Topology Discovery Time results MUST be reported in the format
   of a table, with a row for each successful iteration. The last row
   of the table indicates the average Topology Discovery Time.

   If this test is repeated with varying number of nodes over the same
   topology, the results SHOULD be reported in the form of a graph. The
   X coordinate SHOULD be the Number of nodes (N), the Y coordinate
   SHOULD be the average Topology Discovery Time.

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   If this test is repeated with same number of nodes over different
   topologies, the results SHOULD be reported in the form of a graph.
   The X coordinate SHOULD be the Topology Type, the Y coordinate
   SHOULD be the average Topology Discovery Time.

5.1.2. Asynchronous Message Processing Time

Objective:

   Measure the time taken by the SDN controller to process an
   asynchronous message, expressed in milliseconds.

Reference Test Setup:

   This test SHOULD use one of the test setup described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. The controller MUST have completed the network topology discovery
     for the connected Network Devices.

Procedure:

     1. Generate asynchronous messages from every connected Network
        Device, to the SDN controller, one at a time in series from the
        forwarding plane test emulator for the test duration.
     2. Record every request transmit (T1) timestamp and the
        corresponding response (R1) received timestamp at the
        forwarding plane test emulator interface (I1) for every
        successful message exchange.

Measurement:

                                           (R1-T1) + (R2-T2)..(Rn-Tn)
   Asynchronous Message Processing Time Tr1 = -----------------------
                                                       Nrx

    Where Nrx is the total number of successful messages exchanged

                                                 Tr1 + Tr2 + Tr3..Trn
   Average Asynchronous Message Processing Time= --------------------
                                                 Total Test Iterations

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Reporting Format:

   The Asynchronous Message Processing Time results MUST be reported in
   the format of a table with a row for each iteration. The last row of
   the table indicates the average Asynchronous Message Processing
   Time.

   The report should capture the following information in addition to
   the configuration parameters captured in section 5.  - Successful
   messages exchanged (Nrx)

   If this test is repeated with varying number of nodes with same
   topology, the results SHOULD be reported in the form of a graph. The
   X coordinate SHOULD be the Number of nodes (N), the Y coordinate
   SHOULD be the average Asynchronous Message Processing Time.

   If this test is repeated with same number of nodes using different
   topologies, the results SHOULD be reported in the form of a graph.
   The X coordinate SHOULD be the Topology Type, the Y coordinate
   SHOULD be the average Asynchronous Message Processing Time.

5.1.3. Asynchronous Message Processing Rate

Objective:

   To measure the maximum rate of asynchronous messages (session
   aliveness check message, new flow arrival notification message etc.)
   a controller can process within the test duration, expressed in
   messages processed per second.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. The controller MUST have completed the network topology discovery
     for the connected Network Devices.

Procedure:

   1. Generate asynchronous messages continuously at the maximum
     possible rate on the established connections from all the

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     connected Network Devices in the forwarding plane test emulator
     for the Test Duration (Td).
   2. Record the total number of responses received from the controller
     (Nrx) as well as the number of messages sent(Ntx) to the
     controller within the test duration(Td) at the forwarding  plane
     test emulator interface (I1).

Measurement:

                                               Nrx
   Asynchronous Message Processing Rate Tr1 = -----
                                               Td

                                                 Tr1 + Tr2 + Tr3..Trn
   Average Asynchronous Message Processing Rate= --------------------
                                                 Total Test Iterations

         Loss Ratio = (Ntx-Nrx)/100.

Reporting Format:

   The Asynchronous Message Processing Rate results MUST be reported in
   the format of a table with a row for each iteration. The last row of
   the table indicates the average Asynchronous Message Processing
   Rate.

   The report should capture the following information in addition to
   the configuration parameters captured in section 5.

   - Offered rate (Ntx)

   - Loss Ratio

   If this test is repeated with varying number of nodes over same
   topology, the results SHOULD be reported in the form of a graph. The
   X coordinate SHOULD be the Number of nodes (N), the Y coordinate
   SHOULD be the average Asynchronous Message Processing Rate.

   If this test is repeated with same number of nodes over different
   topologies, the results SHOULD be reported in the form of a graph.
   The X coordinate SHOULD be the Topology Type, the Y coordinate
   SHOULD be the average Asynchronous Message Processing Rate.

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5.1.4. Reactive Path Provisioning Time

Objective:

   To measure the time taken by the controller to setup a path
   reactively between source and destination node, expressed in
   milliseconds.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. The controller MUST contain the network topology information for
     the deployed network topology.
   2. The controller should have the knowledge about the location of
     destination endpoint for which the path has to be provisioned.
     This can be achieved through dynamic learning or static
     provisioning.
   3. Ensure that the default action for 'flow miss' in Network Device
     is configured to 'send to controller'.
   4. Ensure that each Network Device in a path requires the controller
     to make the forwarding decision while paving the entire path.

Procedure:

   1. Send a single traffic stream from the test traffic generator TP1
     to test traffic generator TP2.
   2. Record the time of the first flow provisioning request message
     sent to the controller (Tsf1) from the Network Device at the
     forwarding plane test emulator interface (I1).
   3. Wait for the arrival of first traffic frame at the Traffic
     Endpoint TP2 or the expiry of test duration (Td).
   4. Record the time of the last flow provisioning response message
     received from the controller (Tdf1) to the Network Device at the
     forwarding plane test emulator interface (I1).

Measurement:

    Reactive Path Provisioning Time Tr1 = Tdf1-Tsf1.

                                              Tr1 + Tr2 + Tr3 .. Trn
    Average Reactive Path Provisioning Time = -----------------------
                                              Total Test Iterations

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Reporting Format:

   The Reactive Path Provisioning Time results MUST be reported in the
   format of a table with a row for each iteration. The last row of the
   table indicates the Average Reactive Path Provisioning Time

   The report should capture the following information in addition to
   the configuration parameters captured in section 5.

    - Number of Network Devices in the path

5.1.5. Proactive Path Provisioning Time

Objective:

   To measure the time taken by the controller to setup a path
   proactively between source and destination node, expressed in
   milliseconds.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. The controller MUST contain the network topology information for
     the deployed network topology.
   2. The controller should have the knowledge about the location of
     destination endpoint for which the path has to be provisioned.
     This can be achieved through dynamic learning or static
     provisioning.
   3. Ensure that the default action for flow miss in Network Device is
     'drop'.

Procedure:

   1. Send a single traffic stream from test traffic generator TP1 to
     TP2.
   2. Install the flow entries to reach from test traffic generator TP1
     to the test traffic generator TP2 through controller's northbound
     or management interface.
   3. Wait for the arrival of first traffic frame at the test traffic
     generator TP2 or the expiry of test duration (Td).

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   4. Record the time when the proactive flow is provisioned in the
     Controller (Tsf1) at the management plane test emulator interface
     I2.
   5. Record the time of the last flow provisioning message received
     from the controller (Tdf1) at the forwarding plane test emulator
     interface I1.

Measurement:

    Proactive Flow Provisioning Time Tr1 = Tdf1-Tsf1.

                                               Tr1 + Tr2 + Tr3 .. Trn
    Average Proactive Path Provisioning Time = -----------------------
                                                Total Test Iterations

Reporting Format:

   The Proactive Path Provisioning Time results MUST be reported in the
   format of a table with a row for each iteration. The last row of the
   table indicates the Average Proactive Path Provisioning Time.

   The report should capture the following information in addition to
   the configuration parameters captured in section 5.

    - Number of Network Devices in the path

5.1.6. Reactive Path Provisioning Rate

Objective:

   Measure the maximum number of independent paths a controller can
   concurrently establish between source and destination nodes
   reactively within the test duration, expressed in paths per second.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. The controller MUST contain the network topology information for
     the deployed network topology.
   2. The controller should have the knowledge about the location of
     destination addresses for which the paths have to be provisioned.

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     This can be achieved through dynamic learning or static
     provisioning.
   3. Ensure that the default action for 'flow miss' in Network Device
     is configured to 'send to controller'.
   4. Ensure that each Network Device in a path requires the controller
     to make the forwarding decision while provisioning the entire
     path.

Procedure:

   1. Send traffic with unique source and destination addresses from
     test traffic generator TP1.
   2. Record total number of unique traffic frames (Ndf) received at the
     test traffic generator TP2 within the test duration (Td).

Measurement:

                                           Ndf
    Reactive Path Provisioning Rate Tr1 = ------
                                           Td

                                               Tr1 + Tr2 + Tr3 .. Trn
    Average Reactive Path Provisioning Rate = ------------------------
                                               Total Test Iterations

Reporting Format:

   The Reactive Path Provisioning Rate results MUST be reported in the
   format of a table with a row for each iteration. The last row of the
   table indicates the Average Reactive Path Provisioning Rate.

    The report should capture the following information in addition to
   the configuration parameters captured in section 5.

    - Number of Network Devices in the path

    - Offered rate

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5.1.7. Proactive Path Provisioning Rate

Objective:

   Measure the maximum number of independent paths a controller can
   concurrently establish between source and destination nodes
   proactively within the test duration, expressed in paths per second.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. The controller MUST contain the network topology information for
   the deployed network topology.

   2. The controller should have the knowledge about the location of
   destination addresses for which the paths have to be provisioned.
   This can be achieved through dynamic learning or static
   provisioning.

   3. Ensure that the default action for flow miss in Network Device is
   'drop'.

Procedure:

   1. Send traffic continuously with unique source and destination
   addresses from test traffic generator TP1.

   2. Install corresponding flow entries to reach from simulated
   sources at the test traffic generator TP1 to the simulated
   destinations at test traffic generator TP2 through controller's
   northbound or management interface.

   3. Record total number of unique traffic frames received Ndf) at the
   test traffic generator TP2 within the test duration (Td).

Measurement:

                                            Ndf
    Proactive Path Provisioning Rate Tr1 = ------
                                            Td

                                               Tr1 + Tr2 + Tr3 .. Trn
    Average Proactive Path Provisioning Rate = -----------------------

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                                               Total Test Iterations

Reporting Format:

   The Proactive Path Provisioning Rate results MUST be reported in the
   format of a table with a row for each iteration. The last row of the
   table indicates the Average Proactive Path Provisioning Rate.

   The report should capture the following information in addition to
   the configuration parameters captured in section 5.

    - Number of Network Devices in the path

    - Offered rate

5.1.8. Network Topology Change Detection Time

Objective:

   Measure the time taken by the controller to detect any changes in
   the network topology, expressed in milliseconds.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. The controller MUST have discovered the network topology
   information for the deployed network topology.

   2. The periodic network discovery operation should be configured to
   twice the Test duration (Td) value.

Procedure:

   1. Trigger a topology change event by bringing down an active
   Network Device in the topology.

   2. Record the time when the first topology change notification is
   sent to the controller (Tcn) at the forwarding plane test emulator
   interface (I1).

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   3. Stop the test when the controller sends the first topology re-
   discovery message to the Network Device or the expiry of test
   interval (Td).

   4. Record the time when the first topology re-discovery message is
   received from the controller (Tcd) at the forwarding plane test
   emulator interface (I1)

Measurement:

   Network Topology Change Detection Time Tr1 = Tcd-Tcn.

                                                 Tr1 + Tr2 + Tr3 .. Trn
    Average Network Topology Change Detection Time = ------------------
                                                  Total Test Iterations

Reporting Format:

   The Network Topology Change Detection Time results MUST be reported
   in the format of a table with a row for each iteration.  The last
   row of the table indicates the average Network Topology Change Time.

5.2. 6.2 Scalability

5.2.1. Control Session Capacity

Objective:

   Measure the maximum number of control sessions that the controller
   can maintain.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Procedure:

   1. Establish control connection with controller from every Network
     Device emulated in the forwarding plane test emulator.
   2. Stop the test when the controller starts dropping the control
     connection.
   3. Record the number of successful connections established with the
     controller (CCn) at the forwarding plane test emulator.

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Measurement:

    Control Sessions Capacity = CCn.

Reporting Format:

   The Control Session Capacity results MUST be reported in addition to
   the configuration parameters captured in section 5.

5.2.2. Network Discovery Size

Objective:

   Measure the network size (number of nodes, links, and hosts) that a
   controller can discover.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. The controller MUST support automatic network discovery.
   2. Tester should be able to retrieve the discovered topology
     information either through controller's management interface or
     northbound interface.

Procedure:

   1. Establish the network connections between controller and network
     nodes.
   2. Query the controller for the discovered network topology
     information and compare it with the deployed network topology
     information.
   3. 3a. Increase the number of nodes by 1 when the comparison is
     successful and repeat the test.
   4. 3b. Decrease the number of nodes by 1 when the comparison fails
     and repeat the test.
   5. Continue the test until the comparison of step 3b is successful.
   6. Record the number of nodes for the last iteration (Ns) where the
     topology comparison was successful.

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Measurement:

    Network Discovery Size = Ns.

Reporting Format:

   The Network Discovery Size results MUST be reported in addition to
   the configuration parameters captured in section 5.

5.2.3. 6.2.3 Forwarding Table Capacity

Objective:

   Measure the maximum number of flow entries a controller can manage
   in its Forwarding table.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. The controller Forwarding table should be empty.
   2. Flow Idle time MUST be set to higher or infinite value.
   3. The controller MUST have completed network topology discovery.
   4. Tester should be able to retrieve the forwarding table information
     either through controller's management interface or northbound
     interface.

Procedure:

   Reactive Flow Provisioning Mode:

   1. Send bi-directional traffic continuously with unique source and/or
     destination addresses from test traffic generators TP1 and TP2 at
     the asynchronous message processing rate of controller.
   2. Query the controller at a regular interval (e.g., 5 seconds) for
     the number of learnt flow entries from its northbound interface.
   3. Stop the test when the retrieved value is constant for three
     consecutive iterations and record the value received from the last
     query (Nrp).

   Proactive Flow Provisioning Mode:

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   1. Install unique flows continuously through controller's northbound
     or management interface until a failure response is received from
     the controller.
   2. Record the total number of successful responses (Nrp).

   Note:

   Some controller designs for proactive flow provisioning mode may
   require the switch to send flow setup requests in order to generate
   flow setup responses. In such cases, it is recommended to generate
   bi-directional traffic for the provisioned flows.

Measurement:

   Proactive Flow Provisioning Mode:

    Max Flow Entries = Total number of flows provisioned (Nrp)

   Reactive Flow Provisioning Mode:

    Max Flow Entries = Total number of learnt flow entries (Nrp)

    Forwarding Table Capacity = Max Flow Entries.

Reporting Format:

   The Forwarding Table Capacity results MUST be tabulated with the
   following information in addition to the configuration parameters
   captured in section 5.

    - Provisioning Type (Proactive/Reactive)

5.3. 6.3 Security

5.3.1. 6.3.1 Exception Handling

Objective:

   Determine the effect of handling error packets and notifications on
   performance tests. The impact MUST be measured for the following
   performance tests

    a. Path Provisioning Rate

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    b. Path Provisioning Time

    c. Network Topology Change Detection Time

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   1. This test MUST be performed after obtaining the baseline
     measurement results for the above performance tests.
   2. Ensure that the invalid messages are not dropped by the
     intermediate devices connecting the controller and Network
     Devices.

Procedure:

   1. Perform the above listed performance tests and send 1% of messages
     from the Asynchronous Message Processing Rate as invalid messages
     from the connected Network Devices emulated at the forwarding
     plane test emulator.
   2. Perform the above listed performance tests and send 2% of messages
     from the Asynchronous Message Processing Rate as invalid messages
     from the connected Network Devices emulated at the forwarding
     plane test emulator.

   Note:

   Invalid messages can be frames with incorrect protocol fields or any
   form of failure notifications sent towards controller.

Measurement:

   Measurement MUST be done as per the equation defined in the
   corresponding performance test measurement section.

Reporting Format:

   The Exception Handling results MUST be reported in the format of
   table with a column for each of the below parameters and row for
   each of the listed performance tests.

    - Without Exceptions

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    - With 1% Exceptions

    - With 2% Exceptions

5.3.2. Denial of Service Handling

Objective:

   Determine the effect of handling DoS attacks on performance and
   scalability tests the impact MUST be measured for the following
   tests:

    a. Path Provisioning Rate

    b. Path Provisioning Time

    c. Network Topology Change Detection Time

    d. Network Discovery Size

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use one of the test setups described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:

   This test MUST be performed after obtaining the baseline measurement
   results for the above tests.

Procedure:

   1. Perform the listed tests and launch a DoS attack towards
     controller while the test is running.

   Note:

    DoS attacks can be launched on one of the following interfaces.

     a. Northbound (e.g., Sending a huge number of requests on
       northbound interface)
     b. Management (e.g., Ping requests to controller's management
       interface)
     c. Southbound (e.g., TCP SYNC messages on southbound interface)

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Measurement:

   Measurement MUST be done as per the equation defined in the
   corresponding test's measurement section.

Reporting Format:

   The DoS Attacks Handling results MUST be reported in the format of
   table with a column for each of the below parameters and row for
   each of the listed tests.

    - Without any attacks

    - With attacks

   The report should also specify the nature of attack and the
   interface.

5.4. Reliability

5.4.1. Controller Failover Time

Objective:

   Measure the time taken to switch from an active controller to the
   backup controller, when the controllers work in redundancy mode and
   the active controller fails.

Reference Test Setup:

   The test SHOULD use the test setup described in section 3.2 of this
   document.

Prerequisite:

   1. Master controller election MUST be completed.
   2. Nodes are connected to the controller cluster as per the
     Redundancy Mode (RM).
   3. The controller cluster should have completed the network topology
     discovery.
   4. The Network Device MUST send all new flows to the controller when
     it receives from the test traffic generator.

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   5. Controller should have learnt the location of destination (D1) at
     test traffic generator TP2.

Procedure:

   1. Send uni-directional traffic continuously with incremental
     sequence number and source addresses from test traffic generator
     TP1 at the rate that the controller processes without any drops.
   2. Ensure that there are no packet drops observed at the test traffic
     generator TP2.
   3. Bring down the active controller.
   4. Stop the test when a first frame received on TP2 after failover
     operation.
   5. Record the time at which the last valid frame received (T1) at
     test traffic generator TP2 before sequence error and the first
     valid frame received (T2) after the sequence error at TP2

Measurement:

    Controller Failover Time = (T2 - T1)

    Packet Loss = Number of missing packet sequences.

Reporting Format:

   The Controller Failover Time results MUST be tabulated with the
   following information.

    - Number of cluster nodes

    - Redundancy mode

    - Controller Failover

    - Time Packet Loss

    - Cluster keep-alive interval

5.4.2. Network Re-Provisioning Time

Objective:

   Compute the time taken to re-route the traffic by the controller
   when there is a failure in existing traffic paths.

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Reference Test Setup:

   This test SHOULD use one of the test setup described in section 3.1
   or section 3.2 of this document.

Prerequisite:
   1. Network with the given number of nodes and redundant paths MUST be
     deployed.
   2. Ensure that the controller MUST have knowledge about the location
     of test traffic generators TP1 and TP2.
   3. Ensure that the controller does not pre-provision the alternate
     path in the emulated Network Devices at the forwarding plane test
     emulator.

Procedure:

   1. Send bi-directional traffic continuously with unique sequence
     number from TP1 and TP2.
   2. Bring down a link or switch in the traffic path.
   3. Stop the test after receiving first frame after network re-
     convergence.
   4. Record the time of last received frame prior to the frame loss at
     TP2 (TP2-Tlfr) and the time of first frame received after the
     frame loss at TP2 (TP2-Tffr).
   5. Record the time of last received frame prior to the frame loss at
     TP1 (TP1-Tlfr) and the time of first frame received after the
     frame loss at TP1 (TP1-Tffr).

Measurement:

    Forward Direction Path Re-Provisioning Time (FDRT)
                                              = (TP2-Tffr - TP2-Tlfr)

    Reverse Direction Path Re-Provisioning Time (RDRT)
                                              =  (TP1-Tffr - TP1-Tlfr)

    Network Re-Provisioning Time = (FDRT+RDRT)/2

    Forward Direction Packet Loss = Number of missing sequence frames
    at TP1

    Reverse Direction Packet Loss = Number of missing sequence frames
    at TP2

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Reporting Format:

    The Network Re-Provisioning Time results MUST be tabulated with the
   following information.

    - Number of nodes in the primary path

    - Number of nodes in the alternate path

    - Network Re-Provisioning Time

    - Forward Direction Packet Loss

    - Reverse Direction Packet Loss

6. References

6.1. Normative References

   [RFC2544]  S. Bradner, J. McQuaid, "Benchmarking Methodology for
              Network Interconnect Devices",RFC 2544, March 1999.

   [RFC2330]  V. Paxson, G. Almes, J. Mahdavi, M. Mathis,
              "Framework for IP Performance Metrics",RFC 2330,
              May 1998.

   [RFC6241]  R. Enns, M. Bjorklund, J. Schoenwaelder, A. Bierman,
              "Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)",RFC 6241,
              July 2011.

   [RFC6020]  M. Bjorklund, "YANG - A Data Modeling Language for
              the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)", RFC 6020,
              October 2010

   [RFC5440]  JP. Vasseur, JL. Le Roux, "Path Computation Element (PCE)
              Communication Protocol (PCEP)", RFC 5440, March 2009.

   [OpenFlow Switch Specification]  ONF,"OpenFlow Switch Specification"
              Version 1.4.0 (Wire Protocol 0x05), October 14, 2013.

   [I-D.sdn-controller-benchmark-term]  Bhuvaneswaran.V, Anton Basil,
              Mark.T, Vishwas Manral, Sarah Banks, "Terminology for
              Benchmarking SDN Controller Performance",
              draft-ietf-bmwg-sdn-controller-benchmark-term-01
              (Work in progress), March 21, 2016

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6.2. Informative References

   [I-D.i2rs-architecture]  A. Atlas, J. Halpern, S. Hares, D. Ward,
              T. Nadeau, "An Architecture for the Interface to the
              Routing System", draft-ietf-i2rs-architecture-09
             (Work in progress), March 6, 2015

   [OpenContrail]  Ankur Singla, Bruno Rijsman, "OpenContrail
                   Architecture Documentation",
   http://opencontrail.org/opencontrail-architecture-documentation

   [OpenDaylight]  OpenDaylight Controller:Architectural Framework,
   https://wiki.opendaylight.org/view/OpenDaylight_Controller

7. IANA Considerations

   This document does not have any IANA requests.

8. Security Considerations

   Benchmarking tests described in this document are limited to the
   performance characterization of controller in lab environment with
   isolated network.

9. Acknowledgments

   The authors would like to thank the following individuals for
   providing their valuable comments to the earlier versions of this
   document: Al Morton (AT&T), Sandeep Gangadharan (HP), M. Georgescu
   (NAIST), Andrew McGregor (Google), Scott Bradner (Harvard
   University), Jay Karthik (Cisco), Ramakrishnan (Dell), Khasanov
   Boris (Huawei), Brian Castelli (Spirent)

   This document was prepared using 2-Word-v2.0.template.dot.

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Appendix A. Example Test Topologies

A.1. Leaf-Spine Topology - Three Tier Network Architecture

                                 +----------+
                                 |    SDN   |
                                 |   Node   | (Core)
                                 +----------+
                                  /        \
                                 /          \
                             +------+   +------+
                             |  SDN |   | SDN  |   (Spine)
                             | Node |.. | Node |
                             +------+   +------+
                                  / \   / \
                                 /   \ /   \
                             l1 /     /     \ ln-1
                               /     / \     \
                           +--------+   +-------+
                           |  SDN   |   |  SDN  |
                           |  Node  |.. |  Node | (Leaf)
                           +--------+   +-------+

A.2. Leaf-Spine Topology - Two Tier Network Architecture

                             +------+   +------+
                             |  SDN |   | SDN  |   (Spine)
                             | Node |.. | Node |
                             +------+   +------+
                                  / \   / \
                                 /   \ /   \
                             l1 /     /     \ ln-1
                               /     / \     \
                           +--------+   +-------+
                           |  SDN   |   |  SDN  |
                           |  Node  |.. |  Node | (Leaf)
                           +--------+   +-------+

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Appendix B. Benchmarking Methodology using OpenFlow Controllers

   This section gives an overview of OpenFlow protocol and provides
   test methodology to benchmark SDN controllers supporting OpenFlow
   southbound protocol.

B.1. Protocol Overview

   OpenFlow is an open standard protocol defined by Open Networking
   Foundation (ONF), used for programming the forwarding plane of
   network switches or routers via a centralized controller.

B.2. Messages Overview

   OpenFlow protocol supports three messages types namely controller-
   to-switch, asynchronous and symmetric.

   Controller-to-switch messages are initiated by the controller and
   used to directly manage or inspect the state of the switch. These
   messages allow controllers to query/configure the switch (Features,
   Configuration messages), collect information from switch (Read-State
   message), send packets on specified port of switch (Packet-out
   message), and modify switch forwarding plane and state (Modify-
   State, Role-Request messages etc.).

   Asynchronous messages are generated by the switch without a
   controller soliciting them. These messages allow switches to update
   controllers to denote an arrival of new flow (Packet-in), switch
   state change (Flow-Removed, Port-status) and error (Error).

   Symmetric messages are generated in either direction without
   solicitation. These messages allow switches and controllers to set
   up connection (Hello), verify for liveness (Echo) and offer
   additional functionalities (Experimenter).

B.3. Connection Overview

   OpenFlow channel is used to exchange OpenFlow message between an
   OpenFlow switch and an OpenFlow controller. The OpenFlow channel
   connection can be setup using plain TCP or TLS. By default, a switch
   establishes single connection with SDN controller. A switch may
   establish multiple parallel connections to single controller
   (auxiliary connection) or multiple controllers to handle controller
   failures and load balancing.

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B.4. Performance Benchmarking Tests

B.4.1. Network Topology Discovery Time

Procedure:

      Network Devices               OpenFlow                    SDN
                                   Controller               Application
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |<Initialize controller     |
            |                            |app.,NB and SB interfaces> |
            |                            |                           |
            |<Deploy network with        |                           |
            | given no. of OF switches>  |                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |    OFPT_HELLO Exchange     |                           |
            |<-------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |    PACKET_OUT with LLDP    |                           |
            |      to all switches       |                           |
       (Tm1)|<---------------------------|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |         PACKET_IN with LLDP|                           |
            |          rcvd from switch-1|                           |
            |--------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |         PACKET_IN with LLDP|                           |
            |          rcvd from switch-2|                           |
            |--------------------------->|                           |
            |            .               |                           |
            |            .               |                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |         PACKET_IN with LLDP|                           |
            |          rcvd from switch-n|                           |
       (Tmn)|--------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |      <Wait for the expiry |
            |                            |     of Test Duration (Td)>|
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |   Query the controller for|
            |                            |   discovered n/w topo.(Di)|
            |                            |<--------------------------|
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |   <Compare the discovered |
            |                            |    & offered n/w topology>|
            |                            |                           |

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Legend:

         NB: Northbound
         SB: Southbound
         OF: OpenFlow
         Tm1: Time of reception of first LLDP message from controller
         Tmn: Time of last LLDP message sent to controller

Discussion:

   The Network Topology Discovery Time can be obtained by calculating
   the time difference between the first PACKET_OUT with LLDP message
   received from the controller (Tm1) and the last PACKET_IN with LLDP
   message sent to the controller (Tmn) when the comparison is
   successful.

B.4.2. Asynchronous Message Processing Time

Procedure:

         Network Devices            OpenFlow                    SDN
                                   Controller               Application
            |                            |                           |
            |PACKET_IN with single       |                           |
            |OFP match header            |                           |
        (T0)|--------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            | PACKET_OUT with single OFP |                           |
            |              action header |                           |
        (R0)|<---------------------------|                           |
            |          .                 |                           |
            |          .                 |                           |
            |          .                 |                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |PACKET_IN with single OFP   |                           |
            |match header                |                           |
        (Tn)|--------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            | PACKET_OUT with single OFP |                           |
            |               action header|                           |
        (Rn)|<---------------------------|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |<Wait for the expiry of     |                           |
            |Test Duration>              |                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |<Record the number of       |                           |

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            |PACKET_INs/PACKET_OUTs      |                           |
            |Exchanged (Nrx)>            |                           |
            |                            |                           |

Legend:

         T0,T1, ..Tn are PACKET_IN messages transmit timestamps.
         R0,R1, ..Rn are PACKET_OUT messages receive timestamps.
         Nrx : Number of successful PACKET_IN/PACKET_OUT message
   exchanges

Discussion:

   The Asynchronous Message Processing Time will be obtained by sum of
   ((R0-T0),(R1-T1)..(Rn - Tn))/ Nrx.

B.4.3. Asynchronous Message Processing Rate

Procedure:

         Network Devices           OpenFlow                    SDN
                                  Controller               Application
            |                            |                           |
            |PACKET_IN with multiple OFP |                           |
            |match headers               |                           |
            |--------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            | PACKET_OUT with multiple   |                           |
            |          OFP action headers|                           |
            |<---------------------------|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |PACKET_IN with multiple OFP |                           |
            |match headers               |                           |
            |--------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            | PACKET_OUT with multiple   |                           |
            |          OFP action headers|                           |
            |<---------------------------|                           |
            |            .               |                           |
            |            .               |                           |
            |            .               |                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |PACKET_IN with multiple OFP |                           |
            |match headers               |                           |
            |--------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |

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            | PACKET_OUT with multiple   |                           |
            |          OFP action headers|                           |
            |<---------------------------|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |<Wait for the expiry of     |                           |
            |Test Duration>              |                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |<Record the number of OFP   |                           |
       (Nrx)|action headers rcvd>        |                           |
            |                            |                           |

Discussion:

   The Asynchronous Message Processing Rate will be obtained by
   calculating the number of OFP action headers received in all
   PACKET_OUT messages during the test duration.

B.4.4. Reactive Path Provisioning Time

Procedure:

       Test Traffic     Test Traffic      Network Devices    OpenFlow
      Generator TP1    Generator TP2                         Controller
            |             |                      |                   |
            |             |G-ARP (D1)            |                   |
            |             |--------------------->|                   |
            |             |                      |                   |
            |             |                      |PACKET_IN(D1)      |
            |             |                      |------------------>|
            |             |                      |                   |
            |Traffic (S1,D1)                     |                   |
      (Tsf1)|----------------------------------->|                   |
            |             |                      |                   |
            |             |                      |                   |
            |             |                      |                   |
            |             |                      |PACKET_IN(S1,D1)   |
            |             |                      |------------------>|
            |             |                      |                   |
            |             |                      |  FLOW_MOD(D1)     |
            |             |                      |<------------------|
            |             |                      |                   |
            |             |Traffic (S1,D1)       |                   |
            |       (Tdf1)|<---------------------|                   |
            |             |                      |                   |

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Legend:

         G-ARP: Gratuitous ARP message.
         Tsf1: Time of first frame sent from TP1
         Tdf1: Time of first frame received from TP2

Discussion:

   The Reactive Path Provisioning Time can be obtained by finding the
   time difference between the transmit and receive time of the traffic
   (Tsf1-Tdf1).

B.4.5. Proactive Path Provisioning Time

Procedure:

   Test Traffic  Test Traffic    Network Devices OpenFlow        SDN
   Generator TP1 Generator TP2                  Controller  Application
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |G-ARP (D1)     |                |              |
        |             |-------------->|                |              |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |               |PACKET_IN(D1)   |              |
        |             |               |--------------->|              |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |Traffic (S1,D1)              |                |              |
   Tsf1)|---------------------------->|                |              |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |               |                | <Install flow|
        |             |               |                |  for S1,D1>  |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |               |  FLOW_MOD(D1)  |              |
        |             |               |<---------------|              |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |Traffic (S1,D1)|                |              |
        |       (Tdf1)|<--------------|                |              |
        |             |               |                |              |

Legend:

         G-ARP: Gratuitous ARP message.
         Tsf1: Time of first frame sent from TP1
         Tdf1: Time of first frame received from TP2

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Discussion:

   The Proactive Path Provisioning Time can be obtained by finding the
   time difference between the transmit and receive time of the traffic
   (Tsf1-Tdf1).

B.4.6. Reactive Path Provisioning Rate

Procedure:

       Test Traffic     Test Traffic   Network Devices         OpenFlow
      Generator TP1    Generator TP2                         Controller
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |G-ARP (D1..Dn)      |                      |
            |             |--------------------|                      |
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |PACKET_IN(D1..Dn)     |
            |             |                    |--------------------->|
            |             |                    |                      |
            |Traffic (S1..Sn,D1..Dn)           |                      |
            |--------------------------------->|                      |
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |PACKET_IN(S1.Sn,D1.Dn)|
            |             |                    |--------------------->|
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |        FLOW_MOD(S1)  |
            |             |                    |<---------------------|
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |        FLOW_MOD(D1)  |
            |             |                    |<---------------------|
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |        FLOW_MOD(S2)  |
            |             |                    |<---------------------|
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |        FLOW_MOD(D2)  |
            |             |                    |<---------------------|
            |             |                    |             .        |
            |             |                    |             .        |
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |        FLOW_MOD(Sn)  |
            |             |                    |<---------------------|
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |        FLOW_MOD(Dn)  |
            |             |                    |<---------------------|
            |             |                    |                      |

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            |             | Traffic (S1..Sn,   |                      |
            |             |             D1..Dn)|                      |
            |             |<-------------------|                      |
            |             |                    |                      |
            |             |                    |                      |

Legend:

         G-ARP: Gratuitous ARP
         D1..Dn: Destination Endpoint 1, Destination Endpoint 2 ....
                 Destination Endpoint n
         S1..Sn: Source Endpoint 1, Source Endpoint 2 .., Source
   Endpoint n

Discussion:

   The Reactive Path Provisioning Rate can be obtained by finding the
   total number of frames received at TP2 after the test duration.

B.4.7. Proactive Path Provisioning Rate

Procedure:

   Test Traffic  Test Traffic   Network Devices  OpenFlow        SDN
   Generator TP1 Generator TP2                  Controller  Application
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |G-ARP (D1..Dn) |                |              |
        |             |-------------->|                |              |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |               |PACKET_IN(D1.Dn)|              |
        |             |               |--------------->|              |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |Traffic (S1..Sn,D1..Dn)      |                |              |
   Tsf1)|---------------------------->|                |              |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |               |                | <Install flow|
        |             |               |                |  for S1,D1>  |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |               |                |       .      |
        |             |               |                | <Install flow|
        |             |               |                |  for Sn,Dn>  |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |               |  FLOW_MOD(S1)  |              |
        |             |               |<---------------|              |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |               |  FLOW_MOD(D1)  |              |
        |             |               |<---------------|              |

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        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |               |       .        |              |
        |             |               |  FLOW_MOD(Sn)  |              |
        |             |               |<---------------|              |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |               |  FLOW_MOD(Dn)  |              |
        |             |               |<---------------|              |
        |             |               |                |              |
        |             |Traffic (S1.Sn,|                |              |
        |             |         D1.Dn)|                |              |
        |       (Tdf1)|<--------------|                |              |
        |             |               |                |              |

Legend:

         G-ARP: Gratuitous ARP
         D1..Dn: Destination Endpoint 1, Destination Endpoint 2 ....
                 Destination Endpoint n
         S1..Sn: Source Endpoint 1, Source Endpoint 2 .., Source
   Endpoint n

Discussion:

   The Proactive Path Provisioning Rate can be obtained by finding the
   total number of frames received at TP2 after the test duration

B.4.8. Network Topology Change Detection Time

Procedure:

       Network Devices              OpenFlow                    SDN
                                   Controller               Application
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |     <Bring down a link in |
            |                            |                 switch S1>|
            |                            |                           |
         T0 |PORT_STATUS with link down  |                           |
            | from S1                    |                           |
            |--------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |First PACKET_OUT with LLDP  |                           |
            |to OF Switch                |                           |
         T1 |<---------------------------|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |       <Record time of 1st |
            |                            |   PACKET_OUT with LLDP T1>|

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Discussion:

   The Network Topology Change Detection Time can be obtained by
   finding the difference between the time the OpenFlow switch S1 sends
   the PORT_STATUS message (T0) and the time that the OpenFlow
   controller sends the first topology re-discovery message (T1) to
   OpenFlow switches.

B.5. Scalability

B.5.1. Control Sessions Capacity

Procedure:

         Network Devices                        OpenFlow
                                               Controller
            |                                       |
            |    OFPT_HELLO Exchange for Switch 1   |
            |<------------------------------------->|
            |                                       |
            |    OFPT_HELLO Exchange for Switch 2   |
            |<------------------------------------->|
            |                  .                    |
            |                  .                    |
            |                  .                    |
            |    OFPT_HELLO Exchange for Switch n   |
            |X<----------------------------------->X|
            |                                       |

Discussion:

   The value of Switch n-1 will provide Control Sessions Capacity.

B.5.2. Network Discovery Size

Procedure:

       Network Devices              OpenFlow                    SDN
                                   Controller               Application
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |     <Deploy network with  |
            |                            |given no. of OF switches N>|
            |                            |                           |
            |    OFPT_HELLO Exchange     |                           |
            |<-------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |    PACKET_OUT with LLDP    |                           |

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            |      to all switches       |                           |
            |<---------------------------|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |         PACKET_IN with LLDP|                           |
            |          rcvd from switch-1|                           |
            |--------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |         PACKET_IN with LLDP|                           |
            |          rcvd from switch-2|                           |
            |--------------------------->|                           |
            |            .               |                           |
            |            .               |                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |         PACKET_IN with LLDP|                           |
            |          rcvd from switch-n|                           |
            |--------------------------->|                           |
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |      <Wait for the expiry |
            |                            |     of Test Duration (Td)>|
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |   Query the controller for|
            |                            |   discovered n/w topo.(N1)|
            |                            |<--------------------------|
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |   <If N1==N repeat Step 1 |
            |                            |with N+1 nodes until N1<N >|
            |                            |                           |
            |                            |   <If N1<N repeat Step 1  |
            |                            | with N=N1 nodes once and  |
            |                            | exit>                     |
            |                            |                           |

Legend:

         n/w topo: Network Topology
         OF: OpenFlow

Discussion:

   The value of N1 provides the Network Discovery Size value. The test
   duration can be set to the stipulated time within which the user
   expects the controller to complete the discovery process.

B.5.3. Forwarding Table Capacity

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Procedure:

   Test Traffic      Network Devices      OpenFlow             SDN
   Generator TP1                         Controller        Application
        |                  |                   |                 |
        |                  |                   |                 |
        |G-ARP (H1..Hn)    |                   |                 |
        |----------------->|                   |                 |
        |                  |                   |                 |
        |                  |PACKET_IN(D1..Dn)  |                 |
        |                  |------------------>|                 |
        |                  |                   |                 |
        |                  |                   |<Wait for 5 secs>|
        |                  |                   |                 |
        |                  |                   |  <Query for FWD |
        |                  |                   |          entry> |(F1)
        |                  |                   |                 |
        |                  |                   |<Wait for 5 secs>|
        |                  |                   |                 |
        |                  |                   |  <Query for FWD |
        |                  |                   |          entry> |(F2)
        |                  |                   |                 |
        |                  |                   |<Wait for 5 secs>|
        |                  |                   |                 |
        |                  |                   |  <Query for FWD |
        |                  |                   |          entry> |(F3)
        |                  |                   |                 |
        |                  |                   | <Repeat Step 2  |
        |                  |                   |until F1==F2==F3>|
        |                  |                   |                 |

   Legend:

         G-ARP: Gratuitous ARP
         H1..Hn: Host 1 .. Host n
         FWD: Forwarding Table

   Discussion:

   Query the controller forwarding table entries for multiple times
   until the three consecutive queries return the same value. The last
   value retrieved from the controller will provide the Forwarding
   Table Capacity value. The query interval is user configurable. The 5
   seconds shown in this example is for representational purpose.

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B.6. Security

B.6.1. Exception Handling

Procedure:

   Test Traffic  Test Traffic   Network Devices  OpenFlow        SDN
   Generator TP1 Generator TP2                  Controller  Application
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |G-ARP (D1..Dn)     |                 |            |
       |          |------------------>|                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |PACKET_IN(D1..Dn)|            |
       |          |                   |---------------->|            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |Traffic (S1..Sn,D1..Dn)       |                 |            |
       |----------------------------->|                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |PACKET_IN(S1..Sa,|            |
       |          |                   |          D1..Da)|            |
       |          |                   |---------------->|            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |PACKET_IN(Sa+1.. |            |
       |          |                   |.Sn,Da+1..Dn)    |            |
       |          |                   |(1% incorrect OFP|            |
       |          |                   |    Match header)|            |
       |          |                   |---------------->|            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   | FLOW_MOD(D1..Dn)|            |
       |          |                   |<----------------|            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   | FLOW_MOD(S1..Sa)|            |
       |          |                   |      OFP headers|            |
       |          |                   |<----------------|            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |Traffic (S1..Sa,   |                 |            |
       |          |            D1..Da)|                 |            |
       |          |<------------------|                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |  <Wait for |
       |          |                   |                 |      Test  |
       |          |                   |                 |   Duration>|
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |  <Record Rx|
       |          |                   |                 |   frames at|
       |          |                   |                 |  TP2 (Rn1)>|
       |          |                   |                 |            |

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       |          |                   |                 |    <Repeat |
       |          |                   |                 | Step1 with |
       |          |                   |                 |2% incorrect|
       |          |                   |                 | PACKET_INs>|
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |  <Record Rx|
       |          |                   |                 |   frames at|
       |          |                   |                 |  TP2 (Rn2)>|
       |          |                   |                 |            |

Legend:

         G-ARP: Gratuitous ARP
         PACKET_IN(Sa+1..Sn,Da+1..Dn): OpenFlow PACKET_IN with wrong
               version number
         Rn1: Total number of frames received at Test Port 2 with
              1% incorrect frames
         Rn2: Total number of frames received at Test Port 2 with
              2% incorrect frames

Discussion:

   The traffic rate sent towards OpenFlow switch from Test Port 1
   should be 1% higher than the Path Programming Rate. Rn1 will provide
   the Path Provisioning Rate of controller at 1% of incorrect frames
   handling and Rn2 will provide the Path Provisioning Rate of
   controller at 2% of incorrect frames handling.

   The procedure defined above provides test steps to determine the
   effect of handling error packets on Path Programming Rate. Same
   procedure can be adopted to determine the effects on other
   performance tests listed in this benchmarking tests.

B.6.2. Denial of Service Handling

Procedure:

   Test Traffic  Test Traffic   Network Devic    OpenFlow        SDN
   Generator TP1 Generator TP2                  Controller  Application
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |G-ARP (D1..Dn)     |                 |            |
       |          |------------------>|                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |PACKET_IN(D1..Dn)|            |
       |          |                   |---------------->|            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |Traffic (S1..Sn,D1..Dn)       |                 |            |

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       |----------------------------->|                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |PACKET_IN(S1..Sn,|            |
       |          |                   |          D1..Dn)|            |
       |          |                   |---------------->|            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |TCP SYN Attack   |            |
       |          |                   |from a switch    |            |
       |          |                   |---------------->|            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |FLOW_MOD(D1..Dn) |            |
       |          |                   |<----------------|            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   | FLOW_MOD(S1..Sn)|            |
       |          |                   |      OFP headers|            |
       |          |                   |<----------------|            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |Traffic (S1..Sn,   |                 |            |
       |          |            D1..Dn)|                 |            |
       |          |<------------------|                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |  <Wait for |
       |          |                   |                 |      Test  |
       |          |                   |                 |   Duration>|
       |          |                   |                 |            |
       |          |                   |                 |  <Record Rx|
       |          |                   |                 |   frames at|
       |          |                   |                 |  TP2 (Rn1)>|
       |          |                   |                 |            |

Legend:

         G-ARP: Gratuitous ARP

Discussion:

   TCP SYN attack should be launched from one of the emulated/simulated
   OpenFlow Switch. Rn1 provides the Path Programming Rate of
   controller uponhandling denial of service attack.

   The procedure defined above provides test steps to determine the
   effect of handling denial of service on Path Programming Rate. Same
   procedure can be adopted to determine the effects on other
   performance tests listed in this benchmarking tests.

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B.7. Reliability

B.7.1. Controller Failover Time

Procedure:

   Test Traffic  Test Traffic  Network Device    OpenFlow        SDN
   Generator TP1 Generator TP2                  Controller  Application
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |G-ARP (D1)   |                 |               |
       |             |------------>|                 |               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |             |PACKET_IN(D1)    |               |
       |             |             |---------------->|               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |Traffic (S1..Sn,D1)        |                 |               |
       |-------------------------->|                 |               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |             |PACKET_IN(S1,D1) |               |
       |             |             |---------------->|               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |             |FLOW_MOD(D1)     |               |
       |             |             |<----------------|               |
       |             |             |FLOW_MOD(S1)     |               |
       |             |             |<----------------|               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |Traffic (S1,D1)|               |               |
       |             |<------------|                 |               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |             |PACKET_IN(S2,D1) |               |
       |             |             |---------------->|               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |             |FLOW_MOD(S2)     |               |
       |             |             |<----------------|               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |             |PACKET_IN(Sn-1,D1)|              |
       |             |             |---------------->|               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |             |PACKET_IN(Sn,D1) |               |
       |             |             |---------------->|               |
       |             |             |       .         |               |
       |             |             |       .         |<Bring down the|
       |             |             |       .         |active control-|

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       |             |             |                 |       ler>    |
       |             |             |  FLOW_MOD(Sn-1) |               |
       |             |             |    <-X----------|               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |             |FLOW_MOD(Sn)     |               |
       |             |             |<----------------|               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |Traffic (Sn,D1)|               |               |
       |             |<------------|                 |               |
       |             |             |                 |               |
       |             |             |                 |<Stop the test |
       |             |             |                 |after recv.    |
       |             |             |                 |traffic upon   |
       |             |             |                 | failure>      |

Legend:

         G-ARP: Gratuitous ARP.

Discussion:

   The time difference between the last valid frame received before the
   traffic loss and the first frame received after the traffic loss
   will provide the controller failover time.

   If there is no frame loss during controller failover time, the
   controller failover time can be deemed negligible.

B.7.2. Network Re-Provisioning Time

Procedure:

   Test Traffic  Test Traffic   Network Devices  OpenFlow         SDN
   Generator TP1 Generator TP2                 Controller   Application
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |G-ARP (D1)     |                 |              |
       |             |-------------->|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |PACKET_IN(D1)    |              |
       |             |               |---------------->|              |
       |              G-ARP (S1)     |                 |              |
       |---------------------------->|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |PACKET_IN(S1)    |              |
       |             |               |---------------->|              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |Traffic (S1,D1,Seq.no (1..n))|                 |              |

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       |---------------------------->|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |PACKET_IN(S1,D1) |              |
       |             |               |---------------->|              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |Traffic (D1,S1,|                 |              |
       |             | Seq.no (1..n))|                 |              |
       |             |-------------->|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |PACKET_IN(D1,S1) |              |
       |             |               |---------------->|              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |FLOW_MOD(D1)     |              |
       |             |               |<----------------|              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |FLOW_MOD(S1)     |              |
       |             |               |<----------------|              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |Traffic (S1,D1,|                 |              |
       |             |     Seq.no(1))|                 |              |
       |             |<--------------|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |Traffic (S1,D1,|                 |              |
       |             |     Seq.no(2))|                 |              |
       |             |<--------------|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |    Traffic (D1,S1,Seq.no(1))|                 |              |
       |<----------------------------|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |    Traffic (D1,S1,Seq.no(2))|                 |              |
       |<----------------------------|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |    Traffic (D1,S1,Seq.no(x))|                 |              |
       |<----------------------------|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |Traffic (S1,D1,|                 |              |
       |             |     Seq.no(x))|                 |              |
       |             |<--------------|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |  <Bring down |
       |             |               |                 | the switch in|
       |             |               |                 |active traffic|
       |             |               |                 |       path>  |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |PORT_STATUS(Sa)  |              |

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       |             |               |---------------->|              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |Traffic (S1,D1,|                 |              |
       |             |   Seq.no(n-1))|                 |              |
       |             |  X<-----------|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |  Traffic (D1,S1,Seq.no(n-1))|                 |              |
       |    X------------------------|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |FLOW_MOD(D1)     |              |
       |             |               |<----------------|              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |FLOW_MOD(S1)     |              |
       |             |               |<----------------|              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |    Traffic (D1,S1,Seq.no(n))|                 |              |
       |<----------------------------|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |Traffic (S1,D1,|                 |              |
       |             |     Seq.no(n))|                 |              |
       |             |<--------------|                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |              |
       |             |               |                 |<Stop the test|
       |             |               |                 |  after recv. |
       |             |               |                 |  traffic upon|
       |             |               |                 |   failover>  |

Legend:

         G-ARP: Gratuitous ARP message.
         Seq.no: Sequence number.
         Sa: Neighbour switch of the switch that was brought down.

   Discussion:

   The time difference between the last valid frame received before the
   traffic loss (Packet number with sequence number x) and the first
   frame received after the traffic loss (packet with sequence number
   n) will provide the network path re-provisioning time.

   Note that the test is valid only when the controller provisions the
   alternate path upon network failure.

Bhuvan, et al.        Expires September 19, 2016              [Page 50]
Internet-Draft SDN Controller Benchmarking Methodology       March 2016

Authors' Addresses

   Bhuvaneswaran Vengainathan
   Veryx Technologies Inc.
   1 International Plaza, Suite 550
   Philadelphia
   PA 19113

   Email: bhuvaneswaran.vengainathan@veryxtech.com

   Anton Basil
   Veryx Technologies Inc.
   1 International Plaza, Suite 550
   Philadelphia
   PA 19113

   Email: anton.basil@veryxtech.com

   Mark Tassinari
   Hewlett-Packard,
   8000 Foothills Blvd,
   Roseville, CA 95747

   Email: mark.tassinari@hpe.com

   Vishwas Manral
   Nano Sec,
   CA

   Email: vishwas.manral@gmail.com

   Sarah Banks
   VSS Monitoring
   930 De Guigne Drive,
   Sunnyvale, CA

   Email: sbanks@encrypted.net

Bhuvan, et al.        Expires September 19, 2016              [Page 51]