Application-aware network: network route management using SDN based on application characteristics

Software-Defined Network (SDN) and OpenFlow enable more granular network route management. SDN-assisted routing has become a prominent technique for improving network routing efficiency. A standard approach in SDN-assisted routing involves optimizing the routing strategy for a targeted class of applications or a certain situation. However, many such approaches also require client-side modifications. In this paper, application-aware routing is proposed to address these issues. A network with application-aware routing is called an application-aware network. Application-aware routing “routes” each application individually by aligning the application’s communication preferences and paths with corresponding properties. This method allows multiple routing strategies to be applied simultaneously, effectively expanding the range of applications the network can support. Overseer, an OpenFlow controller for implementing an application-aware network, was developed as a reference implementation. The applicability of an application-aware network was validated by evaluating the feasibility and practicality of the technology. Feasibility was evaluated by comparing the performance of an application-aware network and a traditional network in critical situations. Practicality was evaluated by testing an application-aware network with a real-world application and a wide-area network. This paper also discusses some issues with application-aware networks and presents possible mitigations for these issues. Based on this work, application-aware routing is a promising technology for improved network routing efficiency.