Seer: Empowering Software Defined Networking with Data Analytics

TL;DR

Seer is a scalable, real-time data analytics platform for software defined networking that leverages big data tools like Apache Spark and ONOS to enhance network control and predict mobility patterns in smart cities.

Contribution

Introduces Seer, a flexible, configurable platform integrating big data analytics with SDN for real-time network intelligence and control.

Findings

Seer successfully predicts mobility patterns in smart city environments.

The platform demonstrates scalability and fault tolerance in real-time analytics.

Utilizes Apache Spark and ONOS for effective network programmability.

Abstract

Network complexity is increasing, making network control and orchestration a challenging task. The proliferation of network information and tools for data analytics can provide an important insight into resource provisioning and optimisation. The network knowledge incorporated in software defined networking can facilitate the knowledge driven control, leveraging the network programmability. We present Seer: a flexible, highly configurable data analytics platform for network intelligence based on software defined networking and big data principles. Seer combines a computational engine with a distributed messaging system to provide a scalable, fault tolerant and real-time platform for knowledge extraction. Our first prototype uses Apache Spark for streaming analytics and open network operating system (ONOS) controller to program a network in real-time. The first application we developed aims to predict the mobility pattern of mobile devices inside a smart city environment.