JASPER: Joint Optimization of Scaling, Placement, and Routing of Virtual Network Services

TL;DR

JASPER is an automated method that jointly optimizes scaling, placement, and routing of virtual network services to adapt dynamically to workload changes, sharing resources efficiently.

Contribution

It introduces a formalized, automated approach with algorithms for joint optimization of network service scaling, placement, and routing in dynamic environments.

Findings

Effective in handling multiple services sharing resources

Automatically adapts to workload changes

Proven applicability through extensive empirical evaluation

Abstract

To adapt to continuously changing workloads in networks, components of the running network services may need to be replicated (scaling the network service) and allocated to physical resources (placement) dynamically, also necessitating dynamic re-routing of flows between service components. In this paper, we propose JASPER, a fully automated approach to jointly optimizing scaling, placement, and routing for complex network services, consisting of multiple (virtualized) components. JASPER handles multiple network services that share the same substrate network; services can be dynamically added or removed and dynamic workload changes are handled. Our approach lets service designers specify their services on a high level of abstraction using service templates. From the service templates and a description of the substrate network, JASPER automatically makes scaling, placement and routing decisions, enabling quick reaction to changes. We formalize the problem, analyze its complexity, and develop two algorithms to solve it. Extensive empirical results show the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed approach.