Performance Assessment of Software Defined Networks Management Protocol in Real Environments

Software Defined Networks (SDN) determine a new paradigm for the development of a computer network. Up to now, SDN has gained attention from both the academic and industry communities. So far, it has been focused on the OpenFlow standard, a network protocol that made this approach possible. However, SDNs extend beyond OpenFlow, opening new perspectives in terms of abstractions, environment controls, and network applications. Thus, this work proposes an SDN-based mechanism for network management in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT) using the OpenDayLight platform with a customized OpenFlow. For IoT, data collection and analysis is the point where the SDN provides the flexibility to include multiple scenarios. It is also discussed how OpenFlow and other proposals available in the literature contribute to the flexibilization of IoT networks. Experimental results showed the benefits that can be achieved with this architecture, including, energy savings, lower costs, and better traffic control. However, it is concluded that the OpenFlow protocol is not feasible for an IoT scenario due to the obtained high error message percentage while performing the management of an SDN network.