Deployment of a programmable network for a nation wide R&D network

The current incarnation of the Internet has various problems, bottlenecks, and policy issues; hence, researchers of future Internet and next-generation networks have been developing new architecture for networks, applications, etc. The Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) project has been a leader in addressing these various problems, bottlenecks, and policy issues in the U.S. Starting with a clean slate has become a popular approach for future Internet and next-generation networks. In particular, a programmable network should solve issues with collaborations between networks and applications according to researchers ´ requirements; this is because the network can be controlled by leveraging application programming interfaces (APIs). In this paper, we propose the deployment, operation, and management of OpenFlow for a nationwide R&D network. OpenFlow is a candidate technology for programmable networks. OpenFlow architecture consists of the OpenFlow controller, switches, and protocol. The OpenFlow controller is open to APIs for researchers of the OpenFlow network testbed. We established an OpenFlow network testbed on JGN2plus, which is the nationwide R&D network in Japan. Before establishing an OpenFlow network testbed on JGN2plus, we should evaluate the load test and limitations of transmission control protocol/user datagram protocol (TCP/UDP) sessions and consolidate the framework of the operation and management for a large-scale OpenFlow network testbed. We propose a method to seamlessly interconnect this network to the existing legacy networks.