An inter-domain multi-path flow transfer mechanism based on SDN and multi-domain collaboration

Increasing numbers of service providers have tended to use tens of geographically dispersed datacenters in recent years. Thus, a major unmet challenge is efficiently transferring data among multiple datacenters in different domains. Traditional single-path transfer mechanism based on BGP has limited reliability and low link utilization; therefore, multi-path inter-domain flow transfer mechanisms have become a research focus. However, the existing multi-path transfer mechanisms have some shortcomings, such as poor compatibility with existing network architecture and difficulty in selecting routes according to the demands of applications and the network status. This paper proposes a novel inter-domain multi-path flow transfer mechanism based on SDN and multi-domain cooperation. First, a hieratical iterative detection method is proposed to find diversified multi-paths based on the analysis of BGP notification and inter-domain collaboration. Second, an information exchange method is devised to exchange and maintain the network status (e.g., inter-domain topology updates, link load). Finally, a decision and deployment method is designed. The experimental results indicate that this mechanism has advantages in ensuring the success rate of data transfer task and improving network throughput.