Network resource control for Xen-based virtualized software routers

The pluralist architecture is considered an alternative for the future Internet to support multiple services with contrasting requirements. In this approach, machine virtualization techniques play a fundamental role. Nevertheless, when applied to networking, they impose critical bottlenecks since they do not provide suitable mechanisms to orchestrate the utilization of the underlying resources. In this work, we propose XTC (Xen Throughput Control) to fill this gap and control the utilization of network resources in Xen-based virtual routers. The main idea is to provide aggregate control, regardless of the traffic on specific network interfaces. To achieve this goal, XTC indirectly adjusts the maximum throughput of a virtual router by controlling the amount of CPU given to it. Our experimental results show that XTC provides differentiation and fairness between virtual routers and also adapts to system disturbances.