An automated approach to dependability evaluation of virtual networks

Network virtualization has been pointed as a promising approach to solve Internet’s current ossification. A major challenge is the mapping of virtual networks (VNs) onto the substrate network due to its NP-hard nature, and, thus, several heuristics have been proposed aiming to achieve efficient allocations. However, the existing approaches only focus on performance, and dependability issues are usually neglected. Dependability involves metrics such as reliability and availability, which directly impact the quality of service, and a limitation is the absence of mechanisms for estimating dependability metrics in virtual networks. This paper proposes an automated approach for estimating dependability metrics in virtual network environments and a mapping algorithm based on GRASP metaheuristic. The approach is based on stochastic Petri nets (SPN) and reliability block diagrams (RBD), and a tool is also presented for automating model generation and evaluation. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed technique, as well as the trade-off between VN’s availability and cost.