SDN-Based Middlebox Management Framework in Integrated Wired and Wireless Networks

Abstract

Recently, middleboxes play a key role in many network settings such as firewalls, VPN gateways, proxies,intrusion detection and prevention systems, and WAN optimizers. However, achieving the performance andsecurity benefits that middleboxes offer is highly complex, and therefore it is essential to manage middleboxesefficiently and dynamically. In this respect, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) offers a promising solution formiddlebox policy enforcement by using logically centralized management, decoupling the data and control planes,and providing the ability to programmatically configure forwarding rules. Also, cloud computing and distributedNetwork Function Virtualization (NFV) can enable to manage middleboxes more easily. We introduce SDN-basedmiddlebox management framework in integrated wired and wireless networks and discuss the further issues.