µNDN: An orchestrated microservice architecture for named data networking

Abstract

As an extension of Network Function Virtualization, microservice architectures are a promising way to design future network services. At the same time, Information-Centric Networking architectures like NDN would benefit from this paradigm to offer more design choices for the network architect while facilitating the deployment and the operation of the network. We propose µNDN, an orchestrated suite of microservices as an alternative way to implement NDN forwarding and support functions. We describe seven essential micro-services we developed, explain the design choices behind our solution and how it is orchestrated. We evaluate each service in isolation and the entire microservice architecture through two realistic scenarios to show its ability to react and mitigate some performance and security issues thanks to the orchestration. Our results show that µNDN can replace a monolithic NDN forwarder while being more powerful and scalable.