CODEWITHSUNDEEP
mininetopenflowsdn
user1565904
user1565904

Reputation: 49

How can I run a controller on a mininet host?

I would like to simulate a network using mininet where the controller is running on a host in the network.

In all the mininet examples which I found, the controller communicates with the switches using the loopback interface, which simulates a case where the controller is directly connected to all the switches. I want to simulate a network where the controller has no direct connection to all the switches but is running on a host in the network (hence the openflow traffic needs to be routed as well).

So can I run a controller on one of the mininet hosts? Or is there any other way to simulate a network where the controller is not connected directly to all the switches.

Thanks!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 840

Answers (1)

José Castillo Lema
José Castillo Lema

Reputation: 325

What you are asking is not possible, one demand of OpenFlow is the controller has to be directly connected with all the switches (and typically in a wired way). OpenFlow traffic (like you called it, control messages between the controller and the switches) can´t be routed.

There are other SDN proposals that provide that functionality though, mostly in the ad-hoc wireless networks and wireless sensors networks fields. In this case, the data and control planes are shared. I leave you a link to a paper describing one of this proposals, TinySDN: Link

Upvotes: 0

Related Questions