VIRMANEL: using virtualization to study mobile multihop networks

In this demonstration, we present VIRMANEL (Virtual MANET Lab), a new tool for studying mobile distributed networks. VIRMANEL is based on containers virtualization (OpenVZ). It dynamically updates firewall rules on virtual nodes to reflect connectivity changes due to mobility. VIRMANEL allows using real code and operating systems on a mutlihop network that abstracts signal effects such as interferences. Virtual nodes can be distributed over multiple computers, emulating a large number of nodes. It does not substitute to experimentation but allows studying the behavior of a real-world code in a large mobile network.