On the analysis of online and periodic virtual network embedding in multi-domain environments

Network virtualisation has been seen as a key part of future networks. The virtual network embedding problem deals with the mapping of virtual network requests over a substrate composed by resources of one or more networks domains. In this problem, requests are processed individually upon arrival (online) or in batches (periodic). This work presents an analysis on how the online and periodic approaches affect the acceptance ratio, profit, energy consumption and attendance waiting metrics. An integer linear programming model is used to evaluate different simulation scenarios showing that: 1) the online and periodic approaches lead to losses of up to 25% compared to the offline one; 2) periodic approach increase acceptance, but also results in longer waiting times to fulfil a request; 3) the relation between acceptance and profit depends on the optimisation goal adopted; 4) the relation between profit and energy savings can induce a competition among different domains.