Middlebox resources management using OpenFlow

Middleboxes are adopted to enhance network functions, e.g., providing security and guaranteeing performance. Some applications require flows to sequence through several middleboxes, and such stateful policy routing is challenging for network administrators. The goal of the management is to distribute well middlebox resources and avoid overloads, thus protecting networks from malfunctioning. Furthermore, increasing demands on middlebox resources makes it difficult to process all flows. Real-time flow monitor and management can be flexibly conducted with the help of software-defined networking (SDN). Monitor and management include requesting flow statistics, routing based on resources, and rerouting due to failures. SDN also helps configure forwarding rules automatically, reduce costs and alleviate faults of manual configurations. Our work identifies the challenges of middlebox resources management and presents corresponding solutions with OpenFlow.