Publication
Title
Assessing the value of containers for NFVs : a detailed network performance study
Author
Abstract
Since its introduction in 2012, telecommunications operators have been applying the Network Function Virtualization principle to their core infrastructure, leading to more agile and cost-efficient deployments. While these Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) are traditionally implemented using Virtual Machines (VMs), efforts are starting to shift to containerized VNF implementations, further improving agility and cost-efficiency. Furthermore, telecom applications often require extreme networking performance in terms of throughput and latency. While research has shown that containers outperform VMs on this front, it is currently unclear how the choice of container provider influences network performance. In this paper we compare the networking performance of Linux container implementations Docker, rkt and LXC. Throughput and latency are evaluated for single-host host, bridge (or NAT) and macvlan network configurations. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first comparison featuring all three major Linux container implementations. We show that LXC performs best, with Docker and rkt showing throughputs of respectively up to 35% and 58% lower. Of the considered networking implementations, the macvlan network performs best. While it experiences a significant performance degradation when many containers are chained together, a single container using macvlan can outperform even a bare metal implementation when enough CPU resources are available.
Language
English
Source (journal)
International Conference on Network and Service Management : [proceedings]. - Piscataway, NJ
(CNSM)
Source (book)
13th International Conference on Network and Service Management (CNSM), NOV 26-30, 2017, Tokyo, JAPAN
Publication
New york : Ieee , 2017
ISBN
978-3-901882-98-2
Volume/pages
(2017) , 7 p.
ISI
000427961400056
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Dynamic and distributed management of Service Function Chains in a virtualized cloud and network environment.
City of Things
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 04.05.2018
Last edited 09.10.2023
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