Experimental validation of L3 VPN Network Model for improving VPN service design and provisioning

Current approaches to automate the design and configuration of transport services face several challenges. Firstly, there is a lack of open interfaces between the Operational Support Systems (OSS) and the network layer. The commercially available interfaces to Network Management Systems (NMSs) or directly to the devices are typically proprietary and with limited programmability. Secondly, for the case of IP/MPLS networks, the definition of how a service is built is particular to each operator. To solve this situation, this work presents an approach based on a hybrid SDN in which the definition of a VPN service is made with a modeling language and is not limited to a particular operator design nor a particular set of vendor devices. The IP/MPLS network topology and the VPN services are programmable via standard APIs with RESTCONF/YANG from an SDN Controller. This facilitates the operator on the one hand designing a new VPN service and its full automation. This work demonstrates, for the first time, that such automation is possible with proposed draft standards from IETF and validates its implementation, comparing the time consumed in the controller to process to different workflows from the same model.