Seminaire Informatique : Theory and Practice of Routing Configuration Testing

Stefano VISSICCHIO fera une présentation de ses travaux le mercredi 11 décembre 2013 à 14h00 en salle C212 au Pôle API d’Illkirch.

Title: Theory and Practice of Routing Configuration Testing

Abstract: Today computer networks are large systems containing hundreds of heterogeneous and geographically-distributed devices that run several distributed protocols. To achieve better performance and optimize resources, protocol-specific parameters are typically fine-tuned, via obscure and ambiguous device configuration languages. As a result, the behavior of a network becomes hard to predict, making network management a challenging and daunting task. In this talk, we tackle the problem of statically checking a given network configuration for runtime correctness. We focus on Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) correctness, that is, the guarantee to reach a common decision on how Internet traffic must flow within the network. We analyze BGP correctness testing problems from a theoretical perspective, using graph theory based models, and we discuss their computational complexity. Also, we overview a practical tool that can efficiently check configurations for correctness by implementing a provably correct heuristic.

Bio: Stefano Vissicchio received his Master degree in computer science from the Roma Tre University in 2008, and the Ph.D. degree from the same institution in April 2012. He collaborated with the Italian research network ISP (Consortium GARR) between 2011 and 2012. Currently, he holds a postdoctoral position at the University of Louvain (UCL) in Belgium. He co-authored several peer-reviewed publications at top-level networking conferences (SIGCOMM, INFOCOM, ICNP) and journals (Transactions on Networking). In 2013, two of those publications have been awarded with the IRTF Applied Network Research Prize and ICNP best paper award, respectively. His research interests are mainly focused on network management, routing, and Software Defined Networking.

Team: Networks