Interconnection of SDN node with conventional network using an ONOS controller

For future network design, different architectures worldwide have been proposed; among them, one of the finest network designs is Software-Defined Networking (SDN), which separates the network data and control layers and enables the network with more agility, programmability, and flexibility. However, because of economic and technical challenges, directly upgrading the whole network to SDN is challenging for many organizations, and the optimal solution is to upgrade conventional network devices incrementally to SDN nodes, which is the Hybrid SDN. In a hybrid SDN environment, SDN nodes interconnect with the traditional legacy network, which takes advantage of both network designs. In this paper, we studied the integration of SDN with conventional legacy networks. We explore how to peer and integrate SDN nodes with conventional networks using the SDN-IP application located on the top of the application layer of the ONOS controller. Through different experiments on both networks, IP-IP and IP-SDN, we found that compared to IP-IP networks, IP-SDN improves the overall network performance and provides more outstanding performance in maximization of throughput and minimization of delay.