PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND SECURITY ENHANCEMENT OF SOFTWARE-DEFINED NETWORKING (SDN) ARCHITECTURES

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) represents a paradigm shift in modern computer networking, separating the control plane from the data plane to provide centralized, programmable network management.While SDN introduces scalability, flexibility, and automation benefits, it also brings new challenges in performance optimization and security assurance.This research investigates the performance characteristics of SDN architectures under varying workloads and proposes mechanisms to enhance their security posture.Using Mininet-based emulation and analytical modeling, we evaluate key metrics such as latency, throughput, controller response time, and flow installation delay.We further analyze the security implications of SDN architectures and propose countermeasures such as distributed controllers, role-based access control, and anomaly detection systems.Results show that performance and security trade-offs must be carefully balanced for optimal SDN deployment.