Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Angel Najera Rose Hills

Dynamic Load Balancing in Networks Using The Data Plane

The internet essentially functions like a mailing system, with data packets sent across a network of devices. These devices act like the post offices and shipping warehouses from our regular mailing system. Until recently, modifying the way things ran for each device worked in a similar fashion to training a new worker. In our case, it took years for manufacturers to develop new hardware that did what the network managers wanted. This is where P4 comes in; it is now feasible to change the functionality of forwarding devices by directly programming them with P4, thereby cutting out the manufacturer middleman. I will develop and evaluate new methods of improving Load Balancing, that is, designing the devices to route packets in order to prevent traffic congestion. Not only can I use P4 to change a devices initial program, I can combine it with a Software Defined Network (SDN) to update it dynamically as global traffic conditions change, and the potential for that is outstanding.

Message To Sponsor

I would like to thank the Rose Hills Foundation for making this possible. I am confident that this technology will eventually replace existing hardware, so it is vital that we take advantage of the unexplored possibilities it can provide. This also opened up new opportunities for me, not only for my research in this new technology, but for my future in graduate school.