A novel methodology for efficient throughput evaluation in virtualized routers

This paper analyzes a novel methodology for calculating the throughput in a device, which hosts multiple virtualized network interconnect devices (i.e. virtual routers). The proposed methodology, which extends the well-known procedure (for non-virtualized IP routers) adopted from RFC 2544, considers the impact of heterogeneity of the offered load at the level of virtual routers. The utility of this methodology is demonstrated, analyzing the throughput of virtualized routers by four different virtualization platforms that use two different techniques, which are the paravirtualization (Xen and Citrix Xen) and the OS-level virtualization (Linux Containers and Jails). The results indicate that the virtualization platforms behave differently to distribution of traffic load among virtual routers. Finally, the need for the proposed methodology is motivated by performing extensive throughput tests on the aforementioned platforms at different work points of the network device (i.e. different offered traffic load distribution between virtual routers).