NetServ: Active Networking 2.0

We present NetServ, a node architecture for deploying in-network services in the next generation Internet. NetServ-enabled network nodes provide a common execution environment, where network services implemented as modules can be dynamically installed and removed. We demonstrate three such modules. MicroCDN is a dynamic content distribution network (CDN) service which implements a content caching strategy specific to a content provider. The NAT Keep-alive module offloads the processing of keep-alive messages from SIP servers. The Media Relay module allows any NetServ node to act as a media relay, eliminating the need to manage standalone relay servers. NetServ aims to revive the Active Networking vision. It was too far ahead of its time a decade ago, but we believe its time has finally arrived.