An Integrated Simulator for Inter-Domain Scenarios

The simulation of large-scale inter-domain networks is useful for various aspects of network planning and management. It is also a challenge due to its scalability problems, and the often incomplete knowledge about the network in question. Automatic configuration of the simulator based on network measurements may also be required. None of the many proposed approaches to network simulation are suitable for all possible simulation scenarios. A combination of several approaches provides much more flexibility. We describe a hybrid network simulator capable of combining packet-based simulation with a wide variety of other simulation approaches. A combination of packet-based simulation with analytical models is presented. This simulator is part of Intermon, an integrated system for the collection, processing, modeling, simulation and visualization of inter-domain data. The collected information is used for simulations allowing a “what-if” analysis of real networks. This paper describes the architecture and the underlying analytical models, and it evaluates the hybrid simulator.