Dynamic Internet Overlay Deployment and Management Using the X-Bone

The X-Bone dynamically deploys and manages Internet overlays to reduce configuration effort and increase network component sharing. The X-Bone discovers, configures, and monitors network resources to create overlays over existing IP networks. Overlays are useful for deploying overlapping virtual networks on shared infrastructure and for simplifying topology. The X-Bone extends current overlay management by adding dynamic resource discovery, deployment, and monitoring, and allows network components (hosts, routers) to participate simultaneously in multiple overlays. Its two-layer IP in IP tunneled overlays support existing applications and unmodified routing, multicast, and DNS services in unmodified host operating systems. This two-layer scheme uniquely supports recursive overlays, useful for fault tolerance and dynamic relocation. The X-Bone uses multicast to simplify resource discovery, and provides secure deployment as well as secure overlays. This paper presents the X-Bone architecture, and discusses its components and features, and their performance impact.