SAND: A Scalable, Distributed and Dynamic Active Networks Directory Service

In the past a significant amount of work has been invested on architecting active node platforms that solve problems in various application areas by means of programmability. Yet, much less attention has been paid to the deployment aspects of these platforms in real networks. An open issue in particular is how active resources can be discovered and deployed. In this paper we present SAND, a scalable distributed and dynamic architecture that enables the discovery of active resources along and alongside a given network path. One of the main strengths of SAND is its customizability which renders it suitable to a multitude of network environments. As an active service, SAND does not have dependencies on any active platform and at the same time enables an active node to become part of a global infrastructure of discoverable active resources.