Open questions in SDN-based cloud computing: data safety and energy–cost trade-offs

Develop end-to-end data-in-transit protection mechanisms for Software-Defined Networking (SDN)-based cloud computing across multiple cloud data centers, and rigorously characterize and optimize the trade-off between cost and energy consumption in replicated SDN-enabled cloud infrastructures.

Background

The paper discusses how SDN and NFV enable programmable, adaptable network architectures that can lower costs and improve flexibility for cloud services. However, it highlights that, despite progress, fundamental issues remain unresolved in SDN-based cloud environments concerning secure data movement across multiple data centers and balancing cost with energy efficiency when infrastructures are replicated.

These concerns reflect broader challenges in deploying SDN at scale for cloud environments, including guaranteeing secure transit and optimizing operational costs versus energy budgets.

References

Many questions still need to be answered by scholars and investigators. First, ensuring data safety during transit across multiple cloud data centers is absolutely necessary for SDN-based cloud computing. Second, even if SDN-enabled cloud infrastructures may be replicated, the balance between cost and energy use remains.

— Modern Computing: Vision and Challenges  (2401.02469 - Gill et al., 2024) in Section 4.1.2 (Standalone vs. Networked Computing → Networked Computing) — Software-Defined Network (SDN)