Virtual Network System (VNS)

In early 2007, planning began for the next step in the evolution of VNS: Netplumber, a system that builds on the VNS core to create an open platform for creating networking projects.

Planned features include:

• Fast provisioning of assignment topologies for existing and new users.
• Easy creation and management of custom topologies.
• A web-based graphical topology manager and viewer, to handle topology creation and distribution.
• Dynamic topologies- simulate link state changes or connect an available pool of pre-built reference clients.
• Support for link layer operations- build an Ethernet switch or VLAN in software with Netplumber.
• Simplified integration with the NetFPGA network hardware platform.
• More support material- new assignments, client libraries for more languages.
• Local installation- run Netplumber on your own network.
• Support for interactive clients- build a shell into your Netplumber router or view its stats over the web.

Development Schedule

Starting in Winter 07-08 we'll be making a Preview/Alpha version of Netplumber available to a small group of partners. This early version of Netplumber will enable the automated creation of virtual topologies to support our existing assignments, as well as the ability to create new custom topologies using a simple text descriptor file.

During this same period we'll be working on producing the first version of our Netplumber graphical interface, available to a wider audience in Spring 08 as part of our Beta release. The Netplumber graphical interface will enable the creation of fully customizable topologies, and allow users to view the status of their topologies as they run. Support will be added for dynamically changing topologies by raising and lowering network links using the graphical interface.

A public release will follow, targeted at the start of classes for Fall 08. The release version of Netplumber will include further enhancements to the user interface, including the ability to create clients that can report their status over the web and interact with users (for instance, you could create a router whose routing tables and ARP cache can be dynamically controlled over the web).

As part of the development process, we'll also be making the entire Netplumber system- including the existing VNS server- available to the public in the form of a GPL-licensed open source project. We'll also be releasing additional assignments for the platform, and adding more support for a wider variety of programming languages (Java, Python, etc.).