IMPLEMENTING SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING (SDN) BASED FIREWALL USING POX CONTROLLER

Abstract

A firewall's main function is to limit unwanted traffic. It will track and manage the flow of data that comes from various sources into the network and functions on the principle of preconfigured rules. Firewalls are one of the important elements of the network infrastructure. In order not to increase the packet delay in the network, they should guarantee the correct level of protection and, at the same time, satisfactory efficiency. According to security policy, the firewall is interposed between two networks to buffer traffic between them. By implementing rule-based control on packets, a firewall gives security protection. With either hardware or software, or a fusion of both, firewalls may be implemented. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is an evolving technology that will drive the networks of the next generation. Network managers are given the freedom to introduce their networks. But at the same time, it brings with its new security problems. We need effective firewall solution to protect SDN networks. The SDN provides network managers with a simple description of the whole layout of the network. It decouples the control and forwarding mechanisms of a network so that it is possible to handle the physical and logical networks separately. This approach facilitates the programmatic and efficient reallocation of network traffic flows to fulfil increasing needs. SDN makes networks completely managed by software applications and provides the hope of shifting the limits of traditional network infrastructures. For implementation of firewall POX controller is used. POX is an open source OpenFlow/Software Oriented Networking (SDN) Controller built on Python. For quicker design and development of experimental network technologies, POX is used. The POX controller arrives with the Mininet virtual machine pre-installed.