VMSimInt: A Network Simulation Tool Supporting Integration of Arbitrary Kernels and Applications

Integrating realistic behavior of end systems into simulations is challenging since the mechanisms used in protocols and applications such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) are complex and continuously evolving. In this paper, we present VMSimInt, a new approach which allows the INTegration of arbitrary Operating Systems (OSs) and ap- plication code into an event-driven network SIMulator by using Virtual Machines (VMs). In contrast to existing ap- proaches which integrate parts of OS kernels, our approach uses unmodified OS kernels, which eases maintenance and provides additional flexibility. By controlling the time and all I/O of the VMs, our approach guarantees that external factors such as the performance of the host do not influence the simulation outcome, so that simulations are exactly re- producible. We validated our system against the Network Simulation Cradle (NSC) by simulating the same models and comparing the system behavior. In addition, we show that our approach provides sufficient performance for usage in day-to-day research.