Linux Network Simulator

Simulators are the most crucial software tools to carry-out the process of simulation. According to the requirements of the project, we can choose among the different types of simulators. Based on several stages of difficulty and research curiosity, we provide various fascinating project topics which use these simulators properly:

1. IoT Network Performance and Security

• Aim: To recognize functionality under diverse criteria like mobility, high device density, develop an IoT network simulation and reduce general attacks by utilizing protection systems.
• Tools: For IoT protocols such as CoAP or MQTT, NS-3 or GNS3 is assistive.

2. Performance Analysis of SDN Controllers

• Aim: In managing scalability, control plane latency, network events, check the efficiency of various SDN controllers like Floodlight, Ryu and OpenDaylight.
• Tools: To simulate a network with the combination of different SDN controllers, utilize Mininet.

3. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Deployment Strategies

• Aim: Research the influence on resource utilization and functionality by simulating the deployment of virtualized network functions (VNFs) such as IDS/IPS, WAN accelerators and firewalls in a cloud data-oriented network.
• Tools: Collaborate with virtual systems executing particular VNFs or cloud services and simulate the network by implementing GNS3.

4. Scalability of Blockchain Networks

• Aim: When the network size raises, consider the resource consumption, latency and throughput particularly and then research the scalability issues of blockchain networks.
• Tools: Simulate a network of blockchain nodes with the help of Mininet or GNS3.

5. Comparison of Routing Protocols in Ad-hoc Networks

• Aim: In vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) or mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs), contrast the efficiency based on packet supply ratio, latency and throughput of several routing protocols like OLSR, DSR and AODV.
• Tools: Specifically for wireless and mobile network simulations, NS-3 provides a wide range of assistance.

6. Wireless Network Coverage and Capacity Optimization

• Aim: To observe the effect of various frequency bands and techniques like 5G and Wi-Fi on network strength and coverage and to discover plans for optimal positioning of access points, simulate a wireless network.
• Tools: Wi-Fi or 5G modules/plugins /LTE are included in NS-3 or GNS3.

7. Quality of Service (QoS) in Multimedia Networks

• Aim: In networks which are transporting multimedia concepts like video or voice under different congestion stages, observe the efficiency of QoS systems such as traffic modeling and prioritization.
• Tools: To simulate networks including video streaming services and VoIP, NS-3 or GNS3 are useful.

8. Simulation of Cyber-Attacks and Defense Mechanisms

• Aim: Assess the performance of various protection models by designing and simulating different cyber threats like man-in-the-middle or DDoS on network architecture.
• Tools: Collaborating with exterior devices for threat preparation and identification with the support of Mininet and GNS3 is potentially.

9. Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) in 5G Networks

• Aim: To interpret the advantages and problems in terms of edge resource assignment, data throughput and latency, discover the deployment of MEC structures in 5G networks.
• Tools: Mininet for edge cloud simulations or NS-3 with 5G modules.

10. Impact of Network Policies on Traffic Engineering

• Aim: In business or service supplier networks, explore how the congestion, entire network efficiency and traffic flows are impacted by various network strategies.
• Tools: For strategy implementation, GNS3 with collaboration of SDN controllers.

How to simulate packet loss in Linux?

       Experiment the performance of several protocols, the flexibility of applications and network efficiency on not much perfect network criteria through simulating packet loss in Linux which is considered as a beneficial practice. To present packet loss for these simulations in an autonomous way, Linux offers various models and tools. Network simulation platforms like Network Emulation (netem) and Traffic Control (tc) are the tools which are highly implemented for this work:

Using tc and netem for Packet Loss Simulation

       The tc tool permits you to handle the network traffic flowing internal and external of your system and it is a portion of the iproute2 package in Linux. To offer Network Emulation capacities, netem is an element of tc and it presents replication, delay, packet loss and others by adding its strength. We suggest you a simple direction on the process of simulating packet loss with the help of netem and tc effectively:

Step 1: Verify Available Network Interfaces

       Detect the network interface that you desire to implement the packet loss initially. For this step, you can point down all accessible network interfaces through:

       ip link show

Step 2: Include Packet Loss Rule

       The term eth0 is considered as the network interface that you desire to simulate packet loss and it can be the name of your real network interface. Apply the specified command when you intend to simulate a 1% packet loss rate:

       sudo tc qdisc add dev eth0 root netem loss 1%

       To employ netem by presenting a 1% packet loss, the mentioned command configures the root queue discipline (qdisc) on eth0.

Step 3: Check Configuration

       You can list the lively qdisc setups for your interface to assure that your packet loss rule has been implemented:

       sudo tc qdisc show dev eth0

Step 4: Experiment the Network

       Now, validate your network applications or protocols to view in what way they work under these criteria using the packet loss simulation which is active. Executing network benchmarks, streaming video and sending files can be included in this procedure. 

Step 5: Eliminate Packet Loss Rule

       Plan to delete the packet loss simulation after completing the process of experimenting. Through the command, you can remove the qdisc scenarios:

       sudo tc qdisc del dev eth0 root

       For breaking the packet loss simulation efficiently, this command eliminates the root qdisc.

Advanced Configuration

• Variable Packet Loss: Utilize the correlation and random choices to simulate a very dynamic platform with variable packet loss rates.
• Collaborating Effects: For highly extensive simulations, integrate packet loss with other network criteria such as replication, jitter and latency by making use of netem.
• Specific Traffic: To implement any criteria or packet loss to particular kinds of traffic, you can utilize tc filters that are detected by protocols, IP addresses and port numbers.