Dockemu 2.0: Evolution of a Network Emulation Tool

Abstract

The need in the scientific community to simulate or emulate various specific network scenarios has spawned the work of numerous software tools to cope with the demand. Unfortunately, most of the simulators have a steep learning curve (from installation to finally generating an experiment) and most protocols tested stay in them, and they are never implemented in real world OS's. Emulators are closer to reality, but still lack the versatility to easily implement certain characteristics, that researchers need in order to validate their experiments. Dockemu was made with the previous in mind, which its first iteration generated a good acceptance in the research community. The combination of up to date technologies like Docker and NS3, made the implementation of simple and complex scenarios easier for researchers. In this second iteration of Dockmu, we present a more streamlined code and installation process, among with the latest development of Docker containers, that left out LXC's (Linux Containers) and now provide their own container version. We provide some tests cases in different hardware and we finalize with our perspective to provide a Cloud based tool and efforts to minimize the learning curve through an interactive GUI.