An Efficient Multipath Mechanism Based on the Flowlet Abstraction and P4

The use of network infrastructure resources in an efficient manner is a necessity that requires the employment of a range of sophisticated techniques. Multipath is already designed as good practice to achieve load balancing and some level of resiliency. However, in order to achieve high efficiency, strategies need great responsiveness to network events. In this paper we present an approach that relies on the Flowlet abstraction to manage the division and monitoring of network flows. Through a simple idea, we add a function that dynamically monitors and acts in the data plane to find the minimum possible interval that allows the alternation of a flow between routes without causing adverse effects. We performed the evaluation using P4 as an engine that acts on the data plane.