Simplifying distributed application deployment at the edge through software-defined overlay networks

The need for low latency, bandwidth efficiency, and privacy has driven the deployment of distributed applications to the network edge. However, edge environments introduce concrete challenges such as limited infrastructure control, constrained connectivity due to NAT or firewalls, and the heterogeneity of devices and network conditions. This paper introduces a software-defined overlay networking (SDON) middleware that addresses these issues by simplifying the development and deployment of edge applications through centralized control and dynamic overlay management. SDON allows applications to define high-level requirements, such as node and link characteristics and the network topology. These requirements are translated into device-specific configurations and enforced across suitable edge devices. We implemented our SDON middleware as a fully functional software and evaluated it in two edge computing use cases: i) routing for video streaming across middleboxed edge devices and ii) computation offloading on heterogeneous edge devices. Our results show that deployments via SDON, with centrally enforced optimizations, improve application performance by reducing mean streaming latency by 20 % and computation times by 22 %.