Serval Overview
SERVAL is a research and development project whose aim is to assess the feasibility of a system for creating VLANs using a software server.
The main goal of this software is to provide a way to set up VLANS between computers, no matter their location or the connection they use to access the network. For this purpose, it is emulated the operation of a hardware switch. SERVAL users will connect to VLANs defined inside the server, the software switch, which will forward the messages between the clients in the same VLAN.
Nowadays the solutions available to link two LANS do notprovide some features that would be desirable in some cases. The main technologies for connecting remote LANs currently are: VPNs and VLANs . With SERVAL people will be able to implant solutions which range from mobility solutions to file sharing.
The project is being developed having in mind the following issues:
- Client/server architecture: we have to support this kind of architecture because the connection from local range ip addresses is a requirement, and therefore P2P solutions would not satisfy our needs.
- Performance: the emulation would have no sense if we do not have suitable latency and throughput. The system should be able to overcome stress situations. Scalability is also an important feature.
- Operating System integration: the interfaces to our switch in the client side must be virtual network interfaces. User space applications would use these interfaces as the regular ones. Our target Operating Systems are GNU/Linux and Windows .
- Communications security: this kind of systems should assuretheir communications, because the traffic goes through an unsafemedium.
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