Abstract
New networking paradigms have been developed to provide greater
flexibility and enable finer-grained management of computer networks.
One of the most prominent new network paradigm is the
Network Function Virtualization (NFV), which can leverage the
NFV Infrastructure Emulation Platform (NIEP) as an environment for
prototyping and testing virtualized network functions and services.
Despite its versatility and comprehensiveness, NIEP poses a steep
learning curve for new users, particularly in the process of specifying
virtualized network topologies. To address this challenge,
this work proposes NIEPx, an assistive interface designed to simplify
topology specification within NIEP while minimizing common
errors in the process. The effectiveness of NIEPx was evaluated
through a qualitative-quantitative model, which demonstrated its
ability to reduce human errors during topology specification. Furthermore,
the interface was tested for communication overhead
with the NIEP emulator, showing negligible impact in the analyzed
scenarios. Thus, NIEPx emerges as an effective solution to facilitate
the onboarding of new users to NIEP, while also supporting
experienced users in handling more complex network topology
specification tasks.