TERIS: A Tool for Emulated Routing at Internet Scale

In the context of Internet routing, even small changes to configurations can have devastating consequences for the overall security and stability of the global routing table. Routing protocol test environments, many of which are limited in size or rely on deep levels of technical abstraction, are currently unsuited to realistic testing at Internet scale. In this work, we present TERIS, a Tool for Emulated Routing at Internet Scale. Capturing Internet topology, we generate a feasible, scalable and representative virtual testbed, generating appropriate router and policy configurations for each ISP-level network (Autonomous System, AS) which is then deployed through Kubernetes. We demonstrate the potential for Internet routing protocol enhancement using this tool, informed by real-world Internet topology. In summary, our contribution is an improvement to existing Internet routing protocol test environments by replicating real-world Internet topology using virtual containers, such that developments and enhancements to routing protocols can be observed in representative environments prior to real-world deployment.