To simulate the HTTP and HTTPS projects using NS3 which contains making a network topology in which clients are request data from servers across the HTTP or HTTPS protocols. It can be used to estimate the performance of web traffic, secure communication, and the influence of encryption on network performance. The following is a step-by-step instruction to simulating HTTP and HTTPS in NS3:
Steps to Simulate HTTP/HTTPS in NS3
- Set Up NS3 Environment
Make certain that NS3 is appropriately installed. We download it from NS3’s official website, and then compile it using below command:
./waf configure
./waf build
NS3 does not have native HTTP/HTTPS applications, however we can replicate HTTP/HTTPS traffic using either simple TCP/UDP applications or by incorporating external tools such as Quagga or DCE (Direct Code Execution) to replicate real-world network stacks, like those in Linux.
For simplicity, we will begin with a simple TCP simulation, in which HTTP and HTTPS are imitated using traffic generators such as BulkSendApplication for TCP-based HTTP requests and secure HTTPS can be modelled by appending encryption overhead physically or via external tools.
- Define the Network Topology
In this simulation, we describe a client-server architecture in which:
- Clients request web pages from servers.
- Servers are serve web pages over HTTP/HTTPS.
NodeContainer clientNodes, serverNodes;
clientNodes.Create(5); // 5 clients
serverNodes.Create(1); // 1 web server
- Set Up Network Configuration
We can be used either point-to-point or CSMA links to connect the clients and servers. For simplicity, we will be used point-to-point connections to replicate a small-scale network:
PointToPointHelper p2p;
p2p.SetDeviceAttribute(“DataRate”, StringValue(“100Mbps”));
p2p.SetChannelAttribute(“Delay”, StringValue(“2ms”));
// Connect each client to the server
NetDeviceContainer devices;
for (uint32_t i = 0; i < clientNodes.GetN(); ++i) {
devices = p2p.Install(clientNodes.Get(i), serverNodes.Get(0)); // Connect clients to the server
}
- Install Internet Stack
We install the Internet Protocol stack on the client and server nodes to allow communication.
InternetStackHelper internet;
internet.Install(clientNodes);
internet.Install(serverNodes);
- Assign IP Addresses
Here, we can be used Ipv4AddressHelper to allocate an IP addresses to the interfaces in the network.
Ipv4AddressHelper address;
address.SetBase(“10.1.1.0”, “255.255.255.0”);
for (uint32_t i = 0; i < clientNodes.GetN(); ++i) {
Ipv4InterfaceContainer interfaces = address.Assign(devices);
address.NewNetwork(); // Assign a new network for each client
}
- Simulate HTTP Traffic
To replicate HTTP traffic, we can use BulkSendApplication across TCP that can be denoted the behaviour of clients are creating HTTP requests to a web server. The PacketSinkApplication on the server will be mimicked receiving these requests.
- Client HTTP Requests: The client transmits data (emulating an HTTP request) to the server.
uint16_t port = 80; // HTTP port
// BulkSendHelper to simulate HTTP traffic from client to server
Address serverAddress(InetSocketAddress(serverNodes.Get(0)->GetObject<Ipv4>()->GetAddress(1, 0).GetLocal(), port));
BulkSendHelper httpTraffic(“ns3::TcpSocketFactory”, serverAddress);
httpTraffic.SetAttribute(“MaxBytes”, UintegerValue(0)); // Unlimited traffic
ApplicationContainer clientApps = httpTraffic.Install(clientNodes.Get(0)); // Install on the first client
clientApps.Start(Seconds(1.0));
clientApps.Stop(Seconds(10.0));
- Server HTTP Response: We can use the PacketSinkApplication on the server to mimic a web server listening for HTTP requests on port 80.
PacketSinkHelper packetSink(“ns3::TcpSocketFactory”, InetSocketAddress(Ipv4Address::GetAny(), port));
ApplicationContainer serverApp = packetSink.Install(serverNodes.Get(0));
serverApp.Start(Seconds(0.0));
serverApp.Stop(Seconds(10.0));
- Simulate HTTPS Traffic
To replicate the HTTPS traffic, we can insert overhead to denote an encryption, or otherwise, use DCE (Direct Code Execution) to run real-world HTTPS servers (e.g., Apache, Nginx) and clients such as curl. For simplicity, let us consider the encrypted communication inserts additional processing overhead.
- Client HTTPS Requests: We mimic HTTPS traffic by transmitting data across TCP with some additional delay to denote an encryption processing overhead.
uint16_t httpsPort = 443; // HTTPS port
// BulkSendHelper to simulate HTTPS traffic from client to server
Address httpsServerAddress(InetSocketAddress(serverNodes.Get(0)->GetObject<Ipv4>()->GetAddress(1, 0).GetLocal(), httpsPort));
BulkSendHelper httpsTraffic(“ns3::TcpSocketFactory”, httpsServerAddress);
httpsTraffic.SetAttribute(“MaxBytes”, UintegerValue(0)); // Unlimited traffic
ApplicationContainer httpsClientApps = httpsTraffic.Install(clientNodes.Get(1)); // Install on another client
httpsClientApps.Start(Seconds(1.0));
httpsClientApps.Stop(Seconds(10.0));
- Server HTTPS Response: Same to the HTTP server, we use the PacketSinkApplication to replicate a web server listening for HTTPS requests on port 443.
PacketSinkHelper httpsPacketSink(“ns3::TcpSocketFactory”, InetSocketAddress(Ipv4Address::GetAny(), httpsPort));
ApplicationContainer httpsServerApp = httpsPacketSink.Install(serverNodes.Get(0));
httpsServerApp.Start(Seconds(0.0));
httpsServerApp.Stop(Seconds(10.0));
- Measuring Performance Metrics
We can be estimated numerous performance metrics such as:
- Latency: Time taken to serve HTTP and HTTPS requests.
- Throughput: Data transferred among clients and servers.
- Packet Loss: Packet drops because of congestion.
We can use FlowMonitor to collect these metrics:
FlowMonitorHelper flowmon;
Ptr<FlowMonitor> monitor = flowmon.InstallAll();
Simulator::Run();
monitor->CheckForLostPackets();
monitor->SerializeToXmlFile(“http-https-simulation.xml”, true, true);
- Run the Simulation
To end, we run the simulation for a specified duration and then stop it.
Simulator::Stop(Seconds(10.0));
Simulator::Run();
Simulator::Destroy();
Example Code Structure
Here is the complete NS3 code structure replicating HTTP and HTTPS traffic:
#include “ns3/core-module.h”
#include “ns3/network-module.h”
#include “ns3/internet-module.h”
#include “ns3/point-to-point-module.h”
#include “ns3/applications-module.h”
#include “ns3/flow-monitor-module.h”
using namespace ns3;
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
// Create nodes for clients and server
NodeContainer clientNodes, serverNodes;
clientNodes.Create(5); // 5 clients
serverNodes.Create(1); // 1 server
// Create point-to-point links
PointToPointHelper p2p;
p2p.SetDeviceAttribute(“DataRate”, StringValue(“100Mbps”));
p2p.SetChannelAttribute(“Delay”, StringValue(“2ms”));
NetDeviceContainer devices;
for (uint32_t i = 0; i < clientNodes.GetN(); ++i) {
devices = p2p.Install(clientNodes.Get(i), serverNodes.Get(0)); // Connect clients to the server
}
// Install Internet stack
InternetStackHelper internet;
internet.Install(clientNodes);
internet.Install(serverNodes);
// Assign IP addresses
Ipv4AddressHelper address;
address.SetBase(“10.1.1.0”, “255.255.255.0”);
for (uint32_t i = 0; i < clientNodes.GetN(); ++i) {
Ipv4InterfaceContainer interfaces = address.Assign(devices);
address.NewNetwork(); // Assign a new network for each client
}
// Simulate HTTP traffic (client to server)
uint16_t httpPort = 80;
Address httpServerAddress(InetSocketAddress(serverNodes.Get(0)->GetObject<Ipv4>()->GetAddress(1, 0).GetLocal(), httpPort));
BulkSendHelper httpTraffic(“ns3::TcpSocketFactory”, httpServerAddress);
httpTraffic.SetAttribute(“MaxBytes”, UintegerValue(0));
ApplicationContainer clientApps = httpTraffic.Install(clientNodes.Get(0)); // HTTP client
clientApps.Start(Seconds(1.0));
clientApps.Stop(Seconds(10.0));
// Server to handle HTTP requests
PacketSinkHelper httpPacketSink(“ns3::TcpSocketFactory”, InetSocketAddress(Ipv4Address::GetAny(), httpPort));
ApplicationContainer httpServerApp = httpPacketSink.Install(serverNodes.Get(0));
httpServerApp.Start(Seconds(0.0));
httpServerApp.Stop(Seconds(10.0));
// Simulate HTTPS traffic (client to server)
uint16_t httpsPort = 443;
Address httpsServerAddress(InetSocketAddress(serverNodes.Get(0)->GetObject<Ipv4>()->GetAddress(1, 0).GetLocal(), httpsPort));
BulkSendHelper httpsTraffic(“ns3::TcpSocketFactory”, httpsServerAddress);
httpsTraffic.SetAttribute(“MaxBytes”, UintegerValue(0));
ApplicationContainer httpsClientApps = httpsTraffic.Install(clientNodes.Get(1)); // HTTPS client
httpsClientApps.Start(Seconds(1.0));
httpsClientApps.Stop(Seconds(10.0));
// Server to handle HTTPS requests
PacketSinkHelper httpsPacketSink(“ns3::TcpSocketFactory”, InetSocketAddress(Ipv4Address::GetAny(), httpsPort));
ApplicationContainer httpsServerApp = httpsPacketSink.Install(serverNodes.Get(0));
httpsServerApp.Start(Seconds(0.0));
httpsServerApp.Stop(Seconds(10.0));
// Enable FlowMonitor to measure performance
FlowMonitorHelper flowmon;
Ptr<FlowMonitor> monitor = flowmon.InstallAll();
// Run the simulation
Simulator::Stop(Seconds(10.0));
Simulator::Run();
Simulator::Destroy();
// Output results to file
monitor->CheckForLostPackets();
monitor->SerializeToXmlFile(“http-https-simulation.xml”, true, true);
return 0;
}
Further Improvements
- DCE Integration: To replicate an actual HTTPS traffic, we can combine Direct Code Execution (DCE) with NS3 and we use real-world applications such as curl and Apache/Nginx for more realistic outcomes.
- Security Features: We can model the influence of various encryption algorithms (AES, RSA, etc.) by inserting different delays or computational load at the client and server side.
In the above are the simplified procedure to understand how the HTTP HTTPS projects perform and simulate using the tool of ns3 simulation. If you did like to know more details regarding this process we will provide it. To simulate HTTP and HTTPS projects using the NS3 tool, you can reach out to phdprime.com. We are dedicated to providing you with the best simulation results. Just share your project details with us, and we will guide you toward achieving optimal outcomes. Our expertise lies in working with HTTP and HTTPS protocols, so stay connected for the best support.
