Enhancing Network Data Plane Analysis with Native Graph Database

As modern networks grow in complexity, ensuring their reliability and security becomes increasingly vital. Data plane analysis is a key process for verifying network behavior, but traditional data plane analysis tools face challenges in extensibility, customization, and interoperability. This paper explores the potential of implementing a data plane analysis system on a general-purpose native graph database, to create a more uniform and insightful approach to network verification and analysis. Using the graph database query language and built-in graph algorithms, we simplify the network forwarding analysis while enhancing its features. Our study offers practical insights into managing complex networks, promising more efficient and intuitive tools on the horizon.