Virtual network testing and deployment using network stack instances and containers

A system, comprising:

• a host, comprising:
• a plurality of containers, wherein each of the plurality of containers shares a common kernel and executes within a common operating system;
• a plurality of virtual network stacks, wherein each of the plurality of virtual network stacks corresponds to one of the plurality of containers;
• a plurality of virtual network interface cards (NICs), wherein each of the plurality of virtual network interface cards corresponds to one of the plurality of virtual network stacks, and wherein each of the plurality of virtual NICs shares the common kernel and executes within the common operating system;
• and
• at least one virtual switch connecting at least one of the plurality of virtual NICs,
• wherein each of the plurality of containers corresponds to one of a plurality of nodes in the virtual network, and
• wherein the at least one virtual switch corresponds to at least one link in the virtual network.

A computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer system to execute a method for testing a network topology, the method comprising:

• obtaining the network topology, wherein the network topology comprises a plurality of nodes connected by at least one link;
• instantiating a plurality of containers, wherein each of the plurality of containers corresponds to one of the plurality of nodes, and wherein each of the plurality of containers shares a common kernel and executes within a common operating system;
• instantiating a plurality of virtual network stacks, wherein each of the plurality of virtual network stacks is associated with one of the plurality of containers, wherein each of the plurality of virtual network stacks is associated with a virtual network interface card (NIC), and wherein each of the plurality of virtual NICs shares the common kernel and executes within the common operating system;
• instantiating at least one virtual switch corresponding to the at least one link;
• connecting at least one of the plurality of virtual NICs associated with at least one of the plurality of virtual network stacks using the at least one virtual switch;
• configuring at least one of the plurality of virtual network stacks to send and receive packets;
• and
• testing the network topology by sending a packet through at least one of the plurality of virtual network stacks and the at least one virtual switch, wherein a result of the testing is used to validate the network topology.