Method and system for enhancing performance of a physical network under real-time control using simulation of a reference model

A system and method for network simulation and enhancement includes an experiment configuration engine that provides various proposed traffic and/or network models, and a simulator responsive to the proposed traffic and/or network models to execute a plurality of simulations for the network using parallel discrete event simulation, to determine an optimal network configuration based upon an objective function for enhancing an aspect of network performance. The traffic and/or network models may be based on monitored data from the network indicating a current network state and current network traffic. Reconfiguration instructions for the new network configuration may be conveyed from the simulator to the network, so as to effectuate ongoing, real-time enhancement of the network. The network model(s) may cover internal operational details of individual network devices (e.g., routers and/or switches) as well as operation of the network as a whole.