Software–Defined Networking Meron Aymiro

What is Software-Defined Networking?  Software-Defined Networking (SDN) has the potential of to transcend the limitations of the current networking infrastructures.  “The basic premise behind SDN is that by separating control of network functions from hardware devices, administrators acquire more power to route and direct traffic in response to changing requirements.” 1  Control Plane  Data plane

Issues with Traditional IP Networking They are complex and hard to manage.  The control plane and the data plane are joined together in a network device.  During configuration - Each individual network device must be configured separately using Vendor-specific commands  Network environments have to endure the dynamics of faults and adapt to load changes  Slow progressions of improvement.

Why use SDN? The separation of the control plane from data plane will give ways  Directly programmable  Simplification of network devices  Inexpensive  Flexibility  Scalability  Optimization of resources

OpenFlow  OpenFlow is the first standard communications interface defined between the control and forwarding layers of an SDN architecture  This communication protocol that gives access to the forwarding plane of a network switch or router over the network.  OpenFlow enabled network controllers to determine the path of network packets across a network of switches.  Currently most vendor of commercial switches now include support of the OpenFlow application programming interface (API) 

Layers of SDN

SDN is the future of networking.  SDN was projected to grow into a $3.7 billion industry in 2016  SDN is already servicing big companies like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Verizon  Since vedor- locking will not be an issue with SDN, it will invite more research and innovation

References arXiv: arXiv: [cs.NI]

Thank You.

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