Articles

Software Defined Networking- a new networking technology

As the industry moves towards towards an IP-centric facility, Evertz' Software Defined Video Networking (SDVN) will make a niche and shall require content providers to make the transition to IP without bargain. Using Evertz' MAGNUM for control and the versatile 3080IPX, SDVN can be applied throughout the facility in production, playout, and WAN distribution.

Sofware Defined Networking (SDN) has emerged from just a new technology that only could be understood only by the highly technical to a new ingredient for making network configuration and service management more efficient.SDN controllers, the main nerve centre of such emerging networks were earlier attributed to OpenFlow- the network control protocol that manages central traffic. The role of SDN controllers have evolved from low-level data switching and routing to to an integrated management of security policies, application settings and physical and virtual network configuration.

SDN is also a foundation stone for building up cloud infrastructure and a software data-center. The SDN has become the face of either a big strategic architectural change to networking from the time Ethernet came into the picture, or a bogus hype of sorts trying to belittle existing patterns of operational networking. There is a level of confusion though, in the SDN architecture like any other new phenomenon that grasps technological evolutions.

SDN as an architectural model is indeed groundbreaking, however for enterprises the most compelling SDN features don’t involve low level manipulation of traffic patterns, but rather operational automation, service orchestration and network programmability. In contrast, the SDN is bunk, “still does nothing”, crowd view the term as synonymous with OpenFlow and see little value in replacing perfectly useful network fabrics, whether using the alphabet soup of alternative standards like MLAG, SPB, TRILL or a proprietary equivalent, with dumb OpenFlow switches and flow controllers.

“The industry has moved past the SDN equals OpenFlow debate. “SDN has gained a more expansive meaning: It’s now about creating platforms for applications and gaining configuration control that enhances network automation and agility, hopefully lowering operational costs.” Indeed, at last fall’s Open Networking User Group (ONUG) meeting, attendees prioritized topics for proposed vendor RFIs or RFQs in the coming year. The top three were: integrated layer 4-7 network services, virtual network overlays, and branch software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs). Others areas identified for work included traffic monitoring and visibility, white box networking, automated network segmentation, Linux-based automation, an abstract policy to define applications and IT Infrastructure dependencies. Outside of white box hardware, none of these had anything to do with software control over physical layer network flows, the raison d’etre for OpenFlow and the first wave of SDN controllers.”

So what new will SDN mean for the businesses is yet to see.