Change is still afoot in Software Defined Networking, but it is now at least clear that SDN is here to stay, that SDN will be the way we build networks going forward. In this Network World Spotlight special report, pulled together by the editors of Network World, we analyze key developments and gauge where organizations stand today in their SDN planning.
I recently had the chance to sit down with Rob Sherwood, CTO of Big Switch Networks to get his insight on whats hot with SDN for 2015.
The definition of Software Defined Networking (SDN) continues to broaden, today including functions such as configuration automation and orchestration. While these tasks aren't strictly SDN, the fact is software is used to define some aspect of the network infrastructure in both cases, so vendors have stretched the definition of SDN to bring configuration automation and orchestration platforms into the mix. In fairness, the line gets blurry, as some modern orchestration systems use programmatic interfaces to provision the network instead of traditional configuration tools such as SSH or SNMP.
As an industry, we have been looking at cloud-based technologies both from private and public structure and how best to optimize design, engineer and develop such technologies to better optimize the world of wireless and the Internet of Everything.
Do private Clouds work? You bet they do, says Cisco, which has more than two years of experience under its belt with its Cisco IT Elastic Infrastructure Services (CITEIS) Cloud.
, the open source software management company, picks the top 10 open source projects launched in the past year, based on stats collected from the
One gauge of industry progress on the software-defined networking front is the momentum of the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), the user-lead group that is spelling out the core SDN standards and championing the cause.
Software-defined networking (SDN) is the hottest thing going today, but there is considerable confusion surrounding everything from the definition of the term to the different architectures and technologies suppliers are putting forward.
One of the key challenges confronting potential users of software-defined networking is discerning the specific value of particular SDN controllers. Controllers, after all, play critical role as the key arbiter between network applications and network infrastructure.
If you aren't intimately familiar with software defined networking, don't fret. Only 10 per cent of 450 IT practitioners at a recent Network World event raised their hands when asked if they understand SDN. But if the emerging technology lives up to its promise to redefine networking as we know it, there is no time like the present to dig in and learn more.
What of the oft-mentioned northbound APIs that will let applications tell the controller what they need from the network? What kind of progress is the Open Networking Foundation making on that front? Network World Editor in Chief John Dix put the question to Robert Sherwood, CTO of Big Switch Networks and head of the ONF's Architecture and Framework Working Group.
As someone who spent billions with HP over 20 years while in IT leadership roles at Boeing and Verizon Wireless, John Hinshaw knew the big hardware, software and services company from the outside as well as anyone. In the year-and-a-half since becoming executive vice-president of technology and operations at HP, he's been putting that knowledge to use on the inside.
On the surface, Cisco and Juniper's SDN strategies seem to have sharp contrasts if recent announcements are any indication.
From software defined networking challenges to killing Cius and corporate restricting moves, it was a busy year for Cisco.