What is Innovative about Software Defined Networking?

Commoditisation of Networks

On the one hand, Software Defined Networking (SDN) will commoditise switching hardware from the current proprietary or rather monopolistic block it is today. On the other, it will give rise to a new industry with Software, Apps platforms, and orchestration tools and/or optimised hardware for controllers.

• The nature of this innovation is such that every enterprise will see a very different use case for it. To highlight just a few, SDN will enable Multi-tenant DC with network slicing, L4-7 network services and traffic steering, Cloud bursting, Network monitoringanalytics and visibility, WAN bandwidth optimisation, and more.
• Relevant analogy that can provide clarity around the impact of SDN is an examination of modern wireless architectures which have recently undergone a transition very similar to the changes facing wired networks today. Prior to 2005, the vast majority of wireless implementations utilised fat access points which functioned essentially the same way that wired switches do today. And then the lightweight access points swept the industry almost overnight, moving intelligence away from edge devices towards a centralised controller, just as OpenFlow architecture does. This transition did not commoditise enterprise wireless networks but rather empowered them. The nature of this architecture itself provided 3 significant impacts:

• It automated non-strategic menial tasks, freeing time for administrators to spend on more strategic opportunities to drive IT innovation.
• It enabled a new generation of more intelligent and robust tools, creating a platform to enable technologists to drive operational innovation and architectural best practices.
• The centralisation of user and application data facilitated deeper application integration creating a platform to empower entirely new IT innovations.

On Demand Network Play

• SDN will bring about the capability for applications to control their networking environment, on demand and with no delay. In the process, SDN will bring forward innovation both in the networking hardware and software arenas.
• New chipsets will be designed to support the SDN model. Greater integration with applications will require development of APIs and programmable interfaces from a software perspective. And at the same time, existing network equipment will adapt to support the SDN model to gain the benefit of the new architecture.

Since there is better visibility of network, and hence granular control, saving on infrastructure and monitoring and control resources, generic knowledge about SDN will eliminate the need of different experts for different devices make and model -- Rajiv Agarwal, Head-IT, HAL Ltd.

Spotting Intelligence in the Network

• Innovation lies in making the network an intelligent, programmable entity that uses information from within the network as well as that from applications and systems on top to make informed decisions to enable greater responsiveness to dynamic events, facilitate intelligent applications and allow optimal use of network resources.
• Understand the fundamental attributes of programmability and start laying the foundation through network abstractions, automation schemes and programmatic interfaces. Creating the decoupling of the control and data planes allowing the control plane to be run on an x86 server is critical
• Creation of multi-layered workflow automations to allow workflows to interact with the network at different levels to accommodate the rate of change, and to enable customers to innovate independently, and published north- and south-bound APIs.
• Adopting a philosophy of hybrid intelligence recognising that the decision to centralise or distribute network functions is based on the domain. So, for example, what gets centralised in a physically compact environment like the data centre may be quite different from the optimal approach for a global IP network run by a major service provider.

True Network Value

• The true value of networking comes from enabling dynamic awareness and control of the underlying topology by higher level applications, where applications can direct the network about their needs and the network can be re-configured and re-provisioned accordingly.
• Simply put, SDN can provide better alignment between the network and the applications and systems that use them. In many ways, we have approached the network as a vast sensor array with visibility into traffic flows, security events, counters, usage data, etc., and have focused on exposing this network intelligence to OSS/BSS systems, management systems and other applications.
• Enabling this closed loop, bi-directional interaction makes the network more robust and agile and the application and user experience more consistent.

Self Serving Networks
Enriching existing connectivity services with self service customisation, optimising video delivery with a centralised management, virtualised intelligent traffic and dynamically customizing the delivery of applications from the cloud.

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