What is a software defined network (SDN) ?

Hello everyone, today we'll talk about software defined network (SDN).

Software Defined Neworking is a term used to defined network technology which aims to make the network agile and flexible in the same sort of way than the virtualization.

The purpose of the SDN is to allow the company to adapt fastely to any change of business. The SDN allows the network administrator to modify the traffic of the network without having to configure manually the switches. It offers a console from which the network administrator can change what he wants easily.

The keys features of this technology:

• Programmable: the network is programmable which is a good thing since the administrator can modify it whenever he needs to to it.
• Agile: the administrator can make the change needed easily.
• Centrally managed: there is only one intelligence which controls the network.
• Configured thanks to programmation: SDN permits the network manager to manage, secure networks ressources.
• Open standards-based and vendor-neutral: SDN simplify the network design and operation.

SDN respond pretty well to the new computing trends. For more information on this subject, I invite you to read that article.

Comparison between classical network and SDN

Above you can see a picture showing the traditional networking and the software defined networking.

We can see that the strength of the Software-Defined Networking is the fact that we have a controller which control the network devices contrary to the traditional one.

We also notice that the SDN controller make the link between the hardware layer and the application layer.

That's all for now. Next week I'll post more information on the HP products and Fortinet one and probably on another subject too but I'm not sure yet.