OpenFlow - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• IT shops share OpenFlow, SDN best practices

  Two users are putting OpenFlow and software-defined networks through their paces in projects of varied urgency.

• SDN: The core building blocks

  When getting to know software defined networking, you'll encounter a number of terms that are used in conjunction with the technology. Some of the terms are unique to SDN, while others describe technologies that, while not unique, are frequently used in SDN designs.

• SDN FAQ

  Software has been programming our networks for a long time, so how is SDN different?

• The time is now for 'Open Ethernet'

  In today's data center you need to be able to add services and hardware without compromising network performance, but the flexibility to tune the network to meet business needs is also mandatory.

• Big Switch lowers forecast for OpenDaylight SDN effort

  Citing concerns over technical and market direction, Big Switch Networks has downgraded its participation in the OpenDaylight consortium, a multivendor effort to define an open source SDN framework.

• Juniper closer to Cisco in shipping SDN brains

  Juniper Networks this week will extend its SDN offerings with the release of its controller, roughly six months ahead of schedule.

• Brocade unleashes a data center barrage

  Brocade this week extended its data center networking portfolio with hardware and software enhancements designed to better integrate and align physical and virtual resources.

• HP refreshes data center core and aggregation with SDN switches

  HP this week refreshed its switch line and fortified its SDN portfolio with three new systems and a router, along with management and provisioning software extensions.

• Juniper switching boss talks technology challenges, Cisco Nexus 6000

  Jonathan Davidson took over Juniper campus and data center switching when the two previously separate business units were combined following the departure of founding engineer R.K. Anand. Davidson has a service provider routing background at Juniper and Cisco, which is no coincidence -- after five years in switching, Juniper has been unable to mirror the success it had in its first five years in service provider routing. But it did start from zero and surpassed at least six other incumbent vendors to attain the No. 3 position in the market. The company has more than 20,000 switching customers cultivated through organic development, Davidson notes. And as Juniper moves forward amid a forklift upgrade facing its EX core switch base and after an initial misfire on the QFabric data center switch, it's focusing on customer demands for simplification, agility and automation. Davidson discussed some recent and future developments in Juniper enterprise switching.

• IBM defends OpenDaylight from doubters

  IBM is asking that people judge the OpenDaylight SDN project by its accomplishments, not by its roster.

• Open Networking Foundation director details SDN directions, OpenDaylight impact

  The third annual Open Networking Summit, an SDN conference organized by the Open Networking Foundation, convened this week just after ONF members Cisco and IBM unveiled a separate effort to define an open source SDN framework.

• Startup aims SDN technology at Cisco WANs

  SDNs aren't just for data center networks, despite the best-use-case-scenario arguments for network virtualization and flow management pervading the industry.

• Skeptcism follows Cisco-IBM led OpenDaylight SDN consortium

  If you're skeptical about the intentions of the OpenDaylight SDN consortium, you're not alone.

• The SDN incubator

  A speaker at a recent Network World event asked the crowd of 450 IT practitioners if they were familiar with software-defined networking (SDN) and only about 10 per cent raised their hands.

• Making sense of the myriad SDN offerings

  With the range of software-defined networking (SDN) announcements coming from vendors large and small it is hard to figure out which SDN approach is best for what.