Software-defined networks look set to have a profound impact on the computer networking landscape, according to Internet Solutions’ Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Prenesh Padayachee. As technology has continued to evolve to having a predominance of smart end-devices and the growth of machine-to-machine technology today, so has the complexity of the networks that enable these computing paradigms.
This trend has given rise to software-defined networks (SDNs), which could have a more profound effect on the networking landscape than MPLS did.
The SDN, while still in its infancy, is already bringing a very different dimension to networking. Although this technology is evolving and developing, it has been an engineering phenomenon over the last five years. Analyst firm Gartner even labelled SDN a trigger technology as early as 2012 in its “hype cycle” for networking and communications.
And now, as it goes mainstream, many industry pundits are already predicting big things for SDN. For instance, spend on SDNs is estimated to grow from US$360m in 2013 to $3,7b by 2016, a compound annual growth rate of 117%. And this exponential growth is expected to continue into 2018, when spend is estimated to reach $35b.
The open interface of an SDN is created by using open-source control software with customisable application programming interfaces that run on general purpose networking hardware. With centralised software that reads conditions and data requirements, SDN only requires simple hardware that can “speak” to and react to commands from the software. So, by taking a piece of software and putting it into the centre of a network, network administrators can analyse and adapt the forwarding layer to move it in line with prevailing conditions and requirements. This takes network control out of proprietary network switches and delivers the flexibility needed for network customisation and cost reduction.
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