Much has been made of the emergence of Software Defined Networking and the programmable network. At its core, SDN involves opening up network interfaces in order to make the network programmable and allow for the development of applications. While some of those applications interact directly with the data plane, determining how individual packets are treated, many applications actually involve what can fundamentally be described as management functionality – automation of workflows, reaction to events, closing of control loops. A popular example concerns orchestration, in which resources are allocated and state modified so that collectively a service is provided – in many ways resembling a reincarnation of service provisioning in a new context and under a new name.
Of course, management applications and management interfaces have been around for a long time, so what is really new and different this time? Is SDN simply an exciting new label for a tired old concept? Does SDN obviate the need for traditional management? At the core of these questions are the concepts of programmability and manageability. Read More »