Software-Defined Networking Could Shake Up More than Packets

Anew approach to network traffic control - born out of university researchers' desire to conduct experiments on production scale infrastructure and based on a slim, six page white paper - is taking the networking industry by storm. The new technology, dubbed OpenFlow, is being promoted by a new consortium called the Open Networking Foundation (ONF; www.open networkingfoundation.org) and is on the cusp of commercial deployment. The foundation's members include some of the world's largest software providers, content delivery networks, and net working equipment vendors. OpenFlow might - just might - allow unprecedented granular control of data traffic up and down the appli cation stack. And the structure of the promot ing foundation could capitalize on a focused approach to setting standards that will give the technology a quick-mover advantage.