Softly Defined Networking

Software Defined Networking (SDN) has been described as the hope and hype for the future of networking. Definitions vary, but one research direction has been to separate the control plane from the data plane, introducing abstractions that can provide a global network view, a description of required behavior, and a model of packet forwarding. This is intended as a way to open up the closed-box and vertically-integrated, proprietary packet switches and routers, and allow applications greater scope for accessing networking capabilities. A somewhat less disruptive direction for SDN is to see it as the provision of programmatic interfaces (APIs) into existing networking equipment, whether or not there is an explicit separation of control and data planes.