SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORK

Traditional Network

The conventional network architecture satisfied the initial client server

computational model, where a request from a single client was served from
a well-defined service running on a static server. But the traditional
architecture has drastically changed with the advent of any time/ any
place/ anywhere model, explosion of mobile devices, cloud computing,
virtual machine (VM) applications, big data applications, data set retrieval
across data centres, audio & video network services and beyond.

Businesses and carriers are deploying new capabilities to address the

changing demands. Todays networks are bottlenecked by the static nature
of their architecture. Their capabilities are limited by vendor specific
devices that cannot adapt to new situations. The vendor specific devices
inability to scale or adoption becomes a bottleneck to businesses and
carriers. Added to this are the economical factors of adding new resources,
reusing existing devices, costs associated with specialized network
administration tasks, etc.

The fundamental components that make up the network are simple: the
data plane or data layer and the control plane or control layer. The data
plane is the abstract layer that moves the data from one link to another
link, forming an end to end communication between client and server. The
control plane is the intelligent component that defines how connections
are made, how the data has to be moved, what rules to apply and what
route to follow. In conventional networks, these layers are incorporated
inside the firmware of the device. Network administrators have
traditionally configured the control plane

In a traditional network, the data plane and control plane are embedded
inside the network device. The network administrator provides the
configurations for the data flows, paths, routing & forwarding logic etc.
These controls or instructions are pushed to the data plane where the
network data traffic is handled. In this model, after the controls are
defined, the only way to modify or adjust the data flow is through
reconfiguration of the device. And such modifications have to be done over
1000s of devices (though certain degree of scripting or automation may be
achieved). This tight coupling between the data plane and control plane is
too restrictive to network operators who have to respond to traffic
changes.

The problem arises when the data flow changes and new paths have to be
defined or when new devices have to be provisioned or new protocols or
application policies have to be applied. The only way to achieve this is by
re-configuring the device and re-writing the data flow rules by network
administrators who are familiar with device specific instructions. These
device configurations can be done only by the network operators. With the
increase of network usage and data flow growth, network operators and
users are keen to see a scaling and easily adopting network.

The cost of managing and operating a carrier grade network has been
increasing since it involves provisioning of multiple devices from multiple
vendors covering many technologies. At the same time demands placed by
the market have risen due to mobile networks, big data, cloud computing,
etc. Users have been demanding a faster adopting, cost-efficient flexible
network that can dynamically cope with new demands.
Software Defined Network
Software Defined Networking (SDN) is the answer to overcome the
limitations of current networks. Software Defined Networking (SDN) is a
new concept of network resource virtualization. The Open Networking
Foundation (ONF) defines SDN thusly: In SDN architecture the control and
data plane are decoupled, network intelligence and state are logically
separated, and the underlying network infrastructure is abstracted from
the application. Separation of the hardware substrate (like the switching
fabric) from the control flow (routing algorithms, device configuration)
allows for flexible flow control, routing and forwarding rules, dynamic
adoption, centralized control and monitoring of network wide resources.
By virtualizing the entire network, SDN provides a greater degree of:
(i) sharing of resources as virtual pieces
(ii) isolation of resources from users
(iii) aggregation of resources into common pools
(iv) dynamic changes to resource allocation
(v) easy manageability through uniform policy enforcement and
centralized monitoring

Architectural components
In the SDN architecture, the splitting of the control and data forwarding
functions is referred to as disaggregation, because these pieces can be
sourced separately, rather than deployed as one integrated system. This
architecture gives the applications more information about the state of the
entire network from the controller, as opposed to traditional networks
where the network is application aware.
SDN architectures generally have three components or groups of
functionality:
o SDN Applications: SDN Applications are programs that communicate
behaviours and needed resources with the SDN
Controller via application programming interface (APIs). In addition,
the applications can build an abstracted view of the network by
collecting information from the controller for decision-making
purposes. These applications could include networking management,
analytics, or business applications used to run large data centres. For
example, an analytics application might be built to recognize
suspicious network activity for security purposes.
o SDN Controller: The SDN Controller is a logical entity that receives
instructions or requirements from the SDN Application layer and
relays them to the networking components. The controller also
extracts information about the network from the hardware devices
and communicates back to the SDN Applications with an abstract
view of the network, including statistics and events about what is
happening.
o SDN Networking Devices: The SDN networking devices control the
forwarding and data processing capabilities for the network. This
includes forwarding and processing of the data path.
 Complete View of SDN

Open Flow Protocols

Open Flow protocol is the first standard communication interface that lies
between control layer and sending layer in an SDN. Open Networking
Foundation (ONF) started in 2011 with the aim of promoting a new form of
SDN networks compatible with Open Flow protocol. To this end, ONF took
the responsibility of standardizing Open Flow protocol. Open Flow protocol
facilitates direct access and changing network accessory sending programs,
such as switches and routers, both physically and virtually based on hyper
wires. The lack of an open interface in sending data programs led today's
networks into becoming integrated, closed, and semi-centralized
processing. No other standard protocol can carry out the tasks of Open
Flow protocol. A similar protocol is needed to get the network out of
switch's control and directs it to the central controller software. Open Flow
protocol first defines the SDN controller. Then, it determines how it can
safely connect to network devices and control them. It then determines
how incoming packages are manipulated, processed, and forwarded.
Before Open Flow protocol, there was no standard for manipulating and
forwarding network routing table. Therefore, SDN was bound to run
independently which faced it with shortcomings in network performance.

SDN focuses on network controlling unit which makes it possible for users
and IT managers to control routing and data traffic in switches through
defining rules and policies for the central controller. In those networks,
sending units and data units are maintained distributive between Open
Flow-based switches and routers. The smartness of network lies in the
central controller Routing flow tables are comprised of flow gateways.

An Open flow switch is a software program or hardware device that

forwards packets in a software defined networking (SDN) environment.
OpenFlow switches are either based on the OpenFlow protocol or
compatible with it. In a conventional switch, packet forwarding (the data
plane) and high-level routing (the control plane) occur on the same device.
In SDN, data plane is still implemented in the switch itself but the control
plane is implemented in software and a separate SDN controller makes
high-level routing decisions.
Advantages of SDN

1.Centralized network provisioning: SDN provide a centralized view of the

entire network, making it easier to centralize network management.
2. Reduction in Capex: Less expensive hardware can be deployed to greater
effect with all the intelligence centered at the SDN controller.
3. Reduction in Opex: Administrative efficiency, improvements in server
utilization, and other benefits result in operational savings.
4.Reduced Downtime: SDN also supports error recovery, which helps you
quickly recover from any failures caused by the upgrades.
5.Traffic Control: You can also define the traffic rules using the SDN
management console, which helps in providing full control over the
network traffic.
6. Deliver Agility and Flexibility: Software Defined Networking helps
organizations rapidly deploy new applications, services, and infrastructure
to quickly meet changing business goals and objectives.