Heiliger explained that with OpenFlow a programmable controller is in charge of determining routes and priorities throughout a network. The controller implements the network configuration and settings via flow tables that reside on the switches in the network. OpenFlow is the common protocol for communication between controllers and switches from various vendors.
However, Heiliger also pointed out that the proprietary firmware in networking gear today constrains network operators, forcing them to integrate each vendor's technology into the network. "If I want to have a network management system, I have to figure out how to program my network management system to access the Cisco box versus a Juniper box versus some other third-party box," he said.
Likewise, the firmware in networking gear today constrains network operators, forcing them to build "wrappers" in their management software for devices from different vendors, he said. For example, to make sure a packet traverses the network with a certain quality of service, administrators need to make sure that the variables on a wide variety of gear are set correctly. They should be able to have that packet sent in the desired way without regard for the underlying network, he said: "I don't want to have to worry about it--I want another intelligent piece of software to have to worry about it."
More SDN Choices on the Horizon
The ONF doesn’t have the only game in town. Other vendors and IT businesses are looking to work together to establish SDN products. VMware, one of the leaders in virtualization technologies, doesn’t want to miss out on the potentially huge market that SDN offers and has recently teamed up with Stanford and Berkeley to create an industry consortium around SDNs, called the Open Networking Research Center. That consortium includes CableLabs, Cisco, Ericsson, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Huawei, Intel, Juniper, NEC, NTT Docomo and Texas Instruments as its founding sponsors. This ensures that VMware will have the technical support, collaboration and vendor interactions to create alternatives to OpenFlow.
VMware’s movement into the SDN market clearly shows that the vendor is interested in developing the software, standards and relationships to create SDN products, which will transform into a virtualization-based ideology, perhaps with the moniker of Virtual Networking Platforms. Alternatives and competition will prove to be important in the SDN market, since it will fuel adoption and innovation, as well as create more choices for customers.
What VMware is to virtualization, Cisco Systems is to networking, and it has its own plans for network virtualization, including a "spin-in" called
Insieme, an internal startup that would develop SDN technology. It has received $100 million in funding and could receive up to $750 million.
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