Open Network Featured Article

It is interesting how products or concepts can be considered as a starting point for certain technology only to be forgotten as the technology continues to mature and evolve. One such case in point is OpenFlow and software-defined networking (SDN), which at one point were synonymous. The feeling was that one could not exist without the other.

OpenFlow is considered to be one of the first SDN standards. Originally it defined the communication protocol in SDN environments, which enables the SDN/OpenFlow Controller to interact with the forwarding plane and make adjustments to the network, so that it can better adapt to changing business requirements.

The Open Networking Foundation (ONF) is a not-for-profit trade organization funded by prominent companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Google (News - Alert) and Deutsche Telekom. The ONF’s goal is to improve networking through SDN and standardize the OpenFlow protocol and related technologies.

Due to the strong connection between OpenFlow and SDN, in the beginning the ONF pushed this connection with several iterations of the OpenFlow specification in rapid succession, which unfortunately has seen a major slowdown these days. As mentioned, it is curious that such an effective relationship should come to a standstill.

Most people see OpenFlow as simply a tool to use with SDN and nothing more. The thing to keep in mind is the importance of tools. A quality job can only be accomplished when the right tool is used, something that early users of SDN thought was quite important.

As new tools are developed and some might say improved on, it does not mean that the old or original tools should be discarded. To that end, whether it is in an SDN application, or in the hardware, companies such as HP, Brocade (News - Alert) and Cisco still continue to use OpenFlow in some of their products.

In fact, it seems that while some consider OpenFlow to be at a crossroads, it is still moving ahead with what could be a bright future. As more companies look for better ways to implement traffic manipulation, security and network virtualization, OpenFlow looks to be the right tool for the job.

There is no denying that as organizations begin to embrace and use technology such as SDN, it will continue to evolve and change to meet their needs. There is also no denying that for this to take place the right tools need to be used. Since OpenFlow offers SDN controller writers a predictable way to program hardware, it seems like the right tool is already available.