Open Network Featured Article

The size of the global software-defined networking market will exceed $70 billion by 2024, according to Grand View Research Inc.

SDN is seeing growing adoption due to the centralized control it delivers, the firm notes. That helps engineers and network administrators, and the networks themselves, be more responsive in addressing the needs of applications and other traffic as they arise.

It can help manage costs as well. In a recent Pica8 blog talking about the benefit of open networking, the supplier offers up a project example that details the deployment and benefits of a white box solution. The company said this solution delivered well over 50 percent savings as compared to incumbent switch deployments.

As for Grand View Research, it notes that network functions virtualization (NFV), OpenFlow, and SD-WAN are among the key technologies related to the growth of SDN.

NFV enables network functions to exist as software. That’s noteworthy because it enables network operators to run the software on the hardware of their choice. And being able to use off-the-shelf hardware can result in significant cost savings for network operators.

OpenFlow is an SDN standard that allows for remote programming of the forwarding plane. But it’s expected to evolve beyond that.

“Currently, OpenFlow provides a standardized interface between SDN controllers and switches or other data paths,” Ben-Mack Crane wrote in a Jan. 23 Open Networking Foundation blog. “However, many SDN use cases have emerged that go beyond packet switching. Efforts are underway to use SDN to support technologies such as circuit switching, optical and wireless media, and new use cases, including network functions virtualization, Layer 3 traffic management, WAN gateways, and central office re-architected as a data center (CORD).”

SD-WAN is an overlay of the wide area network that separates the physical infrastructure from how packets are routed. As a result, users get total control of the connectivity between their locations. That lets them match the connectivity of their choice – be it cable modem-based broadband, DSL, LTE (News - Alert), MPLS, or whatever – to their specific applications at any time.