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• Virtual overlay networks: Tunneling protocols enable multi-tenancy

  Virtual overlay networks use tunneling protocols to extend isolated network segments between servers for multi-tenant data center networks. Continue Reading

• OpenStack tutorial: A guide for cloud providers

  This OpenStack guide explores the hype around this open source project, alternative options, what OpenStack Quantum can offer cloud providers and more. Continue Reading

• In the SDN WAN: Network programmability, provisioning and high availability

  The SDN WAN's network programmability and automated provisioning addresses the demands placed on the wide area network by the cloud, SaaS and BYOD. Continue Reading

• network hypervisor

  A network hypervisor is a program that provides an abstraction layer for network hardware.  Network hypervisors allow network engineers to create virtual networks that are completely decoupled and independent from the underlying physical network. Continue Reading

• 10 gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE)

  10 gigabit Ethernet is a telecommunication technology that offers data speeds up to 10 billion bits per second. It differs from traditional Ethernet in that it is a full-duplex protocol and does not require Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision ... Continue Reading

• Definitions to Get Started

  • TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)
  • wavelength
  • subnet (subnetwork)
  • UDP (User Datagram Protocol)

  • Telnet
  • VPN (virtual private network)
  • CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing or supernetting)
  • Ethernet

  View All Definitions

• programmable network (PN)

  A programmable network is one in which the behavior of network devices and flow control is handled by software that operates independently from network hardware.Continue Reading

• Enterprise wireless standards: The basics

  Glen Kemp discusses the standards and protocols that support enterprise-class wireless deployments and how they differ from consumer configurations.Continue Reading

• network tap

  A network tap is an external monitoring device that mirrors the traffic that passes between two network nodes. A tap (test access point) is a hardware device inserted at a specific point in the network to monitor data.Continue Reading

• Primer: A new generation of programmable ASICs

  Programmable application-specific integrated circuits allow the data plane of switches to support new technologies, like software-defined networking.Continue Reading

• OpenFlow configuration protocols: Understanding OF-Config and OVSDB

  OpenFlow directs network packet flows, but OpenFlow configuration protocols, OF-Config and OVSDB, form relationships between controllers and switches.Continue Reading

• Quiz: Managing the enterprise network

  This five question quiz accompanies Henry Svendblad's presentation series on managing the Enterprise Network. Test your retention of the materials Svendblad covered in his video series on enterprise network management.Continue Reading

• ISSU (in-service software upgrade)

  An ISSU (in-service software upgrade) is a technique for updating software on a network device without taking that device offline and thereby disrupting network services.Continue Reading

• How data center network fabric and SDN intersect

  SDN and data center network fabrics both enable converged networking and the ability to manage many switches as one. Where do the two intersect?Continue Reading

• How to plan for a campus core switch refresh: Basic requirements

  Network architects and engineers discuss the features and functions they look for when planning a campus core upgrade.Continue Reading

• NetScaler (SDX)

  Citrix NetScaler SDX is a service delivery networking platform for enterprise and cloud datacenters. NetScaler SDX supports multiple NetScaler instances on a single hardware appliance.Continue Reading

• Should I use the OpenFlow protocol in software-defined networks?

  The OpenFlow protocol isn't required for SDN, although the Open Network Foundation recommends it, which means networking vendors have options.Continue Reading

• Why do I need SDN technology?

  SDN is valuable, but uses extend to other parts of the network for increased network flexibility, dynamic traffic flow, decreased latency and QoS.Continue Reading

• Embrane

  Embrane is a company that makes software products for the delivery of SDN (sofware-defined networking) services, including load balancers, firewalls and VPNs.Continue Reading

• Nicira Network Virtualization Platform (Nicira NVP)

  Nicira NVP is network virtualization software that manages an abstraction layer between end systems and the physical network infrastructure and enables the creation of independently operable virtual networks.Continue Reading

• NETCONF

  NETCONF is an IETF network management protocol that provides an administrator or network engineer with a secure way to configure a firewall, router, switch or other network device.Continue Reading

• software-defined networking monitoring application (SDN monitoring application)

  An SDN monitoring application is a software program that oversees the traffic in a software-defined network (SDN) as a component of network management.Continue Reading

• distributed virtual switch

  A distributed virtual switch is an abstract representation of multiple hosts defining the same name, network policy and port group.Continue Reading

• network fabric

  Network fabric is an industry term that describes a network topology in which devices pass data to each other through interconnecting switches.Continue Reading

• DOVE (IBM DOVE)

  IBM Dove (Distributed Overlay Virtual Ethernet) is an architecture that allows a network engineer to abstract the physical network infrastructure from hypervisor hosts and make network changes in software rather than hardware.Continue Reading

• Is SDN a centralized or distributed network architecture?

  A software-defined network can have a centralized or distributed network architecture in the data center, LAN and WAN, depending on business needs.Continue Reading

• What is the difference between an overlay network and SDN?

  A software-defined network can be deployed as an overlay network to a physical network or natively as the primary network to improve flexibility.Continue Reading

• Does software-defined networking require special SDN switches?

  Software-defined networks do not require special SDN switches; instead, vendors offer a variety of SDN controllers, network fabrics and hardware.Continue Reading

• Where do network fabric and SDN technologies intersect?

  Networks can use a network fabric and SDN technologies together, and vendors' SDN architectures integrate them in a variety different ways.Continue Reading

• The role of northbound APIs in an SDN environment

  Northbound APIs on SDN controllers enable applications and orchestration systems to program the network and request services from it.Continue Reading

• SDN, network virtualization: Are they the same?

  Despite differences, SDN and network virtualization share common elements to direct network resources to VMs and segment or consolidate networks.Continue Reading

• Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF)

  Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) is the part of the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) that supports service data flow detection, policy enforcement and flow-based charging.Continue Reading

• Mininet

  Mininet is a software emulator for prototyping a large network on a single machine. Continue Reading

• Distributed Control Plane Architecture (DCPA)

  A Distributed Control Plane Architecture (DCPA) is a network architecture that makes it possible to allocate control protocol functions across multiple processor levels in the network system.Continue Reading

• Floodlight

  Floodlight is a Java-based OpenFlow controller.Continue Reading

• ODIN (Open Data Center with an Interoperable Network)

  ODIN (Open Data Center with an Interoperable Network) is a reference architecture that describes best practices for creating a flat, converged, virtualized data center fabric based on open industry standards.  Continue Reading

• Path Computation Element (PCE)

  Path Computation Element (PCE) is a network component, application or node that can apply computational constraints and compute a network path or route based on a network graph. The PCE has access to topology information for the entire network and ...Continue Reading

• SDN application (software-defined networking application)

  An SDN application is a software program designed to perform a task in a software-defined networking (SDN) environment. SDN applications can replace and expand upon functions that are implemented through firmware in hardware devices in a ...Continue Reading

• Network functions virtualization primer: Software devices take over

  With network functions virtualization (NFV), engineers replace network devices with software on basic servers for flexibility and cost reduction.Continue Reading

• Do I need to use an SDN controller for software-defined networking?

  An SDN controller, with or without OpenFlow, is not required for a software-defined network, and SDN architecture vendors take different approaches.Continue Reading

• hybrid SDN

  A hybrid SDN (software-defined network) is a network where both traditional networking and SDN protocols operate in the same environment.Continue Reading

• OpenStack Neutron (formerly called Quantum)

  OpenStack Neutron is a cloud networking controller and a networking-as-a-service project within the OpenStack cloud computing initiative.Continue Reading

• Trema

  Trema is an open source framework for developing OpenFlow controllers for software-defined networking in the Ruby and C programming languages.Continue Reading

• Plexxi

  Plexxi is a Cambridge Massachusetts company that makes software-defined networking (SDN) software. The company was founded with venture-based funding in 2011. Plexxi's management team is composed of networking professionals.Continue Reading

• application-defined networking

  Application-defined networking (ADN) is a networking scenario in which applications have the ability to adapt network environments to meet their needs, rather than having resources allocated by the network.Continue Reading

• OpenFlow controller

  An OpenFlow controller is an application that manages flow control in a software-defined networking (SDN) environment.Continue Reading

• OpenFlow switch

  An OpenFlow switch is a software program or hardware device that forwards packets in a software-defined networking (SDN) environment.Continue Reading

• OpenFlow Consortium

  The OpenFlow Consortium was a collaborative group of university researchers and network administrators that developed the original specification for the OpenFlow protocol.Continue Reading

• network intelligence (NI)

  Network Intelligence (NI) is the capacity of a network to examine data packets continuously and in real time.Continue Reading

• FlowVisor

  FlowVisor is an experimental software-defined networking controller that enables network virtualization by slicing a physical network into multiple logical networks.Continue Reading

• campus network

  A campus network is a proprietary local area network (LAN) or set of interconnected LANs serving a corporation, government agency, university, or similar organization.Continue Reading

• Arista Extensible Operating System (Arista EOS)

  Extensible Operating System (EOS) is a scalable network operating system (OS) that offers high availability, streamlines maintenance processes, and enhances network security.Continue Reading

• POX

  POX is an open source development platform for Python-based software-defined networking (SDN) control applications, such as OpenFlow SDN controllers.Continue Reading

• NOX

  NOX is an open source development platform for C++-based software-defined networking (SDN) control applications.Continue Reading

• application-aware networking (app-ware networking)

  Application-aware networking is the capacity of an intelligent network to maintain current information about applications that connect to it and, as a result, optimize their functioning as well as that of other applications or systems that they ...Continue Reading

• SDN overlay (software defined networking overlay)

  An SDN overlay is a deployment method for network virtualization and software-defined networking (SDN) that involves running a logically separate network or network component on top of existing infrastructure.Continue Reading

• Nicira Inc.

  Nicira is a network virtualization and SDN (software-defined networking) company that Martin Casado, Nick McKeown and Scott Shenker founded in 2007.Continue Reading

• data plane (DP)

  The data plane (sometimes known as the user plane, forwarding plane, carrier plane or bearer plane) is the part of a network that carries user traffic.Continue Reading

• control plane (CP)

  The control plane is the part of a network that carries signaling traffic and is responsible for routing.Continue Reading

• Big Switch Networks Big Virtual Switch

  Big Virtual Switch is a data center network virtualization application that runs on Big Network Controller, the SDN controller for the Open Software-Defined Network (SDN).Continue Reading

• Big Switch Big Network Controller

  Big Network Controller is the SDN controller for the Open Software Defined Network (SDN), a product suite for network virtualization released in November of 2012 by Big Switch Networks.Continue Reading

• Big Switch Networks

  Big Switch Networks is a network virtualization and SDN (software-defined networking) company that was founded in 2010.Continue Reading

• Big Switch Networks Big Tap

  Big Tap is a network monitoring application that runs on Big Network Controller, the SDN controller for the Open Software-Defined Network (SDN).Continue Reading

• VXLAN gateway (Virtual Extensible VLAN gateway)

  A VXLAN gateway is a solution that allows a virtual extensible LAN (VXLAN) to communicate with another network, particularly a virtual LAN (VLAN).Continue Reading

• Green cloud computing quiz: Raise your energy efficiency grade

  Take our green cloud computing quiz to see if you are doing enough to conserve energy. Reducing energy use helps the earth and saves you money.Continue Reading

• A primer on northbound APIs: Their role in a software-defined network

  This primer explores the concept of SDN northbound APIs, their key benefits, who's using them and why.Continue Reading

• Floodlight primer: An OpenFlow controller

  In software-defined networks, engineers use Floodlight controllers to manage physical and virtual devices -- and each traffic flow running between them.Continue Reading

• Big data initiative essentials: Adopting analytics strategies

  This guide contains what you need to know for devising big data initiatives and analytics strategies.Continue Reading

• VPN UTM vendor comparison: Evaluating secure remote access features

  View this VPN UTM vendor comparison and understand how to manage your virtual private network infrastructure as part of a unified threat management solution.Continue Reading

• ‘Computer Networks' PDF: Free chapter download

  Download this computer networking PDF excerpt from "Computer Networks," a book that addresses the key principles of computer networks. In Chapter 1, Foundation, learn how local and wide area networks (WANs) are now built to connect more than ...Continue Reading

• Wide Area Application Services (WAAS)

  Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) is a Cisco Systems technology that improves the performance of applications on a wide area network (WAN). (Continued...)Continue Reading

• enterprise WAN

  An enterprise WAN is a corporate network that connects geographically dispersed users areas that could be anywhere in the world.Continue Reading

• MHz

  The megahertz, abbreviated MHz, is a unit of alternating current (AC) or electromagnetic (EM) wave frequency equal to one million hertz (1,000,000 Hz).Continue Reading

• data link layer

  The Data-Link Layer is the protocol layer in a program that handles the moving of data in and out across a physical link in a network.Continue Reading

• The ultimate network monitoring software? A Splunk primer

  With machine data search capability plus monitoring and management tools, Splunk is the ultimate network monitoring software.Continue Reading

• OpenFlow protocol primer: Looking under the hood

  We know the OpenFlow protocol can be used to abstract the network control plane from underlying physical infrastructure, but how exactly does the protocol work?Continue Reading

• Microsoft Network Access Protection (NAP)

  Network access protection (NAP), introduced with Windows Server 2008, is Microsoft’s approach to controlling access to a network based on a determination of each device’s health.Continue Reading

• A DevOps primer for network engineers

  DevOps is a movement promoting better collaboration between developers and system administrators. In this primer, we explore how it might affect networking pros.Continue Reading

• Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)

  Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) is a simple protocol that encapsulates packets in order to route other protocols over IP networks, as defined by RFC 2784.Continue Reading

• darknet

  A darknet is a routed allocation of IP address space that is not discoverable by any usual means.Continue Reading

• dynamic multipoint VPN (DMVPN)

  A dynamic multipoint virtual private network (DMVPN) is a secure network that exchanges data between sites without needing to pass traffic through an organization's headquarter VPN server or router.Continue Reading

• context-aware network access control

  Context-aware network access control (CANAC) is an approach to managing the security of a proprietary network by granting access to network resources according to contextual-based security policies.Continue Reading

• Cisco Integrated Service Routers Generation 2 (ISR G2)

  ISR G2 is a second generation Integrated Services Router (ISR) from Cisco Systems, Inc.Continue Reading

• Wireless wide area networks: A primer on WWAN technology and uses

  A wireless wide area network (WWAN) has several possibilities for uses and comes with both advantages and disadvantages. Learn about the WWAN in this primer.Continue Reading

• Hotspot 2.0 primer: Another step toward Wi-Fi/cellular integration

  Hotspot 2.0 and the IEEE 802.11u protocol could allow mobile device users to securely roam between Wi-Fi and cellular networks without stopping to authenticate.Continue Reading

• Common AS/400 FTP questions answered

  WAN engineers may have questions regarding AS/400 FTP. In this FAQ, get answers on some of the most common questions, such as how to make your AS/400 visible to an FTP server.Continue Reading

• NVGRE standard primer: More VLANs and isolated tenants in the cloud

  Microsoft's NVGRE standard offers competition to VMware's VXLAN standard, promising to create more VLANs that stretch across Layers 2 and 3 for multi-tenant cloud networks.Continue Reading

• Storage virtualization benefits and challenges: A primer

  Storage virtualization benefits abound, but along with the ability to implement dynamic storage provisioning for the cloud come some complications…including latency.Continue Reading

• VXLAN standard primer: Extended VLANs, long-distance VM migration

  The VXLAN standard aims to solve the long-distance VM migration dilemma by enabling extended VLANs across geographically dispersed data centers for a multi-tenant cloud network.Continue Reading

• vSphere vSwitch primer: Design considerations

  It takes the right kind of vSphere vSwitch design to implement segmentation for traffic manageability, security, redundancy and failover in a virtual environment.Continue Reading

• link-load balancer (link balancer)

  A link load balancer, also called a link balancer, is a network appliance that distributes in-bound and out-bound traffic to and from multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs) links.Continue Reading

• shortest path bridging

  Shortest path bridging, or 802.1aq, is the IEEE’s specification for enabling multi-pathing in the data center. Shortest path bridging is similar conceptually to its IETF counterpart, Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL).Continue Reading

• Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL)

  Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) is the Internet Engineering Task Force’s specification for enabling multi-pathing in the data center. The protocol is intended to replace the spanning tree protocol.Continue Reading

• mean opinion score (MOS)

  In voice communications, particularly Internet telephony, the mean opinion score (MOS) provides a numerical measure of the quality of human speech at the destination end of the circuit.Continue Reading

• Virtual branch office in a box (vBOB) devices may replace hardware

  As you introduce your enterprise WAN to virtualization, a virtual branch office in a box (vBOB) may take shape in remote offices. Learn in this tip how BOBs are being reinvented.Continue Reading

• OSGi (Open Service Gateway Initiative)

  OSGi (Open Service Gateway Initiative) is Java framework for developing and deploying modular software programs and libraries.Continue Reading

• loose coupling

  Loose coupling is a method of interconnecting the components in a system or network so that those components, also called elements, depend on each other to the least extent practicable... (Continued)Continue Reading

• Evolved Packet Core (EPC)

  Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is a flat architecture that provides a converged voice and data networking framework to connect users on a Long-Term Evolutio (LTE) network.Continue Reading

• Layer 3 VPN architectures

  This guide serves as an introduction to Layer 3 VPN architectures. As you consider different virtual private network types for your enterprise WAN, such as MPLS, IPsec, SSL and remote, be mindful of the traffic you want to transmit (data, voice, etc...Continue Reading

• patch antenna

  A patch antenna is a wafer-like directional antenna suitable for covering single-floor small offices, small stores and other indoor locations where access points cannot be placed centrally.Continue Reading

• AARP (AppleTalk Address Resolution Protocol)

  AARP (AppleTalk Address Resolution Protocol) is a way to map between the physical hardware addresses of computers, such as those known to an Ethernet or token ring local area network, and their temporarily assigned AppleTalk network addresses.Continue Reading