Opinion

Opinion

Software-defined networking

• The evolution of SDN and its role in networking

  Has SDN run its course, or has the architecture simply evolved? In many current products, data centers and cloud environments, SDN may be closer than you think.  Continue Reading

• The top 9 trends in network technology for 2019

  In the new year, expect SDN and SD-WAN to come back down to earth. Meanwhile, multi-cloud, edge computing and intent-based networking will ramp up. Plus, data centers are not dead.  Continue Reading

• Social concept points to an SDN model with two control planes

  It might not seem like control planes and SDN models have a lot in common with a social concept, but together, they could highlight how business intent and operations inform network design.  Continue Reading

• Software-based networks lay foundation of networking's future

  Software-based networks are evolving, reshaping how companies do business and blending into legacy networking. Enterprises will have to sort out which approaches work best.  Continue Reading

• SDN marketplace sows confusion on network infrastructure upgrades

  The ever-evolving SDN marketplace continues to confuse IT departments as they determine what steps they should take with their network infrastructure upgrades.  Continue Reading

• Local area network design gets boost from SDN

  Network pros improve LAN design, especially in automating policies, with software-defined network functions, or 'SDN-lite,' even if true full-featured SDN is still out of reach.  Continue Reading

• Software-based networks ease staff manual labor, increase efficiency

  Find out how three enterprises are experiencing the benefits of software-based networks as their staffs are freed up from manually tweaking network components.  Continue Reading

• LAN SDN management looks to the cloud and causes LAN ghost towns

  Future campus LAN SDN management will be needed to deal with LAN applications that have migrated to the cloud, creating on-premises network ghost towns.  Continue Reading

• High-speed networks to get boost from SDN, inverse virtualization

  To advance adoption, SDN has to meet high-speed networking demands. One solution may be the emerging concept of inverse virtualization for traffic processing.  Continue Reading

• Network configuration management tools could pave the way to SDN

  Could network configuration management tools be IT administrators' best way to prepare for SDN? One observer says "yes."  Continue Reading

• Opportunity for SDN deployments in developing IT economies

  The relatively young IT systems found in developing economies could prove the perfect stage for SDN growth, with major opportunities for forward-thinking network engineers.  Continue Reading

• Open Networking User Group debate: The pro-hardware transcript

  Check out the pro-hardware side of the Open Networking User Group debate at its Fall 2015 conference where hardware squared off against software.  Continue Reading

• ONUG 'Great Debate': The pro-software transcript

  Check out the pro-software side of ONUG's debate at its Fall 2015 conference in a hardware versus software faceoff.  Continue Reading

• When will enterprises be ready to use SDN?

  After years of hype, high-profile mergers and proven use cases, enterprises hesitated to use SDN. Is it finally time for it to secure a spot in mainstream networks?  Continue Reading

• Why you shouldn't overlook Microsoft SDN

  Microsoft SDN may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of software-defined networking, but don't write it off quite yet.  Continue Reading

• The case against SDN implementation

  Networking expert and SDN enthusiast Patrick Hubbard plays devil's advocate, arguing against SDN implementation and exploring why it may be a bad idea.  Continue Reading

• SDN monitoring means new transitions for engineers

  SDN network management means tools are transforming from listening mode to active mode.  Continue Reading

• Minecraft paves the way to grow enterprise SDN, seriously

  Insight from the Minecraft video game points to how enterprise SDN adoption could grow faster with a single interface for monitoring, confirmation and troubleshooting.  Continue Reading

• SDN blogs: Overlay networks can be scaled

  In this week's SDN blogs, experts talk about the scalability of overlay networks and ask questions about SD WAN, and an open source SDN website is launched.  Continue Reading

• Network programmability, SDN blend into virtualization hairball

  The challenge is to forget demarcation lines between networking programmability, SDN and data center virtualization. Columnist Patrick Hubbard says they're becoming something between a giant hairball and a flock of magic unicorns.  Continue Reading

• New, branded open network hardware model emerges

  Hyperscale data center operators have radically altered their infrastructure with open network hardware that runs a range of operating systems. As this strategy trickles down into the enterprise, vendors are unveiling branded-but-open technology.  Continue Reading

• DevOps or SDN? You'll need them both to work together

  There's no point in choosing between DevOps and SDN. SDN is actually the perfect toolset for DevOps, with its unified vision and control over the entire network. Meanwhile, DevOps lends itself to the hybridized IT model necessary for SDN.  Continue Reading

• If packet sniffing won't work in SDN, then what?

  Patrick Hubbard explains why Wireshark and other packet-sniffing tools aren’t ready for virtualized Layer 4-7 networks. Monitoring application server NICs could be the answer.  Continue Reading

• Open Networking Summit 2014: Let's talk scalability and SDN use cases

  Plexxi's Michael Bushong says the Open Networking Summit 2014 should move beyond the SDN buzz and into the technical nitty-gritty.  Continue Reading

• Between Cisco and VMware SDN, which will network engineers choose?

  In the Cisco vs. VMware SDN battle, Cisco ACI may win out among network engineers, who are more comfortable with the hardware-centric approach.  Continue Reading

• Bucking SDN controller interoperability will stifle innovation

  There's been lots of work on SDN southbound apps, but vendors are ignoring SDN controller interoperability and threatening progress as a result.  Continue Reading

• SDN promises centralized management, but we've heard this all before

  SDN's promises of evolutionary changes to the industry sound eerily familiar to networking security expert Michele Chubirka. Should we believe them?  Continue Reading