is a major change in the paradigm
— logically centralized control func-
tion. This is the beginning of the
software era of networking.”
With OpenFlow and SDN, users
can customize networks to meet
local needs, eliminate unnecessary
features and create virtual, isolated
networks, says Nick McKeown,
professor of electrical engineering
and computer science at Stanford.
They can also increase the pace
of innovation through software,
instead of hardware, which will
expedite technology exchange
with partners and technology
transfer from universities, he says.
But there are caveats. OpenFlow
and SDNs are just making it out of
research labs and into production.
OpenFlow is immature and unproven in large-scale network deployments, according to participants at
the Open Networking Summit. Its
scale, fault tolerance and security
have been questioned, and it could
take years for the technology to
manifest itself in any meaningful
way in production environments.
Cisco Partners Up
Cisco is a member of the ONF and
plans to support OpenFlow on its
Nexus switch line, according to a
Cisco official’s blog. But it’s also
pursuing other avenues to
network virtualization. In August,
it announced an expansion of its
