SDN earned a number of hype in 2013, however the ability to program networks improves network performance and security in a more systematic and automated fashion.

Over the last year, we have seen another technology phenomenon added to the long list of IT hype: software-defined networking (SDN). Chances are you’ll ask: “Haven’t networks been defined by software because the days of the ATM or the introduction of VLANs?” The answer’s yes, there were efforts to administer and manipulate physical network components through software, but these kinds of efforts have targeting easing network management tasks.

What makes SDN different is its intent to permit programmability of the network in response to real-time information and knowledge traffic flows. This permits for a closed-loop system where the network could be reconfigured to optimize applications or protect against threats dynamically, in response to the present environment.

Imagine a USB stick inserted right into a laptop that delivers malware. The laptop is delivered to the office and connected to the inner network, and it starts passing that malware to other computers. SDN could prevent this from happening. When utilized in conjunction with a net flow analyzer, it detects the anomalous behavior and sends it to the SDN controller. The controller reconfigures the network according to your group’s cyberstrategy (e.g., quarantine the offending port, decelerate data throughput, or send all traffic from that device to a scanner). No human intervention is needed, and this may be done with current network devices.

[Is the hype running earlier than reality for SDN? Read SDN: What’s In Store For 2014]

SDN has take place because the confluence of several technology strategies has made the network respond dynamically to applications and made it easier to control the network in a standards-based manner. The facility and strategies used to program and control a network are necessary to executing these strategies. This can be more important than ever as new services and applications with different requirements are layered on top of the network.

Most enterprise networks were created to support basic data transmissions for office applications. However, during the last decade, these networks has been asked to support voice (VoIP), video, and plenty of mission-specific applications simultaneously.

Building management systems, video surveillance systems, and other machine-to-machine communications would be supported by these same networks. This implies the network has evolved from an enabling system to a critical infrastructure for all our agencies. Therefore, more dynamic and granular control over this critical asset is wanted in order for it continues to supply secure, reliable communications for all programs and devices.

As SDN concepts and tools become better understood and more common, there’ll be hundreds of use cases that demonstrate the worth of this network evolution. Listed here are a couple of examples of ways SDN can add value to an agency or enterprise.

• Protecting sensitive information: SDN can securely and selectively protect sensitive information by dynamically encrypting traffic flows running on a network. This has value for a lot of federal IT organizations and is a critical capability in multitenant cloud architectures.
• Segmenting the network: SDN can create and isolate slices of the network by pushing policy via a centralized controller to cordon off specific traffic types.
• Improving network economics: SDN can consider business parameters and control the prices of using WAN circuits, as an example, or it’ll set other technical parameters (equivalent to circuit speed) when dynamically selecting a network path.
• Creating an application-aware network: To that end, an application instructs the network to order the needed bandwidth for the right period using packet payload inspection to spot relevant flows. When the session concludes, the reserved bandwidth is released to be used by other applications.

These are only some of the some ways SDN can improve the utilization of networks. There’ll be many more. Network programmability and new control points provide the means to change applications and improve network performance. It also provides a way for the network to dynamically reply to cyberthreats in a scientific and automated fashion.

Daniel Kent is director of public sector engineering and chief technology officer for Cisco Systems.

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