Software Defined Networking (SDN) is getting a major boost this week from networking vendor Brocade. SDN is a way to separate the control from the data plan, creating a programmable network flow and it’s an approach that is now being embraced by networking vendors big and small.
Brocade is now fully supporting SDN and the OpenFlow protocol on the MLX series of routers, delivering up to 100 Gbps of traffic. Going a step beyond just supporting SDN, Brocade is also providing new models for how SDN can be deployed on the network alongside traditional routing tables.
“We’re creating an evolutionary model where network administrators can add OpenFlow into an existing networking paradigm without changing the way that traditional forwarding works,” Keith Stewart, director product management at Brocade told EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet. ”
OpenFlow is the cornerstone open source protocol that is used for SDNs, but it’s not the only technology that is needed to fully create a programmable network.
“Software Defined Networking is about figuring out how to virtualize the network and create arbitrary logical topology on top of physical topology,” Stewart said. “It’s about how I add new differentiated service offerings on top existing infrastructure and it’s about automating and orchestrating the new environment.”
Read the full story at EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet:
Brocade Accelerates SDN to 100Gbps
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.