Software Defined Networks: Challenges, Opportunities and Trends

Hrishikesh Arun Deshpande

Abstract: Traditional networks often consist of a static arrangement of switches, routers and other components. Such a configuration is quite inflexible and inappropriate to meet the dynamic traffic and programmable bandwidth requirements of todays applications. Moreover, with the advent of cloud computing and big data, we need a network that is agile and dynamically scalable, something that a traditional network cannot guarantee. A software defined network s the lower level hardware configuration from the higher level applications by decoupling the decision making control plane from the packet forwarding data plane. Thus software defined networks are better suited to meet the dynamic requirements of todays applications. This paper gives insights into the requirements that are driving the networking community towards software defined networks, challenges involved in implementing a programmable network, opportunities and advantages offered by software defined networks vis--vis traditional networks and emerging trends in research and standardization of software defined networks

Keywords: software defined networks, flow table, OpenFlow, Network Function Virtualization, programmable bandwidth, scalability