NEW EMERGING NETWORK ARCHITECTURE: SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORK (SDN)

One of the latest network architectures is the Software Defined Network (SDN) in which the data and control planes are segregated. This keeps apart, the two important components the packet forwarding and the switches that act as packet carrying devices. The control of forwarding the packet is performed by a programmable software component, the controller, and the forwarding elements such as switches are regulated by the controller. This architecture also provides open interfaces for communication between the controller and the forwarding hardware as well as the controller and network applications. Among a few protocols that exist which provide open interfaces for communication among the controller and forwarding element, OpenFlow (OF) is regarded as a standardized protocol in this architecture. The controller programs the data plane through these open interfaces, whereas, the open interfaces for communication among the controller and the applications allow easy development of network applications. By providing eminence benefits over traditional network architecture in the recent years SDN is one of the important areas of research. Therefore, in this paper, we have highlighted the major functioning of SDN.