How can enterprises ensure that SDN deployment is effective?

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In recent years, companies ranging from Big Switch Networks and Pica to HP and VMware have introduced services for different use cases, which has enabled software-defined networking to move from a science experiment to a mature product that can be deployed and support enterprise applications. However, Nemertes Research's "2016 Cloud and Data Center Benchmark" survey found that only a little more than 9% of organizations have currently deployed SDN in production environments.

Regarding the benefits of SDN, this article mainly introduces the three most important problems it can solve. In addition, it also introduces some considerations for determining whether SDN will work.

Smarter access. One of the main benefits of SDN technology is that it helps engineers create branch and campus network access boundaries that are smarter in terms of security and performance management. For example, SDN can serve as both a network access control platform and a dynamic application optimization platform for unified communications sessions, including voice, collaboration and video.

Network virtualization. One of the key benefits of SDN is the ability to virtualize networks, or to overlay one or more logically separate networks on a physical machine. As a result, network functions can be applied when and where they are needed on a wire-free network architecture. Virtual networks provide the basis for micro-segmentation, which is a security strategy in the data center. In addition, they can also become part of the intelligent access layer, for example, they can identify a video call after it comes in and assign it to a specific virtual network to optimize performance management.

Data center network automation. For many IT departments, the data center network will continue to serve as a key point for rapid deployment of new services, products, and virtual infrastructure. One of the benefits of SDN is the ability to use the product or service's API to increase direct programmability of the network.

Questions to Ask to Help People Determine the Benefits of SDN

So, is now the time to learn about SDN? Here are some questions to consider as you make your decision:

Is the network (access edge and data center) SDN-ready? In other words, are your network devices new enough to be part of an OpenFlow-based software-defined network?

If not, do you have time to upgrade your equipment? If so, then you can make SDN an important consideration in your upgrade decision.

If there is not enough time to update, then consider whether the problem you are facing is accurate enough to justify an update outside of the regular update cycle. In addition, you may consider selectively stacking an SDN infrastructure, adding only the necessary equipment where it is most needed, and then continue to expand from this position.

Does the vendor or provider offer a solid deployment architecture or blueprint that can address your specific needs?

Does the vendor provide some references of deployments by other organizations? They should have accomplished what you are trying to achieve, or they have done something similar and their experience can serve as a guide for you.

Can you isolate a meaningful part of the problem that can be solved in a pilot deployment that requires only a small amount of equipment and time? You shouldn’t migrate everything to a completely new platform without testing it.

Is there a robust change management process in place? If you are making a complete overhaul of your technology, you should definitely have one.

If you are solving a data center problem, especially if you want to support micro-segmentation, then consider whether you have reliable information about the mapping of systems? In other words, do you fully understand the relationship between the current system and the system you want to apply micro-segmentation to? Early adopters in this area repeatedly reported to Nemertes that their projects quickly became slower and slower, and finally they realized that they actually did not understand how the various systems communicated with each other. It is not difficult to understand which systems are communicating with other systems. What is more difficult is to understand which systems should communicate with each other.

Nemertes has been saying that all the networking acquisitions in recent years have been related to so-called SDN deployments. Now is the time to start thinking about where to start and whether you should understand the benefits of SDN for your organization.