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Lecture: Introduction to Software-Defined Networking

(SDN)
Objectives:
 Explain the principles and architecture of SDN.
 Understand the role of SDN controller and the openflow protocol.
 Identify real-world applications and use cases of SDN

1. Introduction

What is SDN?

 SDN is a revolutionary approach to networking that separates the network control

plane from the data plane.
 Traditional Networking: In traditional networks, each network device (like a
router or switch) decides on its own how to handle traffic based on its
configuration and protocols.
 SDN: In SDN, the control plane is centralized in a software controller that
dictates how the data plane (the devices) should handle traffic.

Historical Context:

 Networking has evolved from simple, static configurations to highly dynamic and
complex systems.
 The limitations of traditional networking (complexity, inflexibility) led to the
development of SDN.




Software-defined networking (SDN) is a modern approach to managing

computer networks. Traditionally, networks are controlled by hardware
devices like routers and switches, which can be complex and hard to
configure. SDN changes this by separating the control of the network (the
decisions about where data goes) from the actual movement of data.
SDN stands for Software Defined Network which is a networking architecture
approach. It enables the control and management of the network using
software applications. Through Software Defined Network (SDN), the
networking behavior of the entire network and its devices are programmed in
a centrally controlled manner through software applications using open APIs.
What is Software-Defined Networking?
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Software-defined networking (SDN) is an approach to network management

that enables dynamic, programmatically efficient network configuration to
improve network performance and monitoring. This is done by separating the
control plane (which decides where traffic is sent) from the data plane (which
actually moves packets to the selected destination).
What is a Data Plane?
Data Plane: All the activities involving as well as resulting from data packets
sent by the end-user belong to this plane. This includes:
 Forwarding of packets.
 Segmentation and reassembly of data.
 Replication of packets for multicasting.
What is a Control Plane?
Control Plane: All activities necessary to perform data plane activities but do
not involve end-user data packets belong to this plane. In other words, this is
the brain of the network. The activities of the control plane include:
 Making routing tables.
 Setting packet handling policies.
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Software Defined Networking

Why SDN is Important?

 Better Network Connectivity: SDN provides very better network
connectivity for sales, services, and internal communications. SDN also
helps in faster data sharing.
 Better Deployment of Applications: Deployment of new applications,
services, and many business models can be speed up using Software
Defined Networking.
 Better Security: Software-defined network provides better visibility
throughout the network. Operators can create separate zones for devices
that require different levels of security. SDN networks give more freedom to
operators.
 Better Control With High Speed: Software-defined networking provides
better speed than other networking types by applying an open standard
software-based controller.
In short, it can be said that- SDN acts as a “Bigger Umbrella or a HUB” where
the rest of other networking technologies come and sit under that umbrella
and get merged with another platform to bring out the best of the best
outcome by decreasing the traffic rate and by increasing the efficiency of data
flow.
Where is SDN Used?
 Enterprises use SDN, the most widely used method for application
deployment, to deploy applications faster while lowering overall
deployment and operating costs. SDN allows IT administrators to manage
and provision network services from a single location.
 Cloud networking software-defined uses white-box systems. Cloud providers
often use generic hardware so that the Cloud data center can be changed
and the cost of CAPEX and OPEX saved.
How Does Software-Defined Networking (SDN)
Works?
In Software-Defined Networking (SDN), the software that controls the network
is separated from the hardware. SDN moves the part that decides where to
send data (control plane) to software, while the part that actually forwards the
data (data plane) stays in the hardware.
This setup allows network administrators to manage and control the entire
network using a single, unified interface. Instead of configuring each device
individually, they can program and adjust the network from one central place.
This makes managing the network much easier and more efficient.
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In a network, physical or virtual devices move data from one place to another.
Sometimes, virtual switches, which can be part of either software or hardware,
take over the jobs of physical switches. These virtual switches combine
multiple functions into one smart switch. They check the data packets and
their destinations to make sure everything is correct, then move the packets to
where they need to go.
Components of Software Defining Networking (SDN)
The three main components that make the SDN are:
 SDN Applications: SDN Applications relay requests or networks through
SDN Controller using API.
 SDN Controller: SDN Controller collects network information from hardware
and sends this information to applications.
 SDN Networking Devices: SDN Network devices help in forwarding and
data processing tasks.
SDN Architecture
In a traditional network, each switch has its own data plane as well as the
control plane. The control plane of various switches
exchange topology information and hence construct a forwarding table that
decides where an incoming data packet has to be forwarded via the data
plane. Software-defined networking (SDN) is an approach via which we take
the control plane away from the switch and assign it to a centralized unit
called the SDN controller. Hence, a network administrator can shape traffic via
a centralized console without having to touch the individual switches. The data
plane still resides in the switch and when a packet enters a switch, its
forwarding activity is decided based on the entries of flow tables, which are
pre-assigned by the controller. A flow table consists of match fields (like input
port number and packet header) and instructions. The packet is first matched
against the match fields of the flow table entries. Then the instructions of the
corresponding flow entry are executed. The instructions can be forwarding the
packet via one or multiple ports, dropping the packet, or adding headers to the
packet. If a packet doesn’t find a corresponding match in the flow table, the
switch queries the controller which sends a new flow entry to the switch. The
switch forwards or drops the packet based on this flow entry.
A typical SDN architecture consists of three layers.
 Application Layer: It contains the typical network applications like intrusion
detection, firewall, and load balancing
 Control Layer: It consists of the SDN controller which acts as the brain of
the network. It also allows hardware abstraction to the applications written
on top of it.
 Infrastructure Layer: This consists of physical switches which form the
data plane and carries out the actual movement of data packets.
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The layers communicate via a set of interfaces called the north-bound

APIs(between the application and control layer) and southbound
APIs(between the control and infrastructure layer).

SDN Architecture

Different Models of SDN

There are several models, which are used in SDN:
 Open SDN
 SDN via APIs
 SDN via Hypervisor-based Overlay Network
 Hybrid SDN
1. Open SDN: Open SDN is implemented using the OpenFlow switch. It is a
straight forward implementation of SDN. In Open SDN, the controller
communicates with the switches using south-bound API with the help of
OpenFlow protocol.
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Open SDN

2. SDN via APIs: In SDN via API, the functions in remote devices like
switches are invoked using conventional methods like SNMP or CLI or
through newer methods like Rest API. Here, the devices are provided with
control points enabling the controller to manipulate the remote devices using
APIs.
3. SDN via Hypervisor-based Overlay Network: In SDN via the hypervisor,
the configuration of physical devices is unchanged. Instead, Hypervisor based
overlay networks are created over the physical network. Only the devices at
the edge of the physical network are connected to the virtualized networks,
thereby concealing the information of other devices in the physical network.
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SDN via Hypervisor-based Overlay Network

4. Hybrid SDN: Hybrid Networking is a combination of Traditional Networking

with software-defined networking in one network to support different types of
functions on a network.
Difference Between SDN and Traditional Networking
Software Defined Networking Traditional Networking

Software Defined Network is a virtual A traditional network is the old

networking approach. conventional networking approach.

Software Defined Network is

Traditional Network is distributed control.
centralized control.
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Software Defined Networking Traditional Networking

This network is programmable. This network is nonprogrammable.

Software Defined Network is the open A traditional network is a closed

interface. interface.

In Software Defined Network data In a traditional network data plane and

plane and control, the plane is control plane are mounted on the same
decoupled by software. plane.

For more details you can refer to the article differences between SDN and
Traditional Networking.

Difference between SDN and Traditional Networking

Advantages of SDN
 The network is programmable and hence can easily be modified via the
controller rather than individual switches.
 Switch hardware becomes cheaper since each switch only needs a data
plane.
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 Hardware is abstracted, hence applications can be written on top of the

controller independent of the switch vendor.
 Provides better security since the controller can monitor traffic and deploy
security policies. For example, if the controller detects suspicious activity in
network traffic, it can reroute or drop the packets.
Disadvantages of SDN
 The central dependency of the network means a single point of failure, i.e.
if the controller gets corrupted, the entire network will be affected.
 The use of SDN on large scale is not properly defined and explored.

Packet Tracer: Lab Activity.

In this activity, you will set up a simple network to understand basic routing
and centralized control without using VLANs. Begin by opening Cisco Packet
Tracer and creating a new project. Add two switches, one router, and four
PCs to your workspace. Connect `Switch1` to the router using an Ethernet
cable, and connect `Switch2` to the router with another Ethernet cable.
Connect `PC1` and `PC2` to `Switch1`, and `PC3` and `PC4` to `Switch2`.

Next, configure the router. Access the router’s CLI and set up two interfaces:
`g0/0` for Network A and `g0/1` for Network B. Assign IP addresses to these
interfaces (`192.168.1.1` for `g0/0` and `192.168.2.1` for `g0/1`), and ensure
both interfaces are enabled.

Proceed to configure the switches by accessing their CLI. For both `Switch1`
and `Switch2`, set the interface range `fa0/1 - 2` to access mode and ensure
they are not shut down.

Then, configure the PCs. Assign IP addresses to each PC according to their

respective networks: `PC1` and `PC2` in Network A with addresses
`192.168.1.2` and `192.168.1.3`, respectively, and `PC3` and `PC4` in
Network B with addresses `192.168.2.2` and `192.168.2.3`, respectively. Set
the default gateway for each PC to the IP address of the router’s interface in
their respective network.

Finally, verify connectivity by using the `ping` command from `PC1` to `PC3`
and from `PC3` to `PC1`. Successful pings indicate that the router is correctly
routing traffic between the two networks. If any pings fail, check device power,
IP configuration, router interface settings, and physical connections. Reflect
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on the router's role in facilitating communication between different networks

and consider what would happen if the router were removed from the setup.
For an additional task, experiment by changing the IP address of `PC1` to a
different subnet and updating the router configuration and gateway settings
accordingly to further explore routing concepts.