PALO ALTO, Calif. -- As most participants at the inauguralOpen Networking Summitextolled the virtues of software-defined networking (SDN) and theOpenFlow协议, others are waiting for key features to emerge before considering it for their networks.
OpenFlow and SDN allow a network to be programmed as if it were a computer, proponents of the technology say. It provides a layer of abstraction between the physical network to the control element, allowing the network to be configured or manipulated through software, which then opens it up to further innovation.
第一天：OpenFlow and SDN: Networking's future?
FAQ:什么是OpenFlow的？
But missing from OpenFlow, some presenters said, is support forIPv6的，MAC-in-MAC的提供商骨干网桥接，Q-in-Q的VLAN堆栈，QoS和流量整形功能，容错性和可扩展性。有人说，这些差距限制了OpenFlow协议的，和SDN的，适用于他们的网络。
"We're very much looking forward to IPv6," said Stephen Stuart, distinguished engineer at Google. "Current SDN implementations don't speak the standard protocols" such as IPv6, MPLS, IS-IS with TE, RSVP-TE and BGP. "More people would try out OpenFlow and SDN if they spoke standard protocols."
IPv6将之一features coming in Version 1.2 of OpenFlow in December, said Dan Pitt, vice chairman of the summit and executive director of the Open Networking Foundation, an organization driving standardization and adoption of OpenFlow and SDN, and a co-sponsor of the summit.
Others said OpenFlow and SDN are more useful to huge雷竞技电脑网站-driven companies like Google and network operators than they are to the enterprise.
“我完全拥抱颠覆性的潜力，但我还是不解其将如何影响企业，”彼得·克里斯蒂，互联网研究集团的洛斯阿尔托斯，加利福尼亚州，咨询公司的联合创始人说。“企业是网络市场的最大组成部分。构建一个可靠的SDN控制器是一项艰巨的任务。有一个新的技术客户不值重现同样的事情。已经有几个/ SDN‘杀手’至今应用程序。SDN还没有准备好针对企业市场的呢。”
Christy spoke during a panel session on opportunities and challenges with OpenFlow and SDN in the market. Others on that panel took issue with his assessment.
SDN将提高网络的灵活性和virtualization在企业中，并作为一个共同的控制平面的有线和无线LAN infrastructures, said Geng Lin, CTO of the networking business at Dell. "We need the hypervisor and the physical network to work together, collaborate, influence each other" through SDN, Lin said.
阿明Vahdat，在谷歌首席工程师，说，“我认为杀手级应用是在那里：斯坦福在其上运行的OpenFlow盖茨建设”Vahdat指的是斯坦福大学的利用它帮助它在计算机科学系创建协议。“这是现在在做很多事情，真的，真的很难。”
Indeed, these issues are not stopping research and academia from putting OpenFlow and SDN through the gauntlet. Stanford, Indiana University and Internet2 are engaged in the Network Development and Deployment Initiative (NDDI), touted as the first production deployment of OpenFlow technology for an SDN that will allow researchers to experiment with Internet protocols and architectures, while at the same time enabling scientists to conduct research with collaborators worldwide.
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NDDI将支持项目，包括大规模数据集从大型强子对撞机，射电天文学和气候模拟实验全球交流，如美国国家科学基金会的GENI项目和普林斯顿大学的PlanetLab的，大规模的网络研究的倡议NDDI website说。
“如果我们创建创新能力，把它分布广泛，让人们玩，SDN会变成野生的东西，”罗布Vietzke，互联网2的网络服务执行董事。
"Sometimes you have to challenge the status quo," added Matt Davy, Indiana University's chief network architect.
That's what Verizon plans to do with SDN, though not for something wild -- something practical. The carrier sees SDN as a way to reduce cost in its infrastructure.
"Why does Verizon care? It's economics," said Stuart Elby, chief technologist of Verizon Digital Media Services. "The reason is for cost. There's a tremendous reason to do this quickly based on cost savings."
Vertically integrated products are not following the trend of revenue, Elby says. SDN will help balance that out by integrating those products horizontally through virtualization and a common control plane for programmability.
开流可以帮助Verizon公司通过实现交通转向了长时间流量和直通式交换，以降低成本，优化了视频传输网络，和混合动力云计算services to enable bandwidth-on-demand for data center interconnection.
But like other speakers, Elby said OpenFlow itself will need to be optimized for the task.
"OpenFlow requires several enhancements to work effectively in virtualized cloud environments with lots of legacy infrastructure," he said.
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