What is Software Defined Networking?
Software–Defined Networking (SDN) is a network architecture approach that enables the network to be intelligently and centrally controlled, using software applications, usually in the cloud, but not necessarily. This helps administrators and operators manage the entire network consistently and holistically, regardless of the underlying network technology.
Traditionally, the networks are managed by hardware, especially enterprise networking. It’s generally complex and hard to integrate between vendors, and devices.
SDN, a new trend, tries to simplifying the networking architecture by employing software to manage the different function among the network, and provide easier connections to different vendor products, making it flexible to mix and match different vendor products, theoretically. It reduces the overall cost in terms of hardware, and simplifying overall management tasks.
Who are the leading vendors in the space? Here is a list in no particular order:
| # | Company | WebSite | Comments | Free of License |
| 1 | Ubiquity Inc | http://ui.com | Best and most mature software, and hardware availabilities | Yes |
| 2 | Open Mesh | http://www.openmesh.com | One of the early pioneer in the space, but bought by Datto Networking | Yes (Mesh) No (Datto) |
| 3 | LinkSys | https://www.linksys.com/us/cloud-manager/ | New Comer joining the SDN space, with their networking background, they are doing fash catching up | 5 Years Free |
| 4 | Aruba Instant On | https://www.arubainstanton.com/ | One of the early enterprise networking player, and quickly jumping on to the SDN bandwagon too. | Yes |
| 5 | TP Link | https://www.tp-link.com/us/ | They have a few products with SDN support | No: Cloud Yes: Others |
| 6 | En Ginius | https://www.engeniustech.com/ | Still in early stage of development | Yes |
| 7 | AeroHive | http://aerohive.com | Now belongs to Extremenetworks.com, enterprise SDN, with great security | No |
| 8 | Meraki | http://meraki.cisco.com | Cisco’s cloud based networking product line | No |
| 9 |
There are probably a few more that i have missed. We will review some of the product lines in detail in the next couple month.
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