Network Automation: Is Software Defined Networking the Answer

Abstract 

The internet is a product of technological advancements but it has become a major victim of continued advancement in technology. Internet-based technology has been advancing so fast that it is possible for state of the art technology to become obsolete within months of implementation. During the advent and proliferation of the internet, there was a clear line between the internet service provider (ISP) and the client. In some cases, this line would be marked by a physical connection between the client and the ISP. With the proliferation of the smartphone and cloud storage system, the clear line between ISP and client was broken as the client was moving all the time and even accessing the internet from different places and at different times. An increase in the nature and volume of content within the networking necessitated the development of the Software Defined Networking (SDN) platform. Despite early apprehension about SDN, it has gradually been adopted, more so by major network players including Google and Facebook which are some of the most successful companies in the world. Judging from current indications, SDN will continue to expand in scope and volume until it takes over the networking world. 

Introduction 

Software Defined Networking (SDN) was developed as a response to the unique problem created by the continued overloading of the network system. The overloads came as a result of too many customers, too much content per customer, and many varieties of networking devices. When one customer who is mobile needs to access thousands of other customers who are also mobile, complex problems appear. Networking engineers and researchers thus developed a system where data management would be separated from data transfer so that a software program can handle the pre-transfer management . Under SDN, the routing process (Control plane) is separated from the data plane where the forwarding processes of network packets take place. SDN may eventually become the solution for network automation. Although it had become victim to the rapidly changing internet communication systems, some of the biggest players in the internet world have started embracing it. 

History of SDN 

The history of the SDN system is intertwined with that of the initial advent of the new generation smartphone around 2008 heralded by the development of Apple’s iOS, followed by Google’s Android. Contemporaneously, cloud technology continued to advance leading to its growth among computer users (Nunes et al., 2014). Companies such as Dropbox provided free cloud services and expanding the use of the scope of cloud systems. The combination of cloud systems and new generation smartphones created an internet system that demanded the kind of dynamism that the traditional apparatus and operating systems could no longer handle. 

The second component of the SDN history are two organizations. The first is a project at the computer services department of Stanford University dubbed Ethane. The second is Nicira, c company that specializes in networking innovation. Ethane was built on the concepts established earlier by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to develop the components that would lead to the creation of the OpenFlow system (Nunes et al, 2014). Nicira exploited the same concept to develop the NOX platform, an operating system specifically for networking. The key component suggested by EITF and developed by Ethane was the separation of the Data Plane and the Control Plane. This separation meant that each of them could be molded differently leading to a more malleable internet-based communication system. The development of application programming interface for OpenFlow and NOX makes 2008 a fundamental year for the SDN network as the two were the first acceptable fully SDN platforms. By 2010, SDN platforms based both on OpenFlow and NOX were being developed for commercial use (Nunes et al., 2014). Later in 2012, major players in the IT industry including Google and China Mobile rolled out commercial SDN systems. Most players, however, were apprehensive that the separation of the data plane and control plane would place the data being transmitted at risk. This was buoyed by the high commercial value of data in the modern times. SDN, therefore, did not grow as fast as expected in most quarters, but it served the players who adopted it (Nunes et al., 2014). The success of SDN in companies such as Google, Facebook, and China Mobile has resulted in the current resurgence of its usage. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of SDN 

Advantages 

SDN has a relatively lower operational cost than other platforms based on ease of operation and centralized administration. SND also provides savings in hardware expenditure and new users will also require a relatively lower capital than the other options available in the market (Kreutz et al, 2015). Cost is a fundamental consideration in the IT industry as cutthroat competition plagues it . The current proliferation of mobile internet users is mainly based on low costs. Secondary to lower costs, less hardware and a centralized point of control also enhance the security of the systems in its entirety (Haleplidis et al., 2015). Cloud abstraction capabilities is another cardinal advantage of the SDN and are based on the malleability of the platform (Zhao et al, 2014). Cloud technology is growing in scope and also in variety thus, a major system will connect with different types and brands of cloud systems. SDN can handle the different systems contemporaneously. Finally, the simple nature of the SDN system also guarantees content delivery (Kreutz et al, 2015). Assured delivery is crucial in modern time as most internet users expect real-time communication. 

Disadvantages 

SDN is purely based on software with the hardware components of the network being controlled by the software component. This creates what can be termed as a single point of failure in that if the software fails, the entire system will also fail. Further, a viral attack on the software component of the SDN will affect the entire system which augments the security risk (Mind Commerce, 2013). An attack on the SDN system would lead to a higher level of vulnerability than in a hardware-based system . Finally, the initial use of SDN in an already existent system requires a complete reconfiguration of the system alongside the training of staff which may come at a steep cost (Haleplidis et al, 2015). 

SDN Software 

A computer network is a system where different computerized devices communicate with one another either through the internet or an intranet system. In the simplest of networks, a cable or wireless connection can be used to connect several computers with one of them acting as the domain server. However, as more computerized devices are introduced into a network, all of them changing in nature and location, connectivity becomes exceedingly complex (Amaya et al., 2014). Instead of advancing the available hardware and human inference in managing a network system, SDN introduces a software package that manage the data in preparation for transfer in between the network nodes. An SDN can be considered as a layer of intelligence that has been inserted between the hardware devices to enable synthesis of data so that it can be placed in the format within which it can be accessed by the system of the recipient device . The SDN architecture has five basic prerequisites. The first is a directly programmable network control, which has been detached from the sending component (Amaya et al., 2014). The second is agility, achieved through an abstracting control of the system. The third is a singular logical switch achieved through a centralized network intelligence (Zhao et al, 2014). The fourth is a pragmatically configured network that is not based on proprietary software thus can be configured by the local manager. Finally, SDNs are vendor neutral and open standard based as it is implemented through open standards. 

Industry Implementations 

SDN at Google 

Google’s network is one of the most complicated in the entire world. Any of Google’s over one billion users can without prior notice make a complex such as “What’s the latest news?” (Vahdat & Bikash, 2017). Hundreds if not thousands of servers will need to be accessed just to understand the question in details and millions of servers will need to be accessed to answer. All these networking ought to happen within seconds of the question being asked . At any moment in time, Google is dealing with millions of such requests contemporaneously. It is, therefore, no surprise that Google was among the first companies to express an interest in SDNs the moment they became available at the trial stage. By 2010, Google in conjunction with Nicira was already running OVS from Onix which was advanced to B4 in 2012. By far the most advanced SDN platform to be deployed by Google is Expresso which was deployed in 2017 (Vahdat & Bikash, 2017). Expresso makes the complex network connections that enable Google to respond to complicated queries in record time possible. Based on Google’s success in SDN usage, it can be argued that at least for Google, SDN is the future of networking. 

SDN at Facebook 

For Facebook, SDN is not merely a good idea but rather the primary basis for its expansion, success, and perhaps survival. Monstrous amounts of data are involved in the machine to machine networks at any moment in time (Kerner, 2014). Most of Facebook users are not even computer experts with some being barely literate. Facebook must, therefore, ensure that its systems are as simple as possible. The hierarchy-based network structure could not work under the specifications that Facebook needed hence the switch to SDN. According to Facebook’s director of technical operations Najam Ahmad, the company operates its SDN under two primary philosophies. The first is that failure is acceptable as it will always happen even in the most advanced systems. Facebook, therefore, develops its SDN systems to adapt to hardware failure as it is inevitable. The second philosophy is always seeking to reduce complexity and keep the systems as simple as possible (Kerner, 2014). Unlike Google that uses SDN only in a segment of its networking, Facebook has fully embraced SDN as its primary networking platform through systems such as Facebook Open Switching System (FBOSS). 

Is SDN the Future? 

The computer network world is changing in two main ways. The first is the increased proliferation of network usage across the world. There are more cell phones than people in the US today and most of them are capable of some form of networking. This trend is being replicated in different countries around the world. The second main way that the computer network world is changing is in the volume of use per user (Kreutz et al., 2015). More people are using networks for a wider variety of uses from social media, mainstream media, work, leisure and storage among others. Eventually, every ISP will reach the point where Facebook was at when it realized that the traditional networking platforms are no longer feasible. By the time these companies arrive at that point, the rate and level of success of SDN will already have been proven by major players such as Google, China Mobile, and Facebook. The quest for a better networking system will lead this ISPs to SDN one by one until SDN becomes the most used if not the only used computer networking platform (Software Defined Networking, 2017). Based on the above, SDN is the future of computer networks. 

Conclusion 

SDN is more of a creature of necessity than a product of the invention . SDN was arrived at because the pace at which networking technology was developing could not match the needs of the expanding networking markets. For mainstream computer users, the advent of the cloud system and the expanded use of mobile computers augmented the need for an efficient and dynamic networking platform. It was, however, the advent and proliferation of the modern smartphone that created a revolution in networking. There were too many users, who had too many uses for networks. SDN became the answer to the networking problem through the introduction of a software component to handle networking processes. The biggest network users such as Google, Facebook, and China Mobile shifted to SDN. One by one, smaller players will arrive at the point where hierarchy based system are no longer sufficient hence shifting to SDN. Based on the above, therefore , the future of networking is SDN. 

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