SDN
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Networking
| Stands for | Software-defined networking |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
SDN stands for Software-defined networking, a networking abbreviation.
An approach that separates the control plane, which decides where traffic should go, from the data plane, which forwards it, so a central software controller can program many switches at once. Networks become configurable through APIs rather than box-by-box command lines.
Example: The data center uses SDN to spin up isolated tenant networks in seconds.
Usage notes
Grew out of research at Stanford and UC Berkeley around 2008 that produced the OpenFlow protocol. Large cloud providers built their internal networks on SDN principles; Google described its private B4 WAN as software-defined in 2013. Today the term covers controller-based fabrics, network virtualization and cloud networking consoles.
Related abbreviations
More networking abbreviations
- RFC – Request for Comments
- RIP – Routing Information Protocol
- RIR – Regional internet registry
- RTT – Round-trip time
- SAN – Storage area network
- SD-WAN – Software-defined wide area network
- SFTP – SSH File Transfer Protocol
- SMB – Server Message Block
- SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
- SNI – Server Name Indication
- SNMP – Simple Network Management Protocol
- SOA – Start of authority (record)