Big Names Take on SDN

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A number of vendors join the Linux Foundation in an industry effort to create a standard open-source software-defined networking (SDN) platform-- forming the OpenDaylight Project. 

OpendaylightProject members include Cisco, IBM, Citrix, Juniper Networks, VMware, Microsoft, Red Hat, Intel, Brocade, Big Switch Networks and Arista Networks, among others. 

According to the Linux Foundation “OpenDaylight unites technology industry leaders to establish the largest SDN open source project to date, with the goal of a common and open SDN platform for developers to utilise, contribute to and build commercial products and technologies upon.”

Cisco appears to be the leader, providing and open sourcing the Cisco ONE controller code under the Eclipse Public License. Other vendors will contribute "experience" and "proposals," apparently, before the first OpenDaylight code sees release by Q3 2013. 

Open source networking is not a new idea-- OpenDaylight reminds of earlier projects such as Open vSwitch, Quantum (part of OpenStack), OpenFlow, Floodlight and SwitchLight. 

SDN is described as the next big thing in networking, since it replaces physical networking gear with server software. Further putting it in the spotlight is VMware's buying SDN startup Nicira on August 2012 for $1.26 billion. 

Go OpenDaylight Project