Software-defined networks and the physical network infrastructure their traffic traverses have a deeply symbiotic relationship. The architecture of the physical network infrastructure significantly affects latency, resilience, and overall performance. SDNs will be far more flexible than traditional device-centric networking, but the new options they will provide and the new operational paradigm will bring about complexity of a different sort in the near term.
This white paper discusses the range of SDN technologies that are currently evolving and how they can be applied to a series of cloud-related challenges. It also illustrates how Brocade is implementing SDN both vertically—in data, control, and management planes—and across its portfolio in order to provide users with a truly open cloud-optimized network, built on a resilient, automated fabric foundation.