🎁 New User? Get 20% off your first purchase with code NEWUSER20 · ⚡ Instant download · 🔒 Secure checkout Register Now →
Menu

Categories

Networking Advanced

What is SDN (Software-Defined Networking)?

An approach that separates the network control plane from the data plane, enabling centralized, programmable network management.

SDN decouples the decision-making logic (control plane) from the packet forwarding hardware (data plane). A centralized controller programs network devices via APIs, replacing manual device-by-device configuration.

Benefits include network automation, dynamic traffic engineering, easier policy management, and multi-vendor interoperability. OpenFlow is the most common SDN protocol. Cloud providers use SDN extensively for virtual networking (VPC, security groups, load balancers).

Related Terms

TCP/IP
The fundamental communication protocol suite of the internet that defines how data is packaged, addressed, transmitted, and received.
Traceroute
A network diagnostic tool that shows the path packets take from source to destination, listing each hop along the way.
ARP (Address Resolution Protocol)
A protocol that maps IP addresses to physical MAC addresses on a local network segment.
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A geographically distributed network of servers that caches and delivers web content from locations closest to users for faster load times.
Firewall
A network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing traffic based on predetermined rules.
Network ACL
A set of rules that control inbound and outbound traffic at the subnet level, acting as a stateless firewall in cloud and enterprise networks.
 View All Networking Terms →