Optical networks to introduce a driving force of SDN

Optical networking introduction of software-defined network (SDN) technology, the main purpose is to control and convey by decoupling centralized control strategy to simplify the existing complex and proprietary optical network control and management protocol, through an open network and application layer interface, providing network programmable capability to meet future data center internetworking, network virtualization, flexible and efficient service provision, networks and business innovation development needs.

Currently, optical networks SDN trend is obvious, the main driving forces include the following aspects:

1. Cloud Data Center Interconnect

With the development of cloud computing, data center interconnect services (data center backup, virtual machine migration) for backbone and metro optical networks made large bandwidth, data center interconnect to provide dynamic and flexible business needs, the current domestic carrier optical network The total bandwidth has reached several Tb/s level. Optical network to provide data center interconnect generally used in accordance with the maximum peak configure static bandwidth mode, the bandwidth requirements of data centers is not always at the peak of the state, this mode causes the user to rent expensive and wasteful operator's network resources. The dynamic nature of the Internet data center also includes a change of access points required for flexible scheduling and optical network dynamically adjust the connection between the data center.

2. Manufacturers across the network centralized maintenance management and scheduling

The number of optical network equipment and many manufacturers, especially the metro transport network and access network sites have massive, centralized network management and maintenance to bring great challenges. Meanwhile, the optical network physical layer technology is complex, the manufacturers of network control and management protocols varying degrees of private information across manufacturers of equipment for centralized management and scheduling difficult to achieve, resulting in long service provisioning time, low efficiency, often require a number of service provisioning days or even weeks. SDN by forwarding and control the separation and network virtualization technology, shielding the details of the forwarding plane from different manufacturers, provides a standard interface controller interconnection, to address multi-vendor optical networking equipment Centralized management and interoperability, simplify maintenance provides a new opportunity for network operation.

3. Heterogeneous Network Intelligence interoperability and cooperative scheduling

With the rapid growth of broadband network flow, expansion costs and operating profit growth slowdown is formed between the scissors, the most important issue facing operators. SDN technology can achieve optical network and IP network resources optimization and synergy between the control, effectively reducing the capacity requirements of the router, to solve the bottleneck of network capacity, reduce the overall cost of the network hosts. Meanwhile, co-SDN controller, you can achieve intelligent interoperability and resource access, metro, backbone network and other heterogeneous network of joint scheduling, improve traffic management capabilities to provide a more intelligent plumbing services, for operators and users important.

4. Network virtualization and open business applications

Virtualized network resources can better play the advantages of optical networking infrastructure resources, enabling customers to different services based on application requirements, quickly and efficiently access and control network resources in ensuring the quality of service provided, and makes use of network resources optimized. Independent control on the one hand is open to the operator's own business, with a physical network, for government and enterprise customers, residential customers, backhaul network can have logic: network virtualization technology, optical networks can provide service based on both open system, namely, the achievement logical fragmentation of the network; the other is open to customers, provide on-demand adjustment, open innovation, effective coordination "soft network" capability.