Modern Network Areas in Software Defined

Software Defined LAN (SD-LAN, SDN) - Local Area Networking deployed as software combined with hardware and/or software as an overlay network (or possibly integrated) with exposed APIs that can be managed from a network controller or by direct programmatic integration.

Figure 1.  Traditional Network Model

Figure 2.  Software Defined Network Model

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN, SDN) - Wide Area Networking deployed as an appliance or VNF on a hypervisor, typically on a standardized hardware platform with exposed APIs that can be managed from a network controller or by direct programmatic integration.

Figure 3.  Classical vs Software Defined WAN

     Network Ecosystem - a WAN system created to provide integration capability between consumers and vendors in high population locations, like within a Data Center or between Data Centers within their service coverage area.  Examples in the industry:  Equinix, Telx.

     Universal Cross Connect - a WAN system created to provide integration capability between consumers and vendors that provides a connecting service by extending this service to specific customer locations via Telecom, Dark Fiber, etc. http://www.abusedbits.com/2015/09/hybrid-cloud-how-it-can-look.html

     Service Management Platform (SMP) – Software, tools, services that create the connections for customers between orchestrated networks and Hybrid Cloud. http://www.abusedbits.com/2015/09/hybrid-cloud-how-it-can-look.html

     Enhanced Cloud WAN Service - a WAN service were the routing, switching, firewall, proxy, as well as Internet and other capabilities are run within a Telecom Cloud and connectivity to the consumer is via any physical  means available, typically with a reduced equipment requirement at the customer premises. http://www.abusedbits.com/2016/10/wan-ecosystems-evolution.html

Virtual Network Function (VNF) - Any network capability implemented as an appliance or virtual machine and executed as software within a virtualization platform or framework, typically in an x86 hypervisor allowing specific access capability to the network interfaces.

Figure 4.  Virtual Network Function

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) - Management and control of virtualized network functions (VNF) that includes the OSS/BSS and management tasks for the lifecycle of VNFs.

     Management and Orchestration (MANO) - Platform RE:NFV-MANO - providing the roles of OSS/BSS as part of a related control framework inclusive of orchestration of network functions (Network Function Virtualization Orchestration - NFVO), management of VNFs (Virtual Network Function Manager - VNFM) and awareness of infrastructure management (Virtualzed Infrastructure Manager - VIM).  http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/NFV-MAN/001_099/001/01.01.01_60/gs_NFV-MAN001v010101p.pdf