© 2013 Juniper Networks, Inc.

WHEREAS the world is filled with voices shouting the glories of Software Defined Networks (SDNs)1 …AND WHEREAS IDC expects the SDN market to grow to $3.7 billion by 2016 ...

YET 57 percent of enterprises surveyed don’t know what SDN is2 …

It’s time for a clear look at capabilities, considerations

and questions to ask your network vendor when

evaluating hardware for your SDN journey. And yes, it’s

time that journey began. Why is that?

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SDN IS HUGE (FOR THOSE WHO UNDERSTAND IT).

What makes SDN so exciting is the promise of what it

can do. Let us begin with a common truth:

Businesses are looking for flexibility in the way they

build and deploy their applications. Business is

uncertain and changeable. Companies know that they

must move quickly and devote themselves to building

killer applications and services to succeed.

They look to the network to support them. But too

often, it falls short.

SDN is the answer. It promises to solve these issues

and deliver genuine agility to the enterprise and to

service providers with:

AUTOMATED PROVISIONING ACROSS YOUR

CLOUDS. Do not let your virtualized environment limit

you —automate provisioning across public and private

clouds.

AGILE DEPLOYMENT OF SERVICES. Deliver faster,

right to the network edge.

DYNAMIC TRAFFIC ENGINEERING. Take command

of traffic flow cross the Wide Area Network (WAN).

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT. Simplify management

of campus network policies for wired and wireless

devices.

WE BELIEVE IT’S TIME FOR SOME

STRAIGHT TALK.

THE BENEFITS OF SDN ARE BIGGER THAN THE NETWORK (SDN IS FOR BUSINESS).

SDN changes the whole equation for the network,

turning it from a faceless utility into a powerful driver

of business agility. It changes our expectations of

network hardware, and how businesses can and will

react to the challenges of the future.

It should not be approached lightly. A solid strategy

may require 2–3 years to map out, but this is no reason

to wait on the sidelines. Real changes that will yield

immediate results can begin today. This is our call for

clarity on what to consider, what to look for, and the

questions you should ask. We say this with a clear

voice and a clear conscience. Hit us with your hardest

questions, and judge us by the fairness and truth of our

answers.

Q: WHAT WILL NETWORK MANAGEMENT BE LIKE?

A: EASIER. Users want to manage all of their

infrastructure elements including compute, storage

and the network, all from a single pane of glass.

Open source initiatives such as OpenStack10 are

gaining momentum, and commercial options such as

VMware11 already have an important place in many

data centers. This enhances the ability of the network

to adapt dynamically to applications and other

components of the IT infrastructure.

Q: WHAT DO YOU SAY TO OVERLAYS?

A: YES. Overlay networks are increasing in popularity.

In looking at how these overlays provide management

simplification, users have realized that certain

operational benefits can be achieved for greater

agility. Because of this benefit, overlays have become

especially interesting to enterprise customers.

THE IMPLICATIONS FOR NETWORK OPERATORS ARE CLEAR.

THERE IS MUCH TO BE DONE. You still need to

design, provision, manage, operate and troubleshoot

the network. But an SDN world also requires new

skills and knowledge. Here are just a few of the

subjects to study before executing your plan for SDN

implementation:

NEW PROTOCOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES.

Make sure the infrastructure investment you make

is flexible enough to last.

OVERLAYS. The new network will be a hybrid

model which will depend on your choice of

applications. Very few enterprise apps are 100

percent virtualized. A mix of overlay technology

and physical networks will be the reality for most

data centers. Network operators will have to

understand the relationship between the two.

ORCHESTRATION SYSTEMS. As the

management of networks shifts away from CLI

and towards orchestration platforms, the network

interfaces and integration points (APIs) need to

be clearly defined, and must deliver automation

and agility. Examples include network interfaces

for server, sys-admin, application developers and

higher-level orchestration systems.

THE BUYER’S JOURNEY: WHEN, HOW AND WHERE TO BEGIN.

NOW WOULD BE GOOD. Even if your SDN

implementation will not begin until 2016 or beyond,

you need to make critical infrastructure decisions

now. Server refreshes happen. Bring Your Own Device

(BYOD) is taxing most enterprises. Big Data is both a

challenge and an opportunity. You can start making

infrastructure decisions to address today while

looking forward to the SDN future. It’s not about rip-

and-replace. But it’s not about waiting for an SDN

“shake out” either. The exact future of SDN may

not be known, but it starts now. Here’s how:

1. INVEST IN THE RIGHT ARCHITECTURE

Why? The network buying decisions that you make

today are driven by specific projects such as adding

scale and capacity, building new applications and

services, and IT consolidation. SDN won’t change that.

So base your decision on network architectures that

deliver the features and capabilities you are looking

for—with a focus on simplified management.

Why now? The right architecture reduces OpEx for

managing the physical network (topology, power

consumption, space and cabling requirements) while

delivering key features and application performance

that’s reliable and predictable. Just like the foundation

1 451 SDN research survey—42 percent of enterprise have heard of SDN, but not familiar with the details2 IDC/Juniper Nov 20123 OpenStack, OpenStack Grizzly Release, APRIL 4, 20134 Gartner analyst in March of 2013: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2013/03/19/gartner_virtualisation_market_overview5 Gartner—Hype Cycle for Networking and Communications, 20126 Gartner—Predicts 2013: IT and OT Alignment Has Risks and Opportunities7 451 Research/Juniper Networks SDN Use Case Survey, November 20128 Gartner—Hype Cycle, ibid9 Gartner—Predicts 2013, ibid10 OpenStack—Grizzly Release, ibid11 Gartner analyst, ibid12 OpenStack—Grizzly Release, ibid

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Q: WHERE ARE WE WITH SDN TODAY?

A: EARLY. There are SDN implementations in

production at some large service providers and mega-

data centers, but those are currently the exceptions

and many of the use cases are in pilot phases.

You may have heard of OpenFlow, one of the first

SDN protocols. Gartner refers to OpenFlow as

“emerging” and predicts broad adoption is still at

least two years away.8 They also estimate that only

10 percent of enterprise customers will be using SDN

implementations to manage their cloud and network

infrastructures by 2016.9

Q: WHAT HAPPENS TO MY OLD NETWORK?

A: IT EVOLVES. Certain physical characteristics of

your network will remain relevant even in an SDN

world. Network operators will still need to operate and

manage the network. But management approaches

will evolve from silos to more converged and

integrated systems for broader orchestration. But how

seamlessly your network evolves will be determined

by the choices you make today.

A physical network that’s not complex and that’s easy to manage

Standard and open APIs for integration, interoperability and certification

Purpose-built, programmable ASICs on core networking platforms

–User experience–Reduced OpEx–Superior performance

–Agility via integration –Automated network

provisioning

–User experience–Feature velocity–Customizable for your

environment

Simplified integration and troubleshooting in SDN environments

Flexibility and freedom of choice

Investment protection means no hardware replacement

Architecture

Open interfAces

prOgrAmmAbility

whAt it is benefits tOdAyincrementAl benefits fOr sdn

of your house, you don’t want to change the

architecture every couple of years. You have to live

with your decisions for a long time.

Why is this important for SDN? You’ll have a network

architecture that’s easier to integrate with SDN

controllers and less cumbersome to troubleshoot. As

you move forward in your SDN implementation, you

will still maintain the benefits of OpEx reduction.

2. THINK IN OPEN STANDARDS

Why? SDN is no excuse to compromise on the

characteristics that are currently delivered by

your network architecture. Look for products (and

suppliers) that are building towards open interfaces,

interoperability, certifications, and support for

protocols and management tools that are prevalent in

the SDN world. Be sure to ask your network vendor if

they support:

OpenFlow protocol

VXLAN protocol

NVGRE protocol

Integration with VMware vCenter

Integration with VMware vCloud Director

Integration with NSX

OpenStack integration

CloudStack integration

Puppet and Chef IT automation tools

Depending on your current infrastructure and your

expected needs, you may not need all of these.

But since SDN is still unfolding, the more of these

you have, the more options you’ll maintain as SDN

marches toward its full promise.

Why now? Commitment in these areas is a clear

indicator that your network vendor understands how

to deliver better agility and automation for your

network. It also ensures they won’t lock you into a

proprietary approach or a protocol solution that may

become sub-optimal as SDN evolves.

Why is this important for SDN? You want

flexibility and choice for management methods

and tools, along with a clear path for supporting

SDN controllers in the future.

3. SEEK FLEXIBLY PROGRAMMABLE HARDWARE

Why? Remember, it’s EARLY. New protocols, features

and orchestration systems may emerge with benefits

that may be too hard to ignore. And you won’t want to

rebuild your network again. Devices built with flexible

programmability have the ability to support new

features and protocols. For example, programmable

ASICs at the core of the network can enable SDN

customers to customize their network

for their needs as SDN evolves.

Why is this important now? Superior performance,

ability to scale and power efficiencies are crucial in

parts of the network such as the data center, campus

core and WAN edge. Programmable ASICs can provide

performance for today’s requirements and flexibility

for what may come.

Why is this important for SDN? Flexible

programmability is important to protect your

investment and reduce CapEX in the wake of new

SDN protocols and encapsulation technologies, and

allows even more flexibility for customization.

SDN OFFERS MUCH. THE RIGHT MOVES NOW CAN SET YOU UP FOR THE FUTURE

Whether you’re starting to implement SDN today or

evaluating it for sometime in the future, be sure to

ask the types of questions you’ve seen outlined here.

We bet you’ll find that Juniper Networks has the only

complete strategy and business model—one that can

ensure the investment decisions you make TODAY are

the right choices for the FUTURE.

For more information on SDN and related

technologies, visit http://www.juniper.net/SDN

The SDN Chasm Ahead

15% only

1%

10%

of Enterprises are very familiar with SDN5

market penetration6

will have SDN deployments by 20167

56%

75%

more OpenStack developers3

of virtualization customers use VMware4

Emergence of Orchestration

Land of (Overlay) Confusion

Likely to deploy overlay within 3 years

80%Unlikely or needmore information12

VXLAN

NVGRE

STT MPLS

OTV

OPEN FLOWQinQ

VPLS

SPB

TRILL 20%

The Right Architecture

CONTROLLER

Simple ArchitectureComplicated Architecture

CONTROLLER