Software Defined Networking (SDN)
May 1, 2024
Updated November 14, 2026
25 minute read
Software Defined Networking (SDN) represents a fundamental shift in how networks are designed, built, and managed. At its core, SDN decouples the network's control plane (which decides where traffic goes) from the data plane (which actually forwards the traffic). This separation allows network administrators to manage network services through abstraction of lower-level functionality, introducing a new era of agility and programmability into what was once a relatively static and hardware-centric domain.
Working in the field of SDN can be particularly engaging due to its innovative nature and transformative potential. Imagine being able to reconfigure an entire enterprise network with a few lines of code, or dynamically allocating bandwidth to critical applications in real-time. This level of control and automation opens up exciting possibilities for optimizing network performance, enhancing security, and enabling new services and applications. Furthermore, as SDN is a relatively new and evolving field, it offers continuous learning opportunities and the chance to be at forefront of networking technology.
Introduction to Software Defined Networking (SDN)
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Find a path to becoming a Software Defined Networking (SDN). Learn more at:
OpenCourser.com/topic/tylmr7/software
Reading list
We've selected 15 books
that we think will supplement your
learning. Use these to
develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a
deeper understanding of the topics covered in
Software Defined Networking (SDN).
Goransson, Black, and Culver trace the entire architectural arc of Software Defined Networking, from control-plane/data-plane separation and OpenFlow flow tables to OpenDaylight controllers, NFV orchestration, and data-center overlays.
Thomas D. Nadeau and Ken Gray deliver an authoritative architectural blueprint of early SDN, examining OpenFlow controllers, network virtualization, programmability interfaces, and real-world data center and WAN use cases.
Legendary routing author Jeff Doyle teams up with Doug Marschke and Pete Moyer to demystify OpenFlow pipeline processing, TCAM hardware constraints, proactive vs. reactive flow insertion, and hybrid SDN switching.
Modern SDN in enterprise and cloud production relies heavily on model-driven telemetry and APIs; Oswalt, Lowe, and Edelman cover YANG data modeling, NETCONF/RESTCONF, gNMI, and GitOps controller workflows.
Dinesh Dutt explains how hyper-scale data centers achieve software-defined agility using Clos leaf-spine topologies, EVPN-VXLAN virtual network overlays, unnumbered BGP, and open network operating systems like SONiC and Cumulus.
While academic SDN started with centralized OpenFlow, production enterprise SDN converged on distributed BGP EVPN control planes driving VXLAN overlays; Krattiger, Kapadia, and Padhy detail multi-tenancy and Anycast gateways.
Campus network engineers learn how Cisco DNA Center (Catalyst Center) orchestrates an SDN fabric combining LISP control-plane location tracking, VXLAN data-plane encapsulation, and TrustSec scalable group tags.
Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) is the most commercially successful application of SDN principles; Gooley et al. dissect the separation of vSmart control planes, vManage orchestration, vBond validation, and IPsec data planes.
Jason Edelman and Glenn Matthews demonstrate how to build a network source of truth with Nautobot, using GraphQL, REST APIs, and Python plugins to drive intent-based SDN configuration and automated compliance.
Award-winning textbook author William Stallings provides a rigorous university-level synthesis of SDN abstractions, OpenFlow switch specifications, ETSI Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) architectures, and service function chaining.
Brendan Choi guides network engineers from foundational Python scripting to modern programmatic device control, covering Netmiko, NAPALM, RESTCONF, and automated topology validation in virtualized labs.
Michael Kashin and Nicolas Leiva apply Go's concurrency model and gNMI/gRPC tooling to build high-performance, strongly typed network automation pipelines and streaming telemetry collectors for cloud-scale fabrics.
Patricia A. Morreale and James M. Anderson bridge academic networking theory and programmable control planes, covering OpenFlow switch internals, NFV service chaining, and software-defined traffic engineering.
Just as P4 made hardware switch ASICs programmable, eBPF has turned the Linux kernel into a software-defined packet processing engine that powers Cilium Kubernetes CNI and high-speed cloud load balancers.
Updated in its 6th edition to treat Software-Defined Networking as a first-class architectural principle rather than an afterthought, Peterson and Davie show how SDN unifies classical switching, routing, and congestion control.
For more information about how these books relate to this course, visit:
OpenCourser.com/topic/tylmr7/software
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