Allied Telesis predicts the future of Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Allied Telesis has unveiled more details about its vision for the evolution of Software Defined Networking (SDN). Less than one year after the launch of the Allied Telesis Management Framework™ (AMF) solution, Allied Telesis declared that although there is a great deal of activity in SDN-based solutions in the data center, the adoption of SDN into enterprise networks will only gain momentum once applications are created that deliver true value to business. The Company determined that extracting business value from SDN would require several steps.

Allied Telesis recognised that previous SDN innovation had primarily focused on the control plane, leaving the management plane underdeveloped. With that in mind, the first step Allied Telesis took was to develop AMF, which delivers an innovative management solution that simplifies network management and drives down operating costs.

Next, Allied Telesis created an end-to-end SDN-capable platform that is compliant with the latest ratified OpenFlow standards. This platform is designed to be a hybrid, capable of both OpenFlow and traditional intelligent Layer 3 switching simultaneously, and configurable on a per-port basis. This platform can be managed by AMF to provide a powerful and cost-effective management solution for SDN networks.

Allied Telesis is currently working with partners to create SDN applications that solve real-world business problems. The initial focus is on office applications for enterprise customers.

“SDN opens up innovative new ways to provide the flexible, secure, reliable communication options that are being driven by the take-up of mobile devices and ever-increasing convergence in Enterprise networks. Allied Telesis has decades of experience in creative problem-solving in Enterprise networks, and is now applying that experience to its SDN-based solutions,” said James Blumlein, UK Sales Director, Allied Telesis.

The powerful combination of AMF in the management plane and OpenFlow in the control plane provides an ideal platform for further innovation to develop unique and comprehensive networking solutions. Additionally, the flexible AMF platform supports legacy Allied Telesis products, including workgroup switches, and is able to migrate a legacy network system to an AMF system, without incurring a major investment.

Seiichiro Sato, Allied Telesis director of Global Product Management, said, "As a member of the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), Allied Telesis is fully committed to finding ways to deliver value from SDN solutions to our customers. We are excited to be able to demonstrate the first of these SDN applications, based on Allied Telesis platforms, at Tokyo Interop 2014 in June."