Every now and then, a promising technology either is subsumed by other platforms and technologies, or simply fails to gain traction. Gartner believes software defined networking has reached that stage, in part because its fundamental premise--separating the data plane from the control plane--now is simply the foundation of network design, not a “product.”
Network functions virtualization in the communications networking space provides an example of how that basic principle--separation of control and data planes--simply is an architectural principle for modern networking. But some had hoped SDN would abstract hardware from software in ways that would foster an awful lot more innovation in software. That arguably has not happened so much, some would argue.
At least in the communications networking space, SDN influence has lead to NFV, where the ability to separate data and control planes is allowing service providers to operate with lower cost, using generic hardware in some cases, and control software that is more centralized than before, meaning less-complex network elements can be deployed.
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