Comparison between APIC-EM and network programmability in hybrid SDN

Abstract

The traditional methods used for network equipment configuration are time consuming, and hard to manage. It is both difficult to configure and maintain the network according to predefined policies and difficult to meet the growth in networks. For today’s networks, software-defined networking (SDN) looks to be the best suited solution to overcome difficulties. SDN provides traffic programmability, agility and the ability to create policy driven networks. SDN simplifies the control of the network by the decoupling of control and data plane, southbound protocols and northbound APIs. But due to SDN’s big and expensive requirements, organizations and industries tend tofavour Network programmability. Network programmability became a trend, enhanced and inspired by Software Defined Networks, that are based on scripting methods and standard programming languages used for the control and monitoring of network elements. The project begins with defining SDN and explaining its main concepts and how it differs from traditional Networking. A discussion will follow on the layered SDN architecture, an analysis of the control plane then a section discussing southbound and northbound interfaces. After that,Cisco’s solution APIC-EM is presented along with a working example. Finally,Network programmability is tested in a simulated network of traditional devices, then compared to its APIC-EM counterpart.