Software-defined networking (SDN) and DevOps are not mutually exclusive. Actually, DevOps wants SDN, whether it knows it yet or not.
Why?
If software is going to eat the world, then SDN is going to eat networking.
Networks are becoming more complex, and one way to manage them more effectively is through SDN. Also, organizations are demanding faster changes, yet networking changes traditionally have been a manual process.
In a profession where network engineers typically work in seclusion and use significant manual processes, it can provide a set of tools to align with DevOps. This is why DevOps needs to care about it.
Software-defined networking leads to infrastructure as code (IaC), which makes network automation possible.
SDN, in its simplest form, is controlling networking hardware with software. But there is more to it: Software-defined networking means networking switches and routers no longer need to be controlled with proprietary software. This creates an opening for innovation and is how we now have OpenFlow.
This implies that networking now can culturally align itself with DevOps. The question will become whether it wants to. IaC is where networking will find its home with the DevOps team—it is like SDN for Ops.
Software-defined networking will open communication and make automation possible—two ideas that are fundamental to an effective DevOps team.
Open communication between networking can be easier when the mindset and tools are enabling a similar process. For DevOps, the current stack is providing tools to do exactly this. We see this with the Ansible and Red Hat DevOps networking partnership.
What’s more, SDN enables network automation. Automation is an important goal for DevOps, which before SDN was not workable. Network automation can mean a better integration of DevOps and networking, as networking comprises many manual processes and, as such, is a bit isolationist. Aligning goals can provide better communication and collaboration.
SDN, IaC and DevOps networking are providing a set of tools and ideas that can push widespread adoption of network automation.
Network automation is not a new topic, but implementation has been difficult. Technology had to catch up with demand: Before OpenFlow, networking infrastructure ran on proprietary software, which meant manual changes and configurations were commonplace and one-off scripts are the norm.
With SDN and a technological environment conducive to network automation, we can begin to test different network automation strategies. Currently, however, organizations using automation only use it for segmenting their firewalls. We are in the early stages of what network automation can do.
Just as DevOps is still finding ways to use automation in testing and development, networking is on its own discovery path to automation. The only difference is DevOps has a goal to automate and networking still views automation as a “nice to have.”
We have the conversation about SDN, IaC and network automation because networking does not have its functions accurately defined within the DevOps framework. That is why NetDevOps is a topic of discussion.
The fact that SDN is still in its infancy stages and network automation is being discussed as “how to implement” shows there is a need for a cultural shift in networking that aligns with DevOps. This will help DevOps with communication and collaboration.
DevOps wants automation and NetDevOps shares this goal. SDN is what makes this possible, and is exactly why DevOps should care.
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