Summary Bullets:
- Network element disaggregation drives an immediate need for open operating systems for the separate elements.
- The SDN control needs to focus on the end-to-end network rather than the multiple network elements at a site.
In a blog last month (Hardware Disaggregation: Truly SDN-Optimized Network Elements?), I observed that software-defined networking (SDN) can orchestrate the separate traffic forwarding functions – wavelength switching, TDM (SONET/SDH/OTN) switching, packet switching and optical transport – allowing disaggregation of functions previously performed in a single packet-optical switching platform. After noting in a blog earlier this month that demand for this disaggregation exists beyond the theoretical (Hardware Disaggregation: Demand Extending Beyond Expectations), it is now time to consider what is required to provide network element disaggregation (or, in the rest of this blog, simply disaggregation). Continue reading “Hardware Disaggregation: Generating Site and Network-Wide Requirements”