Explore the emerging definitions, protocols, and standards for SDN-software-defined, software-driven, programmable networks-with this comprehensive guide. Two senior network engineers show you what's required for building networks that use software for bi-directional communication between applications and the underlying network infrastructure.This vendor-agnostic book also presents several SDN use cases, including bandwidth scheduling and manipulation, input traffic and triggered actions, as well as some interesting use cases around big data, data center overlays, and network-function virtualization. Discover how enterprises and service providers alike are pursuing SDN as it continues to evolve.Explore the current state of the OpenFlow model and centralized network controlDelve into distributed and central control, including data plane generationExamine the structure and capabilities of commercial and open source controllersSurvey the available technologies for network programmabilityTrace the modern data center from desktop-centric to highly distributed modelsDiscover new ways to connect instances of network-function virtualization and service chainingGet detailed information on constructing and maintaining an SDN network topologyExamine an idealized SDN framework for controllers, applications, and ecosystems