What is SDN (Software-defined Networking) in IoT?

The Internet Of Things (IoT) is an emerging paradigm that appeared with the outbreak of the number of devices connected to the Internet. It may be described as a network where everything can interact and communicate without human involvement; this idea is one of the most well-known technologies and a key component in the creation of apps for smart cities. The difficulties this technology faces, such as security, prevent it from reaching its full potential. Software-defined Networking in IoT is a potential solution to this. Let’s discuss the security problems of IoT and SDN and know how SDN can contribute to overcoming the security challenges of IoT.

What is Software-defined Networking in IoT? 

To make networks more adaptable and flexible, Software-defined Networking in IoT is an architecture that easily abstracts many different layers of a network. SDN aims to improve network control by enabling enterprises and service providers to respond quickly to changing business requirements.

Different types of software-defined networking

Primarily, there are 4  types of Software-defined Networking in IoT, each with its own benefits:

1. Open SDN: Open SDN uses open protocols to control the virtual and physical devices responsible for routing the data packets.
2. API SDN: API SDN uses programming interfaces, called southbound APIs, to control data flow to and from each device.
3. Overlay Model SDN: Overlay Model SDN creates a virtual network above existing hardware, providing tunnels containing channels to data centers. This model then allocates bandwidth in each channel and assigns devices to each channel.
4. Hybrid Model SDN: Hybrid Model SDN combines SDN and traditional networking, allowing the optimal protocol to be assigned for each type of traffic. Hybrid SDN is often used as a phase-in approach to SDN.

Why Software-defined Networking is important in IoT?

Software-defines Networking in IoT represents a substantial step forward from traditional networking in that it enables the following:

• Increased control with incredible speed and flexibility: Instead of manually programming multiple vendor-specific hardware devices, developers can control traffic flow over a network by programming an open standard software-based controller. Since they can select a single protocol to communicate with any number of hardware devices through a central controller, networking managers also have more freedom when selecting networking equipment.
• Customizable network infrastructure: With a software-defined network, administrators can centrally design network services and instantly assign virtual resources to change the network infrastructure. This enables network administrators to prioritize applications that call for greater availability and optimize the data flow via the network.
• Robust security: A software-defined networking in IoT provides visibility across the whole network, giving security threats a complete picture. With the proliferation of intelligent devices that connect to the Internet, SDN offers clear advantages over traditional networking. Operators can create separate zones for devices requiring different levels of security or immediately quarantine compromised devices so they cannot infect the rest of the network.

The risks of software-defined networking in IoT

As we have seen, software-defined networking (SDN) can benefit an organization in many ways, including increased agility and control, simplifying management and configuration, and providing more robust security. The controller must maintain a secure network. Being centralized could be a single point of failure. This potential vulnerability can be reduced by establishing controller redundancy on the network with automatic fail-over. Although it could be expensive, doing this to maintain business continuity is no different from adding redundancy to other network components.

How is software-defined networking in IoT different from Traditional Networking?

The critical difference between SDN and traditional networking is infrastructure: SDN is software-based, while traditional networking is hardware-based. Because the control panel is software-based, SDN is much more flexible than traditional networking. It allows administrators to control the network, change configuration settings, provision resources, and increase network capacity from a centralized user interface without adding more hardware.

Additionally, there are security distinctions between SDN and traditional networking. Software-defined networking (SDN) offers superior security in many aspects because of its increased visibility and capacity to define safe paths. But since software-defined networks rely on a centralized controller, protecting the controller is essential to upholding the security of the network. A possible weakness of SDN is represented by this single point of failure.

Software-defined networking in IoT and Konverge Technologies 

The purpose to modernize network infrastructure has been instrumental in the digital transformation efforts of many organizations. (SDN) Software-defined networking in IoT provides organizations with a greater granularity of control for modern infrastructure that is scalable, flexible, and secure. 

Find out how Konverge Technologies SDN solutions provide agility and help you modernize your data.