SDN Network

[b-yassamine]

Hi everybody ,

In the SDN architecture we are talking about a controller that communicate with applications using the northbound API  and with the infrastructure layer with southbound API

So my question is: what is the difference between southbound API , southbound interfaces or southbound protocols, which is more correct

thanks guys

[Hamid Chaiforoush]

“Southbound API” is the interface between the control and data planes. So they should be Vendor-specific interfaces, the most commonly Southbound API is Openflow.

“Northbound API” is the interface between the control and application planes. In fact, the Northbound interface enables applications to access control plane functions and services without needing to know the details of the underlying network switches. Northbound interface is more typically viewed as a software API rather than a protocol. At last, unlike Southbound API there is no widely accepted standard, as I know.

[b-yassamine]

hi hamid ,

thanks for you answer

so in a SDN architecture : what is the difference between API and protocol and interface (southbound)

thanks again

[Hamid Chaiforoush]

I can give you short answers, but don’t believe that help you if you have a long term!

May I suggest you to quickly choose and review a SDN introduction books because there are wide variety of new terminologies you need to grab. If you ask me I recommend you “Fundamental of Modern Networking” by William Stallings.