Software Defined Networking or SDN as it is better known, is one of those buzz words that has been flying around for a couple of years now with very few people knowing what it really is.
If a Network Engineer is not looking at how they will up-skill themselves to work on SDN soon, then they are running the risk of being left behind. It is an ongoing theme that “2017 is the year for SDN,” so there is no time like the present!
“SDN Is an umbrella term encompassing several technologies aimed at making the network more agile and speeding up the process of network changes”
The general idea is to take a traditional network (made up of physical equipment – routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers) and move it to be more application driven. Then all network changes can be made via that application meaning an Engineer doesn’t need to physically be with the hardware to make the changes anymore.
Every network will benefit slightly differently and the specific advantages of SDN will vary from network to network but this means to you that –
- Your network is going to get virtualized, and fast!
- Once up and running your network becomes software-based so you can move it wherever you want – it will be a thing of the past to physically pull out, rerack and stack hardware.
- SDN will provide a centralized view of the entire network which will give you the opportunity to “play around” and experiment with network configs without impacting the network.
- Lower operating costs.
- More security, more compliance, more paperwork *sigh*
SDN is becoming more and more of a reality and Network Engineers need to ensure they are staying ahead of the curve, keeping up with current affairs/tech updates and (most importantly) not being left behind so their skills are still in demand.
If they are not already, as a modern-day Network Engineer, we would recommend looking at –
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Automation and Programming-
- Do they understand what tasks should or should not be automated?
- Are they upskilling themselves on programming, coding and/ or scripting?
- Although they do not need to be an avid Developer who can code, they will need to be able to read code and understand it – this will help massively!
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Training-
- There are a lot of courses/certs they can take around the “DevOps” side of things right now that will get them ahead of the curve.
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Changes in certs-
- Rumours have been and gone around the CCIE SDN, but is it still a possibility??
The majority of changes are yet to come and although it won’t happen overnight, there will be a gradual increase for Network Engineers with Scripting/Programming/Coding skills. Lots of Engineers will have experience in coding or scripting via GUI’s, but it will become more and more common for Engineers to really need to understand this side of Networking. Whether it is for an internal promotion or for personal development one of the key reasons a person looks for a new role is to develop their skills. Technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace and your Engineers will want to stay ahead of the curve, if you aren’t preparing to up-skill them then another organisation will be!