An Introduction to Software Defined Networks (SDN & NFV)

Learn about network infrastructure decoupling, abstraction, virtualization and how these ground-breaking ideas are being used to create today's application-managed telecommunications networks. You will understand how data flows between “real” and virtualised environments, and how it is all programmed to create new-generation networking services.

To better understand this, the course will take you though the technical aspects of both software defined networking (SDN) and network functional virtualisation (NFV), which will include a discussion of the protocols and technologies that are involved. You will understand SDN and NFV architecture, and how data is managed across the networking infrastructure.

If you’ve wondered about protocols such as OpenFlow, this will be an excellent introduction. Further, you will get to understand why terms such as “programmable”, “agile”, and “central management” as so often used to describe software defined networks. Discussions around network functional virtualisation will take you though the intricacies of what network infrastructure can be virtualised, and how these virtualised resources are managed or “orchestrated” to provide networking services. These discussions will be followed with a look at how all this is implemented at a data centre.

The course would be incomplete without a look at who is behind all this. You will get to understand the various industry standardisation and guidance bodies and how they work together to regulate and inform all players in the industry. The course concludes with a look at how to get certified for a career in this exciting industry.