INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Feb. 19 – The Indiana Center for Network Translational Research and Education (InCNTRE) at Indiana University is hosting its first single-controller vendor Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Lab PlugFest this Feb. 19-21 in Indianapolis. The event will let SDN Lab members test the interoperability of their products with Big Switch Networks' commercial controller, the Big Network Controller. Equipment from SDN switch vendors Dell, Extreme Networks, HP, IBM and NEC as well as SDN testing manufacturers Ixia and Spirent will be tested at the event. Big Switch Networks is a founding member of the SDN Lab.

"The PlugFest is another way InCNTRE works to advance SDN technologies while fostering community among vendors," said Steve Wallace, acting InCNTRE executive director. "Big Switch Networks' recent open SDN product launch is garnering a great deal of industry attention, and our members are expressing interest in testing their switches with the new commercial controller. We anticipate this event being the first of many highlighting our members' technology."

In recent years, SDN has emerged as a way for organizations to build customized and dynamic networks, saving both time and money. InCNTRE's research, education and testing activities seek to advance the industry while training the network engineers and developers of the future. In fact, InCNTRE's SDN Interoperability Lab is the world's only neutral, third-party SDN testing facility.

"The InCNTRE team has been providing independent interoperability testing since before the industry heard of software-defined networking or its effect on network virtualization," said Rob Sherwood, CTO of controller technologies at Big Switch Networks. "This PlugFest will show our customers that platform-independent, OpenFlow-based solutions that run across the entire network are a reality today."

About InCNTRE

The Indiana Center for Network Translational Research and Education (InCNTRE) at Indiana University seeks to advance software-defined networking (SDN), and to enable researchers, students and IT staff within the academic community to innovate with SDN. InCNTRE's SDN Interoperability Lab is the world's only neutral, third party SDN testing facility.

InCNTRE is playing a key role in encouraging the development and adoption of standards-based SDN technologies such as OpenFlow. InCNTRE's research, education and testing activities are advancing the SDN industry while training the network engineers and developers of the future.

About Big Switch Networks

Big Switch Networks is the leader in open software-defined networking. The company's open SDN platform embraces industry standards, open APIs, open source and vendor-neutral support for both physical and virtual networking infrastructure. Big Switch Networks' product suite supports a broad range of networking applications, including network virtualization for public and private cloud data centers built upon OpenStack, CloudStack and other platforms.

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Source: Indiana University