An Architectural Proposal for an SDN based Data Centre: A Case Study

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is an important approach to network design which uses software to enable networked systems to expand data flow control. Data centre is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunication equipments, storage systems and backup systems. Networks are a critical component of data centres for getting efficient outputs / results. SDN presents a new architecture that separates the network control plane from the data plane, allowing a centralized controller (or set of controllers) to define forwarding behaviour. These networks have emerged as an efficient network technology capable of supporting the dynamic nature of the network functions and intelligent applications while lowering operating costs through simplified hardware, software and management. In this paper, we present a study of the data centre functioning at Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. (HPPCL) Shimla, India. The aim of this paper is to propose an SDN based Architecture for the data centre of this organisation. KeywordsControl plane, Data Centre, OpenFlow, Software Defined Networking