A look back at the recent J.P. Morgan SDN Forum and the ONF-organized panel on silicon in SDN.
This week Dan Pitt and I attended the J.P. Morgan SDN Forum in Palo Alto, which provides a venue for networking companies to join together and discuss Software-Defined Networking (SDN) trends and the potential for this technology to change the competitive landscape of networking. Co-hosted by the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), the event program consisted of both panel discussions and presentations from networking companies and venture capitalists. It was great to see companies and key influencers coming together to discuss shaping the SDN movement.
While at the forum, I had the privilege of moderating the ONF-organized panel, “The Place of Silicon in SDN.” We designed this panel to examine the degree to which silicon and existing networking systems can support SDN. The panelists also discussed their viewpoints on silicon’s future role in the market. It is a very interesting topic as there are differing viewpoints. I am sure we will continue to see conversations around silicon’s role in SDN. The panel included Tao Gu, chief technology officer, Centec Networks; Jim Finnegan, senior vice president of silicon development, Netronome; and Tsahi Daniel, chief technology officer, Xpliant.
All three panelists offered their expertise and insight into the role silicon plays in SDN. What was most interesting was that the panelist represented a wide range of companies tackling SDN. It is nice to see new players enter the SDN space offering a range of opinions on how best to approach SDN support.
I had a great experience while attending the event, and I look forward to engaging in future discussions around silicon and SDN. Silicon certainly has the potential to make a major impact on SDN, and conversations like these are helping to shape the role that silicon will play in this networking movement.
- Martin Izzard, Consultant, Open Networking Foundation
