PURPOSE
With the ubiquitous adoption of cloud computing, the Internet of Things, big data and mobile devices, the amount of data flowing through a modern enterprise network has increased substantially. Managing the flow of all this data requires systems that are dynamic, agile and flexible enough to handle the increased load. In many cases, the only sensible way to manage the flow of data through an enterprise is with a software-defined network approach.

To help people understand the terms used in software-defined networks, TechRepublic Premium has compiled this quick glossary.

From the glossary:

CONTROLLER
This centralized application is in charge of translating the requirements from the SDN application layer down to the SDN data paths and provides an abstract view of the network, which may include statistics and events.

DATA PATH
This is a software based representation of a network device in an SDN. Data paths implement in software the devices (switches) that move data packets on the network. They communicate with the higher control plane and application plane layers in the software defined networking stack.

DIRECTLY PROGRAMMABLE
The SDN system allows network control to be directly programmable because it is decoupled from forwarding functions.