# Software Defined Networking

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/62000225260-software-defined-networking
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- Last updated: 2026-05-29
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

Software Defined Networking - Security Architecture

  

A method of networking known as "Software Defined Networking" (SDN) employs software-based controllers or application programming interfaces (APIs) to interact with the network's underlying hardware architecture and govern traffic. While software-defined networking offers a new method of managing the routing of data packets through a centralized server, network virtualization enables organizations to segment different virtual networks within a single physical network or to connect devices on different physical networks to create a single virtual network.

  

**Why SDN?**

  

**Network architecture that can be customized**

Administrators of a software-defined network can design network services and assign virtual resources to change the network infrastructure in real-time from one central location.

  

**Strong security**

A software-defined network provides visibility across the whole network, giving security risks a more comprehensive perspective. With the increase of internet-connected smart devices, SDN offers a number of advantages over conventional networking.

  

**Increased control with more speed and flexibility**

Instead of manually programming numerous vendor-specific hardware devices, developers can control the traffic flow over a network by only programming an open standard software-based controller.

  

**How SDN work?**

  

Here are some SDN fundamentals: The software and hardware are separated in SDN. SDN keeps the hardware in charge of the data plane, which actually delivers the traffic, while moving the control plane, which decides where to send it, to software. The use of software-defined networking enables network managers to program and manage the entire network from a single interface rather than device by device.

  

A typical SDN architecture consists of three components, each of which may be situated in a separate physical location:

  

**Controllers,** choose the best route for a data packet based on the information from applications.

  

**Applications**, that transmit requests for resources or data about the network as a whole

  

**Networking devices**, which receive information from the controller about where to move the data

  

**Different models of SDN**

  

Although all software-defined networking is based on the idea that centralized software manages the data flow in switches and routers, there are various SDN architectures.

  

**SDN using APIs**

Application programming interfaces regulate how data travels via the network on each device, as opposed to using an open standard.

  

**Open SDN**

To manage the data plane behavior of physical and virtual switches, network managers utilize a protocol like OpenFlow.

  

**SDN hybrid**

In order to enable various network operations, this paradigm blends software-defined networking with conventional networking protocols in a single environment. Network administrators can gradually introduce SDN to a legacy environment by continuing to use some standard networking protocols while handing up control of other traffic to SDN.

  

**Model for SDN Overlay**

Another sort of software-defined networking builds dynamic tunnels to various on-site and off-site data centers by running a virtual network on top of existing hardware infrastructure. The real network is unaffected as the virtual network distributes bandwidth across a number of channels and allots devices to each channel.

## Related compliance guidance

- [SOC 2 compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria): Configuration checks like this one are the technical half of a SOC 2 / ISO 27001 programme — the guide shows where they fit, what else an auditor expects, and how to evidence them.
- [ISO/IEC 27001:2022 compliance: a practical implementation guide](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022): ISO 27001 Annex A.8 (technological controls) is where cloud hardening evidence lands; the guide shows how to run the ISMS around it.