New SoftwareDefined Networking Consortium Established

The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry, has created the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Consortium to enable one-stop shopping for controller and switch interoperability, conformance and benchmark testing. 

The primary goal of the SDN Consortium, which officially opens on August 1, is testing SDN applications and controllers against SDN switches, whether OpenFlow, NetConf, RestConf or others. Interoperability testing will be available immediately and conformance and benchmarking will follow the requests of SDN Consortium members. 

UNH-IOL is making its multi-million-dollar test-bed and professional services available to SDN application and controller vendors and other stakeholders. Solutions based upon SDN and network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies promise greater efficiency and control and are helping businesses prepare for the rise of Internet of Things (IoT) -driven network complexity and challenging big-data resource requirements.

Application and controller vendors, network operators, user groups, data centers and others can access the Consortium’s collaborative shop for SDN testing that reduces the risk of applications not working with a particular switch, makes the management and deployment process run more smoothly.

Founded in 1988, the UNH-IOL provides independent, broad-based interoperability and standards conformance testing for data, telecommunications and storage networking products and technologies.  The organization offers extensive staff experience, standards-bodies participation and a 28,000 plus square foot facility.