Information Security Issues and Solutions in Software Defined Networks

This report examines the application and security challenges of Software Defined Networking (SDN). It begins with an overview of SDN technology, explaining its architecture, features, and functionalities, including the separation of the control and forwarding planes. The report then explores relevant technologies such as FoodLight, OpenDayLight, and OpenContrail controllers. It identifies limitations in SDN implementation, including dynamic nature, integration difficulties, and the technology's evolving state. A literature review highlights the benefits of SDN, such as increased security and agility, while also addressing security risks and integration complexities. The report identifies critical issues like automation services and cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities. Finally, it recommends further research into mitigation approaches and the future applications of SDN, concluding with a summary of its findings and references. This report is a student's contribution to Desklib, a platform offering AI-based study tools.

Running head: REPORT ON INFORMATION SECURITY ISSUES OF SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORK
REPORT
ON
INFORMATION SECURITY ISSUES
OF
SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORK
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note:

1Software Defined Network
Introduction:
The purpose of this report is to discuss about the application of Software defined
Network with the purpose to elaborate the effectiveness of SDN in computer networking. In
order to support the above mentioned discussion, this appear will consist a detail elaboration
of the overview of the software defined technology in which it also discuss about the working
as well as the features of this nominated technology. Followed by this it will describe the
application of relevant technologies and it will then further discuss about the problems which
has been identified in the application field of Software Defined networking. Along with
describing the above mentioned aspects, it will then also consist a detail elaboration of the
literature related to this technology, followed by with it will identify the gap of the nominated
technology as well as will also mentioned the key issues which can be addressed due to the
application of this approached technology. Along with describing the above aspects it will
also discuss about the critical success factors of present in this application of Software
Defined Network and a detail elaboration on the future application of this technology as well.
Overview of the Technology:
Software Defined Networking is nothing but the technology which works by
separating the forward plane from the control plane with the purpose to control the network
operations by the control plane. Followed by this after analysing the features and
functionalities of Software Defined Networking it has been noticed that the application of
SDN offers more dynamic, cost effective, manageable as well as adaptive capabilities which
decouples the structure of Network forwarding plane from the Network Control Plane
(Karakus & Durresi 2017). Considering the above features of SND technology it also holds
several features which includes the network layer programmability which is defined as the
network control plane is enough capable to handle the operation along as it is separated from
the network forwarding functional plane. Along with that it accounted the abstraction of

2Software Defined Network
network due to it help to outline the effective technologies which are proving the support to
the Network control process (Yan et al., 2015).
The above mentioned technology works by the integrating the various technologies
which includes the features of automation, virtualization by programmability. Followed by
this SDN utilizes the dynamic feature in order to switch between the network requests.
Relevant Technologies:
Followed by the above mentioned discussion the relevant technologies identified with
respect to the features of Software Defined Networking (SDN), which includes the FoodLight
Controller, OpenDayLight Controller and the OpenContrail Controller.
FoodLight Controller:
FoodLight Controller is works as a control plane tier which is an open source software
defined network. Due to the application of this technology offers the benefits related to
minimization of the dependencies present in the selected network, it enhances the load
balancing as well as is supports the features of physical and virtual overflow.
OpenDayLight Controller:
This is also an open SDN controllers which offers the features of integrating several
effective services which includes the incorporation cloud features, service automation,
network control, network visibility as well as maximize the Network Resource Utilization.
OpenContrail Controller:
The OpenContrail Controller is also offers best solution to the computer network
operation as it is one of the most effective SDN for network operation. Followed by its above
mentioned features it has been noticed that it is highly effective for controlling the virtual
network. This application also known as Juniper as well.

3Software Defined Network
Identified Problems:
While discussing about the application and the features of Software Defined Networking,
several significant limitations has been identified while applying it is the business services.
Those identified limitations are listed below:-
 Dynamic Nature- is one of the most significant limitations present in this case
scenario as it has been noticed that while dealing with real time data there is a
significant limitation present during the time of changing it dynamically.
 Integration- is also one of the limitation present in the application of SDN in the
business services as it becomes very difficult to integrate the various functionalities
into a single system.
 Still in progress- Since, it has been noticed that the growth of SDN is still in process,
thus it is learning day by day with new features. Hence, currently it has not developed
as one of the most efficient technology to work in the networking platform (Baktir et
al., 2017).
Literature Review:-
Followed by the above mentioned aspects based on the application of SDN in the field
of business infrastructure there are several benefits which has been offers by the features of
software defined network. Considering this aspect the author Yang et al., (2015) has
mentioned that it increases the security of the organizational network, increases the agility of
the selected business as well as improves the network performance by enabling the more
enhanced management control. However, several researcher has argued this by mentioning
that there are several limitation present in the application of the mentioned technology.
Followed by this aspect the identified issues are mentioned in the below discussion:

4Software Defined Network
Identified Issues:
Apart from the identification of the key benefits provided by due to the application of
SDN, several significant limitations has been accounted which includes the risk present in the
security process of the as several researcher has mentioned that due to the application of SDN
several concerns related to trust and security arises. Along with this it has been also noticed
that there is a significant limitation present related to the integration of the network
functionalities as currently the business infrastructures are highly expanded and complex thus
it becomes very difficult to integrate those functionalities and features into a single window
programme (Yan, Zhang & Vasilakos 2016). Based on the current studies on the features and
functionalities of the Software Defined Networking it has been noticed that most of the
researcher has focused on the security framework in order to determine the working
procedure and the trustworthiness of SDN. Since, SDN operates several operations like
telecommunication hence, it has been determined that there is a huge necessity to address the
security concerns as it will help to enhance the privacy of individual (Nikaein et al., 2015).
Identified issues which can to be addressed:
Considering the above mentioned discussion it can be stated that after analysing
several research paper based on the nominated topic, they have mostly focused on the
identifying the benefits and the limitation of SDN while applying it on the business services.
Followed by discussing the above mentioned aspect it has mainly focused on the application
procedure of the software defined network (Chen et al., 2016). However, according to my
view point the researcher must have focused on the discussion of the factors which may hold
the capability to reduce the identified limitations which is drawing significant issue.
Hence, it can be stated that the key identified aspects which are not being addressed in
selected research paper includes the lack of discussion on the describing the mitigation

5Software Defined Network
approaches and most of the paper has not focused on the future application of SDN with the
purpose to expand its application.
Identification of the Critical Issues:
After analysing the nominated research papers based on the features and
functionalities of Software Defined Network it has been noticed that there are several
significant aspect which is highly essential to be accounted as it may cause a huge blunder in
future. Those aspects includes the automation services of the SDN as the organizational
networks are highly complex and works with real time customer data, thus it is seems to be a
big problem in future. In case of any problem occurs in this field the entries SDN may fail.
Along with it since, the application of SDN high primarily depends on the cloud computing
infrastructure hence, it is also necessary to operate it will effective operations as it is highly
vulnerable to external threats.
Future Research:
Followed by the above discussed aspects it is now recommended that the researcher
needs to be focused on identifying the mitigation approaches which may hold the ability to
reduce the possibilities of getting trapped by any of the identified issues. Considering this
aspect it has been also noticed that there is no such research paper which has focused on the
future application of the SDN in other sensitive industries which includes the healthcare
industry, military hence, it is also recommended that the researcher must focus on the future
application of the currently approached technology.
Conclusion:
After the completion of the above discussion it has been noticed that this paper has
effective elaborated the application, features and functionalities of software defined network
by analysing several research paper based on the nominated topic. Followed by these, the

6Software Defined Network
paper has also focused on key limitations present in the current application of Software
Defined Network and successfully elaborated the reason behind the limitation. Along with
describing this it has also elaborated the application several other relevant technologies which
are based on the feature of SDN. Apart from describing the above aspects it also consist a
detail elaboration of the effectiveness of the selected research paper by elaborating the issues
present in the research papers and how these can be addressed in future. Hence, it can be
concluded that this paper has effectively addressed all the above requirements.

7Software Defined Network
Reference:
Baktir, A. C., Ozgovde, A., & Ersoy, C. (2017). How can edge computing benefit from
software-defined networking: A survey, use cases, and future directions. IEEE
Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 19(4), 2359-2391.
Chen, M., Qian, Y., Mao, S., Tang, W., & Yang, X. (2016). Software-defined mobile
networks security. Mobile Networks and Applications, 21(5), 729-743.
Karakus, M., & Durresi, A. (2017). A survey: Control plane scalability issues and approaches
in software-defined networking (SDN). Computer Networks, 112, 279-293.
Nikaein, N., Schiller, E., Favraud, R., Katsalis, K., Stavropoulos, D., Alyafawi, I., ... &
Korakis, T. (2015, September). Network store: Exploring slicing in future 5G
networks. In Proceedings of the 10th International Workshop on Mobility in the
Evolving Internet Architecture (pp. 8-13). ACM.
Yan, Q., Yu, F. R., Gong, Q., & Li, J. (2015). Software-defined networking (SDN) and
distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks in cloud computing environments: A
survey, some research issues, and challenges. IEEE Communications Surveys &
Tutorials, 18(1), 602-622.
Yan, Z., Zhang, P., & Vasilakos, A. V. (2016). A security and trust framework for virtualized
networks and software‐defined networking. Security and communication
networks, 9(16), 3059-3069.
Yang, M., Li, Y., Jin, D., Zeng, L., Wu, X., & Vasilakos, A. V. (2015). Software-defined and
virtualized future mobile and wireless networks: A survey. Mobile Networks and
Applications, 20(1), 4-18.