Software Defined Networking: Bridging the gap between distributed-systems and networked-systems research

This contribution takes a quote from Einstein, We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them, to take a step back and try to have another viewpoint when thinking about a new internetworking architecture. The ongoing research will not be looked at from an application research point of view nor from a communication technology point of view, but from a software engineering perspective. This new way of thinking leads us to realize that the Internet is a largely distributed software system, and thus we propose to apply software-oriented methodologies to define a new internetworking architecture. These methodologies lead to a new, flexible architecture that allows for both evolutionary and clean-slate approaches. Moreover, this approach bridges the gap between application and distributed systems research, and networking research to have a more holistic view and avoid suboptimal solutions.