The National Security Agency is using OpenFlow for software-defined networking functions as part of efforts to monitor its own network and information technology inventory, Network World reported Thursday.Jim Duffy writes the agency adopted OpenFlow SDN to centralize control of the network and streamline operations.
“We as an enterprise need to be able to control our network,” said Bryan Larish, technical director for enterprise connectivity and specialized IT services at NSA.
“We need to do it predictably and efficiently if we’re going to make it secure, and if we’re going to be able to support mission critical workloads.”
The report said NSA is implementing OpenFlow at its data centers, campus and field offices after a year of delay due to some cultural challenges.
Larish added that the agency is also using OpenStack data centers and looking at the commercial sector to support integration.
He noted that the open government efforts also include participation at the Open Networking Summit and Open Network User Group for sharing experiences and best practices as well as the launch of a GitHub page for publishing SDN code.
