Introduction
Abstract
Chapter 1 provides background on the fundamental concepts underlying current state-of-the-art Internet switches. This chapter includes historical background on the evolution of computer networking. The roles of the data plane, control plane and management plane are defined and discussed and we provide a brief review of the architecture of the traditional data switch. This and other historical background is used to explain how the modern computer network has evolved into a complex beast that is challenging to manage and which has difficulty scaling to the requirements of some of today’s environments. General characteristics of the modern data center are discussed. We explain how the distributed control plane that ...
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