3. SDN controllers on the market

3.1 OpenContrail

In 2017, OpenContrail is one of the most popular SDN controllers for networking virtual machines (used in an NFV context). OpenContrail is open source software managed by a community, but was originally developed by the manufacturer Juniper (following its acquisition of the Contrail company). Juniper continues to maintain a commercial version of OpenContrail in the form of Contrail Cloud and Contrail Networking products. Contrail's strength lies in its ability to integrate seamlessly into BGP VPN networks, and its advanced yet easy-to-implement service chaining features.

OpenContrail's architecture is interesting in that it is based on the components of a router.

In 2017, the SDN controller is therefore architected around...