When education encounters SDN, it can be Huasan Communication.
September 24 07:14:52, 2025
Looking back at the history of Software-Defined Networking (SDN), it originated from academic research, suggesting a strong connection between SDN and the education sector. As SDN gains more attention today, what exciting possibilities could arise when the education industry meets this cutting-edge technology?
When education and SDN intersect, they can become a powerful academic focus. Universities have always been at the forefront of exploring and implementing SDN. For example, the national "863" project led by Tsinghua University, called "Future Network Architecture and Innovation Environment," has driven innovation in SDN. This initiative brought together institutions like the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Computing Technology, Beiyou, and companies such as H3C. With support from universities, telecom research institutes, and other organizations, they built a test platform involving 61 institutions, proposing the FINE four-layer architecture and achieving significant results. Other universities, like Zhejiang University and the National University of Defense Technology, are also actively conducting research and testing.
Beyond research, SDN offers innovative applications in education. The centralized control model of SDN can enhance campus big data integration and reduce the operational burden on IT departments. It works well with smart campus cloud platforms, offering great potential for modern educational environments, especially in university networks.
Several universities have already implemented successful SDN-based solutions. For instance, Tsinghua University developed TUNOS, an SDN network operating system, and built a virtual cloud platform called VCP. They extended OpenFlow to create OpenRouter, a commercial router supporting OpenFlow. At Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, SDN and VXLAN technologies were used to build an Overlay environment, enabling dynamic resource allocation and supporting teaching innovation and campus management.
SDN is also becoming a popular competition among students. Events like the National University SDN Network Application Innovation Competition, organized by the Ministry of Education's Science and Technology Development Center, highlight the enthusiasm of students and educators in exploring SDN. These competitions encourage students to learn and apply SDN, preparing them for future careers in an industry where SDN skills are highly valued.
H3C, a leading player in the SDN market, has been deeply involved in educational initiatives. It has participated in standardization efforts with organizations like ONF and collaborated with universities and research institutes. In projects like the FINE initiative at Tsinghua University, H3C provided SDN switches for experimental platforms. It also established an SDN lab with China University of Petroleum to explore practical applications.
As one of the fastest-growing SDN vendors, H3C offers complete solutions from equipment to controllers, orchestration, applications, and management. Its SDN capabilities have been proven in projects like China Unicom's Woyun system and China Telecom's elastic load balancing. H3C has played a key role in national SDN competitions, providing technical training, guidance, and support to help students and faculty understand and implement SDN.
In summary, when education meets SDN, it opens up new opportunities. Born from academic research, SDN has created new market space and development opportunities for the education sector. It fosters innovation and brings fresh energy to the industry, making it a promising field for both students and professionals.