Introduced in 2011, and installed in production networks around the world, NEC ProgrammableFlow® Networking Suite was the first commercially available Software-Defined Network (SDN) solution to leverage the OpenFlow protocol, enabling full network virtualization and allowing enterprises, data centers and service providers to easily deploy, control, monitor and manage secure multi-tenant network infrastructure.

ProgrammableFlow SDN automates and simplifies network administration for greater business agility, and provides a network-wide programmable interface for unifying the deployment and management of network services with the rest of IT infrastructure. This open network architecture separates the network control plane from the data plane – centralizing and streamlining network administration.

The ProgrammableFlow Networking Suite enables better utilization of all IT assets for ongoing investment protection as customers add functionality or upgrade their networks.   With its SDN offering, ProgrammableFlow Networking Suite, NEC offers a simple solution for complex networks.

NEC’s ProgrammableFlow SDN networking solution is:

• Simple – Centralizes and automates control of the network, eliminating fragile and complex protocols and the manual, error-prone processes inherent to conventional networks.
• Fast – Provides highly resilient Layer 2 and Layer 3 multipath networks that support network interfaces up to 1 terabit.  ProgrammableFlow’s distributed virtual routing function eliminates the bottlenecks associated with traditional network design, providing line rate optimal traffic forwarding throughout the network.
• Open – Supports both OpenFlow 1.3 and 1.0 standards, and was the first to be certified by the Open Networking Foundation, acknowledging NEC’s commitment to open standards.
• Secure – NEC’s Virtual Tenant Network (VTN) technology enables isolated and secure virtual networks.  Each VTN has its own network policy, eliminating complexity and trade-offs in traditional network security design.

ProgrammableFlow V6.3 Enhancements:

• Non-blocking spine leaf network designed specifically for data center networks provides high performance network built on a low cost, power efficient, open platform.
• Secure network isolation of data traffic with up to 64,000 virtual networks, supporting fine grained network segmentation and multitenancy.
• Support for massive scalability - up to 10,000 switches - in a federated controller network, an increase of 2,000 switches from the previous release.
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NEC ProgrammableFlow Family of Products

Solution		Function
more	UNIVERGE® PF6800 Network Coordinator	NEC's UNIVERGE PF6800 Network Coordinator (UNC) enables construction and orchestration of virtual networks across multiple controllers within a data center as well as across interconnects between data centers.	more
more	PF6800 SDN Controller	Award-winning, network-wide virtualization and application-aware networking.  Providing a single point of control and management for both virtual and physical networks, and integrated with OpenStack and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager for streamlined, flexible network management and orchestration.   Programmable, standardized, north and south APIs offer a best of breed open solution for the future.	more
more	PFTAP Controller	Simplifies network traffic assemblage, filtration and visibility through automated aggregation of packet flows on the network using OpenFlow-based Network Fabric.	more
more	ProgrammableFlow User Interface	Provides centralized control, management and monitoring for both physical and logical networks.	more
more	PF1000 Virtual Switch	Virtual switch provides OpenFlow-based Software-Defined Networking (SDN) network virtualization in a Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V environment. With the ProgrammableFlow Controller, provides centralized control and automation of both physical and virtual networks, and now fully integrated with System Center Virtual Machine Manager, enabling unique consolidation and management of all virtualized resources and open networking to Microsoft Windows environments.	more
more	PF5240 Switch	Award-Winning High Performance – A powerful, hybrid, multi-layer switch. It can integrate into a legacy environment, or this switch can function fully with OpenFlow-enabled benefits behind NEC’s ProgrammableFlow Controller.	more
more	PF5248 Switch	This hybrid switch is a high-speed enhancement to NEC award-winning OpenFlow network suite with high throughput, low latency, lower OpEx with less power required and a compact footprint, greater scale-out.	more