Novel architectures and security solutions of programmable software-defined networking: a comprehensive survey

Nowadays, cyberspace has become a vital part of social infrastructure. With the rapid development of the scale of networks, applications and services have become enriched, and the bearing function of the underlying network devices (such as switches and routers) has also been extended. To promote the dynamics architecture, high-level security, and high quality of service of the network, control network architecture forward separation is a development trend of the networking technology. Currently, software-defined networking (SDN) is one of the most popular and promising technologies. In SDN, high-level strategies are deployed by the proprietary equipment, which is used to guide the data forwarding of the network equipment. This can reduce many complicated functions of the network equipment and improve the flexibility and operability of the implementation and deployment of new network technologies and protocols. However, this novel networking technology faces novel challenges in term of architecture and security. The aim of this study is to offer a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research on novel advances of programmable SDN, and to highlight what has been investigated and what remains to be addressed, particularly, in terms of architecture and security.