Data plane
The data plane is the part of the software that processes the data requests.[1] By contrast, the control plane is the part of the software that configures and shuts down the data plane.[2]
The conceptual separation of the data plane from the control plane has been done for years.[2] An early example is Unix, where the basic file operations are open, close for the control plane and read, write for the data plane.[3]
Packet switching
The conceptual separation of the data plane from the control plane in software programming has proven useful in the packet switching field where it originated. In networking, the data plane is sometimes referred to as the forwarding plane), as it separates the concerns: the data plane is optimized for speed of processing, and for simplicity and regularity. The control plane is optimized so as to allow configuration, handling policies, handling exceptional situations, and in general facilitating and simplifying the data plane processing.[4][5]
References
- Conran, Matt (2019-02-25). "Named data networking: Stateful forwarding plane for datagram delivery". Network World. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- Do, Truong-Xuan; Kim, Younghan (2017-06-01). "Control and data plane separation architecture for supporting multicast listeners over distributed mobility management". ICT Express. 3 (2): 90–95. doi:10.1016/j.icte.2017.06.001. ISSN 2405-9595.
- Bach, Maurice J. (1986). The Design of the Unix Operating System. Prentice-Hall. Bibcode:1986duos.book.....B.
- Ahmad, Ijaz; Namal, Suneth; Ylianttila, Mika; Gurtoz, Andrei (2015). "Security in Software Defined Networks: A Survey" (PDF). IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials. 17 (4): 2317–2342. doi:10.1109/COMST.2015.2474118.
- Xia, W.; Wen, Y.; Foh, C. H.; Niyato, D.; Xie, H. (2015). "A Survey on Software-Defined Networking". IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials. 17 (1): 27–51. doi:10.1109/COMST.2014.2330903.