With the rapid development of information technology, the scale of the network is expanding, and the complexity is increasing day by day. The traditional network management is facing great challenges. The emergence of software-defined network (SDN) technology has brought revolutionary changes to modern network management. This paper aims to discuss the application and prospects of SDN technology in modern network management. Firstly, the basic principle and architecture of SDN are introduced, including the separation of control plane and data plane, centralized control and open programmable interface. Then, it analyzes the advantages of SDN technology in network management, such as simplifying network configuration, improving network flexibility, optimizing network resource utilization, and realizing fast fault recovery. The application examples of SDN in data center networks and WAN optimization management are analyzed. This paper also discusses the development status and trend of SDN in enterprise networks, including the integration of technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence, the construction of an intelligent and automated network management platform, the improvement of network management efficiency and quality, and the openness and interoperability of network equipment. Finally, the advantages and challenges of SDN technology are summarized, and its future development direction is provided.
Li et al. (Fri,) studied this question.