With International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasting that the worldwide software-defined networking (SDN) market for the enterprise and cloud service provider segments will grow more than eightfold to over $8 billion by 2018, Hewlett-Packard Co. yesterday announced the general availability of the SDN App Store in a move designed to give third-party developers the tools they need to develop and sell their SDN-enabled applications.

Set to go live on October 1, the HP SDN App Store is an open, enterprise-grade app store, the first of its kind in the SDN space according to HP. The company said it created the environment to encourage a new wave of networking innovation centered on SDN and open standards. “With the App Store, third-party developers have an opportunity to market and sell their innovations, and connect with customers around the world through this centralized platform,” said Stephane Kahloun, senior global product marketing manager of SDN at HP Networking, told SiliconANGLE.

The HP SDN App Store is part of an open SDN ecosystem in which HP also offers the HP SDN Developer Kit. The kit has been available since November 2013 and gives developers the essential tools to create, test and validate SDN apps. It is available on the SDN developer page. Among the HP partners who registered for the HP SDN Developer Kit when it was first announced are Citrix Systems, Inc., F5 Networks, Inc., Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., ShoreTel, Inc., SAP SE and VMware, Inc..

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Complete software marketplace

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The HP SDN App Store is much more than a simple portal, HP said. The company describes it as a “complete purpose-built software marketplace” that’s integrated with the HP Virtual Application Networks (VAN) SDN controller. The controller software is the central building block for developing SDN apps, providing centralized control and automation in a software-defined network.

Stephane Kahloun, Senior Global Product Marketing Manager of SDN at HP

The HP VAN SDN Controller controls policy and forwarding decisions which are communicated to the OpenFlow-enabled switches in the data center or campus network. HP and third-party SDN apps can leverage the controller to automatically deliver business and network service levels, Kahloun said. Customers can access the App Store directly through the HP VAN SDN controller or online.

HP first announced the SDN App Store concept last September at Interop New York and originally planned to make it available during the first half of 2014. The delay was due to the need to work with their “lead alliance partners and a set of pioneer customers to conduct multiple betas around the world to provide an experience that is enterprise-ready,” said Jacob Rapp, global marketing leader at HP.

The HP SDN App Store provides not just a set of APIs but rather, as Rapp explained, “an end-to-end model of solutions, support, services and sales tools to provide a fully integrated experience.” Since a core tenet for success in this new style of distribution is the active involvement of their SDN-qualified channel partners, Rapp said HP delayed the launch to complete “significant back-office upgrades.”

Upon purchasing SDN-enabled architecture, Kahloun said customers will work with channel partners to determine the right SDN apps for their environment, and will receive a discount code to be used in the HP SDN App Store. The channel partner will receive a reward every time a customer uses their discount code, Kahloun explained.

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Going live with eight apps

HP SDN App Store

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Kahloun said 30 ecosystem partners currently have apps in development, all designed to address the challenges that come with cloud, mobility, security and Big Data. Eight curated enterprise apps will be available for immediate download and deployment right from the live store on October 1. Two of the apps were developed by HP and have been available prior to the launch of the App Store while the other six apps were developed by HP partners, Kahloun said.

The eight apps that will be available for immediate download on opening day are:

• BlueCat DNS Director, which delivers network-driven enforcement of DNS policies that allow security infrastructures to gain complete visibility and control through IP address management data across all devices and applications;

• Ecode evolve, an SDN orchestrator that facilitates dynamic service provisioning with a built-in quality of service and denial-of-service mitigator. Streamlining network design, change simulation and automated policy provisioning, it accelerates operations;

• F5 BIG DDoS Umbrella, which allows customers to implement network, application, DNS and SSL DDoS protection near the network edge, closer to the attacker;

• GuardiCore Defense Suite, which provides highly scalable, SDN-based network security for software-defined data centers, detecting and mitigating advanced persistent threats, malware propagation and insider attacks at an early stage;

• HP Network Optimizer for Microsoft Lync, which enables automated provisioning of network policy and quality of service to provide an enhanced user experience;

• HP Network Protector, a tool that enables automated network posture assessment and provides real-time security across OpenFlow-enabled network devices.

• KEMP Adaptive Load Balancer Application, which is integrated with the HP VAN SDN Controller to provide end-to-end visibility of network paths for optimal routing of apps across the server and switching infrastructure; and

• Real Status Hyperglance, a hybrid cloud and SDN-simplified management platform that provides a unified, full-scale, interactive topology view with 360-degree navigation, monitoring and context-aware controls.

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HP SDN Ecosystem logo courtesy of HP

Photo of Stephane Kahloun courtesy of HP

HP SDN App Store image courtesy of HP