Born in the research lab a decade ago, SWAN continues to accelerate networking in the Microsoft Cloud
Software-driven wide area network (SWAN) is a system that enables centralized management and control of network infrastructure to improve reliability and efficiency. SWAN controls the timing and volume of traffic each service sends and automatically reconfigures the network’s data plane to match traffic demand. Over the last decade, I’ve had the opportunity to shepherd SWAN from a research idea to a foundational system for Microsoft Azure (opens in new tab). I want to share a few thoughts to commemorate this incredible journey.