1. Intel Declares a New Data Center Era

Always trying to push beyond the PC/server market, Intel kicked off the week by declaring intentions to re-architect the data center. Software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) certainly fit that mission, but Intel didn't say anything to expand on its April announcement at the Open Networking Summit.

Possibly the bigger news out of the event was that Intel has built custom server chips for eBay and Facebook.

2. ONF Starts OpenFlow Conformance Testing

The Open Networking Foundation (ONF) launched its OpenFlow conformace program this week, giving vendors a place to go to prove that they're doing OpenFlow correctly. All testing will be done by independent labs, with InCNTRE being the first announced.

The test for OpenFlow 1.1 is available now, and the ONF hopes to have an OpenFlow 1.3 test available by year's end, says Rick Bauer, the ONF's technical program manager.

Details can be found in the ONF's blog, where Bauer notes all the parallels between the conformance test and the royal baby. (Well, maybe not.)

3. Equinix Puts Vello SDN on Display

Vello has outfitted cloud and colocation provider Equinix with a three-node optical network where customers can try out SDN. The hardware includes Vello's optical transport gear as well as white-box Ethernet switches based on Centec chips. But what Vello really wants to show off is its controller software. One use case would be to use the SDN nodes as the onramp/offramp for interconnecting data centers, says Jeff Paine, Vello's vice president of marketing.

Like Cyan, Vello has an optical-networking heritage and will be emphasizing its controller's knowledge of the underlying physical network.

4. Maybe We Don't Know Diane Greene's Next Plan

You've probably seen the rumors that Diane Greene, ousted CEO of VMware and one of its founders, is working with storage startup Datrium. Here's InfoWorld's David Marshall arguing that that might not be the case.