Open source project OpenDaylight has released the second version of its Software-Defined Networking (SDN) platform, codenamed Helium.

Helium was designed to serve as an open, vendor-agnostic foundation for network virtualization. The latest release offers a brand new user interface, better clustering support and simplified installation process, along with a technical preview of the upcoming OpenStack features.

“Helium brings us one step closer to having one common platform the entire industry can standardize on,” said Nicholas ‘Neela’ Jacques, executive director of OpenDaylight.

Lighter than air

OpenDaylight is a collaborative project established in April 2013 and managed by the Linux Foundation. It aims to create a common platform for SDN which can then be adopted and customized by different vendors.

SDN separates the control plane from the data plane, allowing the intelligence and state of the network to be managed centrally while abstracting the complexity of the underlying physical infrastructure.

The first code from the OpenDaylight project, Hydrogen, was released in February 2014. Jacques says over a dozen vendors are already building their SDN controllers on top of OpenDaylight, including Brocade, which will offer a Helium-based product called Vyatta in November.

“The OpenDaylight community is iterating, shaping and defining a de facto standard for SDN and NFV through code creation,” said Jacques. “They’ve taken on the monumental task of bringing together all the disparate technologies, thoughts and ideas around SDN and forming it into a cohesive platform.”

“Opening up the platform means innovation can occur above, below and around it, which is one of the key benefits that any open source project provides, be it Linux or Hadoop or Docker and Kubernetes,” he added on his blog.

Helium sports a shiny new UI called ‘dlux’, deeper integration with OpenStack, improved clustering, high availability and security. Tweaked versions of the software can now be stored in Apache Karaf containers for easier deployment.

Helium also includes technology preview of advanced OpenStack features such as Security Groups, Distributed Virtual Router and Load Balancing-as-a-Service. These functions are expected to appear as part of Juno, the OpenStack release planned for October.

According to Jacques, challenges still facing OpenDaylight include working out the approach towards application policy and the mechanics of a service abstraction layer.

Helium will be followed by Lithium, expected to be released in April 2015.