Overview of OpenDaylight components

As discussed in Chapter 1, Introduction to SDN - Transformation from Legacy to SDN, ODL is a modular platform for software-defined networking. It is not a single piece of software; it's a combination of all integrated projects under one umbrella.

ODL has a board and chair persons; they decide the priority of each project.  This team consists of a group of developers or business leaders who sponsor projects and drive the need and motivation required to cater to specific requirements.

Each project has a project proposal; this is the first step when it comes to launching a feature in ODL.

The structure of ODL is similar to that of OpenStack. The difference is that OpenStack consists of different projects that are managed by different project groups.

The following map shows a high level view of ODL projects. We will look at each one of them so you can understand their features and functions.

Some of the projects are called Main; these are projects listed as the main components of ODL. Some others are more niche projects; they are not similar to Main and are designed to deliver a specific need, probably for a specific use case.

The following table summarizes the current ODL modules and their use: