This document summarizes a presentation by Lieven Vermaele, CEO of SDNsquare, about the company's products and technology. SDNsquare has developed two products, WARP and GRID, that use software-defined networking (SDN) to provide guaranteed performance and predictable networking in data centers and storage networks. Both products use standard hardware but intelligent software to monitor traffic flows, select paths, and guarantee quality of service (QoS). This overcomes limitations of traditional overprovisioning and proprietary solutions. SDNsquare's technology goes beyond basic SDN by providing end-to-end QoS guarantees. The company focuses on mission critical industries and aims to license its technology and products to customers.

1. Lieven
Vermaele,
CEO
and
Co-­‐Founder
SDNsquare
SDNSQUARE
GUARANTEED
PERFORMANCE
NETWORKS
EUROPEAN
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
&
INNOVATION
STANFORD
ENGINEERING
MONDAY
3RD
MARCH
2014

2. European
communities
from
a
Twitter
perspective

3. Lieven
Vermaele,
CEO
and
Co-­‐Founder
SDNsquare
SDNSQUARE
GUARANTEED
PERFORMANCE.
PREDICTABLE

4. Two
developed
products
based
on
the
same
core
technology
and
standard
hardware
WARP
GRID
Software
defined
storage/
datacenter
with
guaranteed
performance
-­‐
On
demand
storage
bandwidth
-­‐
Software
defined
networking
with
guaranteed
performance
-­‐
On
demand
networking
bandwidth
-­‐
App
node
SDN²
network
Storage
node
Loc
al
SA
N
Disk
stora
ge
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N

5. Mission
critical
industries
want
to
go
fully
IP/Ethernet
based
Mission
critical
industries:
• Media
–
our
focus
&
background
• Medical
• Military
• …
Requirement:
• GUARANTEED
PERFORMANCE
• PREDICTABILITY
And
(because
of
data
growth)
• SCALABILITY
• (cost)
EFFICIENCY

6. IP
Performance
&
Reliability
Time-­‐sensitive
Critical
CRITICAL
ZONE
?
?
?
Big
(small)
data
Light
bursty
Time-­‐unsensitive
Uncritical
Bulk
(large)
data
Heavy
Bursty

7. Overprovisioning
as
solution
is
not
efficient
and
effective
Time-­‐sensitive
Critical
IP
by
OVERPROVISIONING
in
BANDWIDTH
BUFFERING
Big
(small)
data
Light
bursty
Time-­‐unsensitive
Uncritical
OVERPROVISION
OVERPROVISION
Bulk
(large)
data
Heavy
Bursty

8. Proprietary
solutions
&
infrastructure
stay
in
place
and
develop
further
Time-­‐sensitive
Critical
PROPRIETARY
SOLUTIONS
&
INFRASTRUCTURE
•
•
•
•
•
•
Big
(small)
data
Light
bursty
Time-­‐unsensitive
Uncritical
SDI
Infiniband
Fibrechannel
Dark
fibre
–
prop.
sol.
AVB
...
Bulk
(large)
data
Heavy
Bursty

9. SDNsquare
GRID
Mission
critical
SDN
IP
zone
Time-­‐sensitive
Critical
Standard
IP
Networking
Hardware
combined
with
smart
mgt
softw
SMART
SOFTWARE
DEFINED
IP
NETWORKS
Big
(small)
data
Light
bursty
Time-­‐unsensitive
Uncritical
Bulk
(large)
data
Heavy
Bursty

10. SDN
–
software
defined
networking
?
External SDN!
Application!
‘Control’ System!
IP
Switch
IP
Switch
IP
Switch
IP
Switch

11. SDNsquare
technology
goes
beyond
the
traditional
SDN
principle
From
SDN
Intelligent
path
selection
• Network
path
and
connectivity
are
controlled
externally
via
software.
To
SDNsquare
End-­‐to-­‐end
guaranteed
QoS
•
•
Monitor
and
influence
the
traffic
flows
to
eliminate
buffer
overflows
and
congestion/interference
to
provide
guaranteed
bandwidth
Define
flows
with
certain
delivery,
steady
performance,
and
100%
efficiency.
Without
SDN²:
Congestion
and
disruption
With
SDN²:
100%
utilization
SDNsquare
combines
intelligent
path
selection
and
end-­‐to-­‐end
guaranteed
QoS.

12. SDNsquare
GRID
• Network
flow
within
LAN
– Intelligent
path
selection
– End
to
end
guaranteed
QoS
• Expert
system
– Simple
user
interface
– Flexible
output
– Performance
management
Simple:
Design,
build,
deploy
in
30
seconds
Guaranteed
networking,
on
demand
bandwidth
flows
Direct
cost
your
network
usage/users
High
performance,
mission
critical
zone
No
need
to
overprovision:
100%
bit
efficient

13. On
demand
networking
End
user
‘flow’
request

14. SDNsquare
WARP
Throughput
App
node
WARP
SDN²
network
Storage
node
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Loc
al
SA
N
Disk
stora
ge
#
nodes
Linear
scalable
On
demand
storage
bandwidth
per
node
Guaranteed
performance
Increased
internal
bandwidth
(x5)
Hardware
reduction
up
to
factor
4
Traditional
Storage
Network

15. Revenue
model
–
license
focused,
as
a
service
REVENUE
MODEL
• WARP
–
–
–
–
–
Base
license
BW
package
(throughput)
Node
package
(performance)
Monitoring
license
Hardware:
minimal,
3rd
party
• GRID
–
–
–
–
Base
license
Grid
flow
package
(more
flows)
Client
license
(more
clients)
Hardware:
minimal,
3rd
party
GROWTH
MODEL
• Product
sales:
– Direct
sales
– Indirect:
Resellers/Integrators
• Technology
license
• OEM
product
license

16. Lieven
Vermaele,
CEO
and
Co-­‐Founder
SDNsquare
SDNSQUARE
OUR
APPROACH
AND
LESSONS
LEARNED

17. Experienced
leadership
team
Lieven
Vermaele
CEO
and
co-­‐founder
Former
Director
Technology
&
Innovation
at
Eurovision
–
EBU
(European
Broadcasting
Union),
former
program
manager
strategy
at
VRT
and
marketing
manager
at
Alcatel-­‐Lucent.
Lieven
has
a
Master
of
Science
in
Engineering
(MSE)
degree
(cum
Laude)
from
the
University
of
Gent.
Luc
Andries
CTO
and
co-­‐founder
Nearly
30
years
of
R&D
experience,
former
infrastructure
architect
and
top
expert
media
infrastructure,
VRT
&
VRT
Medialab.
Luc
has
a
masters
degree
in
experimental
laser
physics
from
the
University
of
Antwerp.
Herman
Caeyers
President
and
co-­‐founder
Founder
and
ex
CEO
at
Lant
and
Xplanation
(language
processing
solutions,
80
employees
WW),
former
R&D
manager
Siemens
Artificial
Intelligence
Lab,
director
at
IMEC
and
VRT
Medialab.
Herman
has
a
Doctorate
in
theoretical
physics.
SDNSquare’s
three
co-­‐founders
together
have
many
years
of
international
experience
in
IP,
media
research
and
the
industry.

18.
SDNsquare:
incubation
period
VRT-­‐medialab
was
the
technological
research
department
of
the
public
service
broadcaster
of
Flanders,
Belgium.
It
was
founded
in
2005
to
carry
out
technological
research
into
the
creation,
management
and
distribution
of
media
content.
iMinds
is
a
Flemish
non-­‐profit
research
institute
aimed
at
ICT
innovation,
and
applications
of
broadband
technology
in
particular.
It
was
founded
in
2004
by
the
Flemish
Government
as
IBBT,
the
Interdisciplinary
Institute
for
Broadband
Technology.
Ghent
University,
abbreviated
to
UGent,
is
one
of
the
major
universities
in
the
Dutch-­‐speaking
region
of
Europe.
UGent
is
a
strong
promoter
of
entrepreneurship
amongst
its
researchers
and
master
students
and
encourages
them
to
create
new
ventures.

19. SDNsquare
timeline
VRT-­‐medialab
begins
research
into
file-­‐based
media
storage
and
networking
that
will
form
the
foundation
of
SDNsquare’s
patented
technology.
2009
Development
of
WARP
product.
Industry
collaboration
in
project
&
partnerships
SERIE
A
FOUNDATION
2004
Patents
submitted
2009.
R&D
collaboration
with
Cisco,
IBM,
ALU
2007/2008/2009/2010.
2011
Recognized
by
IT
Pulse
for
SDN
orchestration
software
2013
Founded
as
CandIT-­‐Media.
WARP
product
launched
in
UK
to
strong
reception.
Development
of
GRID
product.
UK
Sales
20+references
2013
2014
Winner
of
2014
Professional
Media
and
Entertainment
Class
Storage
Award
for
WARP
at
the
Storage
Vision
Conference
in
Las
Vegas.
€1.5
mio.
Investment
round
led
by
Merapar
Q4
2013

20. SDNsquare
Conservative
European
Startup
approach
?
Build
up
the
best
foundation
before
starting
the
company
Projects,
Patents,
Product
&
Partners
• Get
the
most
out
of
your
research
and
company
time
to
learn
and
explore.
Eventually
to
patent
• Launch
the
company
when
the
first
product
is
ready
(if
possible)
• Use
the
opportunities
of
INTERNATIONAL
industrial
collaboration
to
find
and
build
up
a
partner
network,
to
demonstrate
your
capabilities
and
build
credibility
• Use
INTERNATIONAL
projects
to
get
experiences
and
first
references

21. Expanding
the
team
–
9
full
time
+
3
consultancy
contracts
+
PRIORITY
ON
SALES
+
ATTRACT
INTERNATIONAL
PEOPLE
(UK,
GE,
NL)
+
NO
SELECTION
PROCEDURES
ETC
,
USE
YOUR
NETWORK
TO
FIND
THE
BEST
ONES
AND
CALL
THEM

22. Scale
up
sales
(in
Europe)
+
REFERENCES
FIRST:
START
IN
THE
MOST
DYNAMIC
MARKET
+
BUILD
OUT
ASAP
LOCAL
RESELLER
NETWORK
+
USE
THE
SALES/PRE
SALES
CHANNELS
OF
TECHNOLOGY
PARTNERS
+
VISIT
YOUR
POTENTIAL
CLIENTS
BUT
ALSO
THEIR
POTENTIAL
RESELLERS
OR
INTEGRATORS

23. SDNsquare
-­‐
Merapar
(NL)
a
co-­‐operative
VC
• The
VC
can
bring
much
more
than
financial
resources
• Search
for
a
VC
with
–
–
–
–
a
wide
focus
(geographically)
experience
in
a
few
industries
a
network
in
your
industry
the
time
to
support
the
company
• Your
VC
is
your
partner.
Use
them.
Go
for
the
win/win
• About
Merapar:
Merapar
is
a
change-­‐oriented
European
investment
and
advisory
firm
helping
innovative
technology,
media,
and
telecoms
companies
develop
disruptive
technologies
and
business
models.
Founded
in
2013,
the
company
is
headquartered
in
Berlin
and
Eindhoven
and
is
also
present
in
Brussels,
London,
and
Silicon
Valley.

24. Lieven
Vermaele,
CEO
and
Co-­‐Founder
SDNsquare
SDNSQUARE
THE
PERSONAL
ELEMENT
IS
THIS
THE
RIGHT
THING
TO
DO?
IS
THIS
THE
RIGHT
TIME
TO
DO
?

26. Europe:
diploma
=
proof
of
success,
go
for
a
safe
job
and
join
career
ladder

28. For
the
conservative
ones,
you
can
do
the
maths
…
THE
OPPORTUNITY
COST
STAYING
IN
THE
JOB
VS
(AD)VENTURE
…
AND
WHAT
IF
I
FAIL?

29. Leverage
on
your
career
BUILD
OUT
A
PROFESSIONAL
NETWORK
BUILD
YOUR
BRAND
&
CREDIBILITY
PROSPECT
FUTURE
PARTNERS
…
AND
IF
YOU
FAIL,
YOU
CAN
ALWAYS
GO
BACK

30. European
communities
from
a
Twitter
perspective

31. Diversity
of
Europe
>
Biggest
challenges
for
Europe
+
high
creativity
/
number
of
ideas
-­‐
high
overlap
and
similar
clusters
between
Countries
+/-­‐
regional/national
competition
-­‐
size
of
markets:
small
–
no
scale
-­‐
very
local
market
sale
approach
-­‐
Language
and
cultural
barriers
-­‐
small
funds,
typically
per
country
+
easy
access
to
‘R&D’
funding
+/-­‐
European
wide
VC
exists
,
but
more
are
needed
+
good
education,
well
trained
-­‐
Risk
averse
–
failure
not
allowed
-­‐
Low
movement/migration
and
intercultural
understanding

32. The
end
game
for
Europe?
Reflection
WILL
EUROPE
BECOME
A
LOW
PRICE
SME
OR
R&D
‘SHOP’
FOR
THE
REST
OF
THE
WORLD?

33. SDNsquare
in
a
snapshot
view
•
References:
20+
"
•
20+
installation
in
Media
broadcasting
houses,
post
production,
training
etc
(UK,
BE,
GE)
and
several
POC
Products:
fully
developed,
tested
and
installed
"
WARP:
software
defined
storage/datacenter
with
guaranteed
performance
"
"
GRID:
software
defined
networking
with
guaranteed
performance
"
•
•
On
demand
storage
bandwidth
On
demand
networking
bandwidth
License
based
revenue
model
(not
hardware
oriented)
Markets:
mission
critical
organizations
that
need
guaranteed
performance
in
IP
"
"
Media,
Medical,
Military,
…
Market
size:
variable
in
definition
but
>
2B
USD
•
Nbr
of
employees:
9
full
time
+
3
•
Funding:
1.5M
EUR
investment
by
VC
Merapar
NL
in
Q4/2013

34. Thank
you!
SDNsquare
NV
Gaston
Crommenlaan
10,
bus
101
9050
Ghent,
Belgium
+
32
9
331
48
06
Lieven
Vermaele
Cofounder
and
CEO
Lieven.Vermaele@sdnsquare.com
Visit
us
at
www.sdnsquare.com