Software-defined networking (SDN) is intended to separate different network capabilities and allow for the granting of granular configurations, permissions, and features to non-network staff or…

Routing is a control plane function that determines traffic paths, which is distinct but directly dictates how forwarding occurs.

Firewalling is a security function encompassing inspection and stateful decisions, which operates at a higher level than basic forwarding and often utilizes filtering capabilities.

In SDN, the control plane is decoupled from the data plane. The data plane is responsible for the actual forwarding of network traffic, while capabilities like filtering, which involve making decisions about which traffic to allow or block based on predefined rules, belong to the control plane, dictating how the data plane should handle traffic.

IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) is a security service that inspects traffic for malicious activity and takes preventive actions, operating at a much higher layer than basic traffic forwarding or filtering.