PLUMgrid

PLUMgrid is a networking software company that provides virtual network infrastructure for cloud and software-defined data center environments.

• Virtual network infrastructure software for cloud and data center environments (network virtualization)
• Software Defined Networking (SDN) platforms for multi-tenant clouds (SDN)
• Overlay-based virtual networking for OpenStack and other cloud frameworks (cloud networking)
• Network services insertion and service chaining for virtualized workloads (network services)
• Policy-based network segmentation and micro-segmentation for virtualized infrastructures (network security)

More About PLUMgrid

PLUMgrid focuses on SDN and Network Virtualization (NV) for enterprises and service providers that operate cloud and virtualized data center environments. Its technology is designed to provide a virtual network infrastructure layer that decouples network services from the underlying physical hardware, enabling operators to provision, modify, and decommission virtual networks in alignment with cloud and application lifecycles. The offerings are commonly positioned for OpenStack-based clouds and other Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platforms that require multi-tenant isolation and programmable connectivity.

The company’s software typically operates as an overlay network, implementing virtual switches, routers, and network services in software rather than in dedicated appliances. PLUMgrid uses techniques based on Linux networking, tunneling protocols, and policy-based control to provide logical networks that span multiple hypervisors and physical hosts. This approach allows enterprises to maintain their existing IP fabric while introducing virtual networks that can be instantiated on demand per tenant, application, or workload, with isolation handled by the overlay.

In enterprise and service provider environments, PLUMgrid’s SDN and NV capabilities are applied to use cases such as multi-tenant cloud platforms, dev/test and lab environments, network segmentation for security compliance, and support for microservices or scale-out applications. By providing a software abstraction of switching and routing functions, operators can integrate network provisioning with orchestration tools that manage compute and storage, which aligns virtual network lifecycle management with virtual machines or containers.

From an architectural perspective, PLUMgrid aligns with SDN principles that separate the control and data planes and rely on centralized or logically centralized control for policy and network configuration. The data plane components run on hypervisor hosts or in virtual machines, while a control and management layer handles topology, policies, tenant definitions, and integration with cloud controllers. This model places PLUMgrid alongside other SDN and NV solutions in marketplace categories such as NV for data centers, cloud networking for IaaS platforms, and virtual network security through micro-segmentation.

For directory and taxonomy purposes, PLUMgrid fits into solution areas including SDN (networking), data center NV (networking), cloud and OpenStack networking (cloud infrastructure), and policy-based micro-segmentation (network security). Its technology is oriented toward organizations that want to operate virtual networks with programmable control, tenant isolation, and integrated network services within private or hybrid cloud environments.