If software-defined networking ultimately changes the landscape of networking, Intel could be one of the biggest beneficiaries — and might be one of the reasons.

SDN is intended to take the control of networks out of the equipment that forwards packets and into software that could run on standard computing platforms. If that vision comes true, then makers of sheer computing horsepower could find a whole new market. Intel is a prime candidate.

Though actually moving data through a network will still require specialized silicon of the sort that Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks and merchant chip vendors such as Broadcom make, SDN proposes that decisions about those movements can be made on servers.

“All the control-layer function which is being separated out in SDN is definitely in Intel’s wheelhouse, and they could very effectively play in that market,” Yankee Group analyst Jennifer Pigg said.

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