The key protocol that Juniper will leverage for the overlay approach on the JunosV Contrail controller is XMPP.
Brooks noted that the initial Contrail Controller is not using OpenFlow for its communication protocol. He added that JunosV Contrail is a flexible platform; OpenFlow support can and likely will be a supported protocol in the future.
The Juniper XMPP approach for messaging in an SDN environment has also been submitted to the OpenDaylight Project as a potential broader standard. OpenDaylight is a multi-stakeholder effort, led by the Linux Foundation, to build SDN standards.