Patent attributes
Systems, devices, and techniques described herein are directed to a virtualized networking topology decoupling networking objects from an underlying physical topology. A virtualized networking topology can include networking application objects implementing various networking specifications independent of a networking node or a physical topology of the network to render services to the network. A network forwarding module can render services such as routing and forwarding of packets to the networking application objects. A topology module can probe a network to develop a physical layout of the network by determining connections among ports. And a mapping module can intelligently map networking application objects with the physical topology and various forwarding and routing protocols to build the virtualized networking topology. Networking application objects can be implemented on various networking nodes and located independent of a physical topology of the network, while forwarding and control planes can be updated automatically for directing network traffic.