In networking, we refer to the abstract term control plane to describe the parts of the network that control how data packets are forwarded across network devices. The processes that we most commonly identify as part of the control plane are the routing protocols, such as BGP and OSPF, that calculate network paths and create routing tables.

In traditional networks, the control plane is usually distributed. Each router runs its own routing process, forms neighbor relationships, and performs its own independent path calculations. In many traditional WAN designs, this also means routers must build many peerings with other routers.