Loop-free hybrid network

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a network controller, an advertisement from a non-software defined network (SDN) network device;

determining, by the network controller, a network topology based at least in part on the advertisement, wherein the network topology includes connections between the non-SDN network device and a plurality of SDN network devices;

sending, by the network controller, an aggregation instruction to the non-SDN network device, wherein the aggregation instruction aggregates the connections between the non-SDN network device and the plurality of SDN network devices; and

sending, by the network controller, forwarding rules to the plurality of SDN network devices, the forwarding rules determining how the plurality of SDN network devices route data units based on addresses in the data units.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the advertisement includes receiving information relating to the connections of the non-SDN network device with the plurality of SDN network devices.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the advertisement includes receiving information indicating:

a first port of the non-SDN network device that is connected to a first of the plurality of SDN network devices; and

a second port of the non-SDN network device that is connected to a second of the plurality of SDN network devices.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the aggregation instruction aggregates the first port and the second port.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the advertisement includes receiving the advertisement from the non-SDN network device via one of the plurality of SDN network devices.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network controller is an SDN controller that performs the receiving, the determining, the sending of the aggregation instruction, and the sending of the forwarding rules.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-SDN network device is not connected to any other non-SDN network device.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor to cause a network controller to:

receive an advertisement from a non-software defined network (SDN) network device via an SDN network device;

determine a network topology that includes the SDN network device and the non-SDN network device based on the received advertisement;

send, to the non-SDN network device, an aggregation instruction based on the determined network topology, the aggregation instruction specifying aggregation of a first port of the non-SDN network device that communicates with the SDN network device and a second port of the non-SDN network device that communicates with a different SDN network device; and

send forwarding rules to the SDN network device and the different SDN network device, the forwarding rules determining how the SDN network device and the different SDN network device route data units based on addresses in the data units.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the advertisement includes information that describes ports of the non-SDN network device and devices connected to the ports.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the determining of the network topology uses a link layer discovery protocol.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the network controller is an SDN controller that performs the receiving, the determining, the sending of the aggregation instruction, and the sending of the forwarding rules.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the non-SDN network device is not connected to any other non-SDN network device.

13. A network controller, comprising:

a processing resource; and

instructions that are executable by the processing resource to:

receive an advertisement from a non-software defined network (SDN) network device;

receive a plurality of advertisements from a plurality of SDN network devices;

determine a network topology of the non-SDN network device and the plurality of SDN network devices based on the advertisement and the plurality of advertisements;

send an aggregation instruction to the non-SDN network device based on the network topology; and

send a forwarding rule to one of the plurality of SDN network devices based on the network topology and the aggregation instruction.

14. The network controller of claim 13 , wherein the network controller is an SDN controller that performs the receiving of the advertisement, the receiving of the plurality of advertisements, the determining, the sending of the aggregation instruction, and the sending of the forwarding rule.

15. The network controller of claim 13 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processing resource to send instructions to a SDN network device of the plurality of SDN network devices to broadcast a received data unit to the non-SDN network device.

16. The network controller of claim 14 , wherein the non-SDN network device is unable to recognize the forwarding rule sent by the SDN controller.

17. The network controller of claim 13 , wherein the non-SDN network device is not connected to any other non-SDN network device.

18. The network controller of claim 13 , wherein the sending of the aggregation instruction to the non-SDN network device comprises sending of the aggregation instruction to the non-SDN network device through at least one of the plurality of SDN network devices.

19. The network controller of claim 13 , wherein the advertisement includes information of port connections of the non-SDN network device, and wherein the determining of the network topology is based on the advertisement including information of the port connections of the non-SDN network device.

20. The network controller of claim 19 , wherein the advertisement further includes information of devices connected to ports of the non-SDN network device, and wherein the determining of the network topology is based on the advertisement including information of devices connected to ports of the non-SDN network device.