The increasing migration from fixed hardware devices to computer-based, software-controlled devices. Software-defined devices provide unlimited flexibility because the software is typically loaded each time the equipment is turned on. If the hardware is programmed via firmware, it can be changed with a firmware update. However, such updates are a more involved procedure (see
firmware update). See
software-defined networking,
software-defined radio,
software-defined storage,
software-defined vehicle and
software-defined datacenter.