An identification method for network access of a forwarder, comprising: receiving, by a software-defined networking, SDN, controller, registration information from a first forwarder, wherein the registration information comprises a device type and a device model of the first forwarder; determining, by the SDN controller, whether a hardware device capability information base comprises the device type or the device model included in the registration information received from the first forwarder; when determining, by the SDN controller, that a hardware device capability information base does not comprise the device type or the device model included in the registration information received from the first forwarder, the method further comprises: sending (404, 405), by the SDN controller, a plug and play, PnP, data request to the first forwarder, wherein the PnP data request is used to request the first forwarder to report device capability information; and receiving, by the SDN controller, the device capability information from the first forwarder; wherein the device capability information is an extensible markup language XML file using a YANG model; and the device capability information comprises at least one of device information of the first forwarder and board information supported by the first forwarder, wherein the board information comprises at least one of a board type, a board name, a board description, a board capability set, a quantity of ports of a board, and port information of the board; and the port information of the board comprises at least one of a port ID, a port type, and a port description. receiving, by a software-defined networking, SDN, controller, registration information from a first forwarder, wherein the registration information comprises a device type and a device model of the first forwarder; determining, by the SDN controller, whether a hardware device capability information base comprises the device type or the device model included in the registration information received from the first forwarder; when determining, by the SDN controller, that a hardware device capability information base does not comprise the device type or the device model included in the registration information received from the first forwarder, the method further comprises: sending (404, 405), by the SDN controller, a plug and play, PnP, data request to the first forwarder, wherein the PnP data request is used to request the first forwarder to report device capability information; and receiving, by the SDN controller, the device capability information from the first forwarder; wherein the device capability information is an extensible markup language XML file using a YANG model; and the device capability information comprises at least one of device information of the first forwarder and board information supported by the first forwarder, wherein the board information comprises at least one of a board type, a board name, a board description, a board capability set, a quantity of ports of a board, and port information of the board; and the port information of the board comprises at least one of a port ID, a port type, and a port description. sending (404, 405), by the SDN controller, a plug and play, PnP, data request to the first forwarder, wherein the PnP data request is used to request the first forwarder to report device capability information; and receiving, by the SDN controller, the device capability information from the first forwarder; wherein the device capability information is an extensible markup language XML file using a YANG model; and the device capability information comprises at least one of device information of the first forwarder and board information supported by the first forwarder, wherein the board information comprises at least one of a board type, a board name, a board description, a board capability set, a quantity of ports of a board, and port information of the board; and the port information of the board comprises at least one of a port ID, a port type, and a port description.