Which SDN plane forwards user-generated (data) traffic?

The data plane (also known as the forwarding plane) is responsible for forwarding user-generated traffic according to the rules and policies pushed down by the control plane. It handles the actual movement of data packets through the network devices. The control plane determines how traffic should be forwarded by creating forwarding tables and policies. The management plane is used for monitoring, configuring, and managing network devices. The policy plane, while related to defining network behavior, is often considered a component or extension of the control plane, translating high-level policies into actionable forwarding rules, rather than directly forwarding data traffic itself.