A method and related apparatus for performing inspection of flows within a software defined network includes identifying a security appliance within a software defined network, identifying candidate traffic flows flowing in the software defined network to be inspected, selecting one of the candidate traffic flows for security inspection, and communicating with a software defined network controller to cause the one of the candidate traffic flows to be redirected towards the security appliance for inspection or to cause the one of the candidate traffic flows to be copied and a resulting copy thereof forwarded to the security appliance for inspection.