diff --git a/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/DeviceGuiResource.java b/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/DeviceGuiResource.java
index ed4d159..3128456 100644
--- a/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/DeviceGuiResource.java
+++ b/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/DeviceGuiResource.java
@@ -19,10 +19,8 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ArrayNode;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ObjectNode;
 import org.onlab.rest.BaseResource;
-import org.onosproject.net.Annotations;
 import org.onosproject.net.Device;
 import org.onosproject.net.device.DeviceService;
-import org.slf4j.Logger;
 
 import javax.ws.rs.DefaultValue;
 import javax.ws.rs.GET;
@@ -31,8 +29,8 @@
 import javax.ws.rs.QueryParam;
 import javax.ws.rs.core.Response;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
-
-import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
 
 /**
  * UI REST resource for interacting with the inventory of infrastructure devices.
@@ -40,87 +38,42 @@
 @Path("device")
 public class DeviceGuiResource extends BaseResource {
 
-    private static final String ICON_ID_ONLINE = "deviceOnline";
-    private static final String ICON_ID_OFFLINE = "deviceOffline";
+    private static final String DEVICES = "devices";
 
-    private static final Logger log = getLogger(DeviceGuiResource.class);
-
-    private final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
+    private static final ObjectMapper MAPPER = new ObjectMapper();
 
 
     // return list of devices
     @GET
     @Produces("application/json")
     public Response getDevices(
-            @DefaultValue("none") @QueryParam("sortCol") String colId,
-            @DefaultValue("none") @QueryParam("sortDir") String dir
+            @DefaultValue("id") @QueryParam("sortCol") String colId,
+            @DefaultValue("asc") @QueryParam("sortDir") String dir
     ) {
-        ObjectNode rootNode = mapper.createObjectNode();
-        ArrayNode devices = mapper.createArrayNode();
         DeviceService service = get(DeviceService.class);
+        TableRow[] rows = generateTableRows(service);
+        RowComparator rc = new RowComparator(colId, RowComparator.direction(dir));
+        Arrays.sort(rows, rc);
+        ArrayNode devices = generateArrayNode(rows);
+        ObjectNode rootNode = MAPPER.createObjectNode();
+        rootNode.set(DEVICES, devices);
 
-        // if no query parameters were given, get the data in whatever order
-        if (colId.equals("none") || dir.equals("none")) {
-            for (Device dev : service.getDevices()) {
-                devices.add(deviceJson(service, dev));
-            }
-        } else {
-            ArrayList<Device> sortedDevices = new ArrayList<>();
-            for (Device dev : service.getDevices()) {
-                sortedDevices.add(dev);
-            }
-            // now sort the arrayList based on the query parameters
-            // then put each item into the ArrayNode devices
-                // (pass in each device to deviceJson)
-
-            // at this point, the sortedDevices list will be sorted
-            for (Device dev : sortedDevices) {
-                devices.add(deviceJson(service, dev));
-            }
-        }
-
-        rootNode.set("devices", devices);
         return Response.ok(rootNode.toString()).build();
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Returns a JSON node representing the specified device.
-     *
-     * @param device infrastructure device
-     * @return JSON node
-     */
-    private ObjectNode deviceJson(DeviceService service, Device device) {
-        boolean available = service.isAvailable(device.id());
-        // pick the appropriate id for the icon to appear in the table row
-        String iconId = available ? ICON_ID_ONLINE : ICON_ID_OFFLINE;
-
-        ObjectNode result = mapper.createObjectNode();
-        result.put("id", device.id().toString())
-                .put("available", available)
-                .put("_iconid_available", iconId)
-                .put("type", device.type().toString())
-                .put("role", service.getRole(device.id()).toString())
-                .put("mfr", device.manufacturer())
-                .put("hw", device.hwVersion())
-                .put("sw", device.swVersion())
-                .put("serial", device.serialNumber())
-                .set("annotations", annotations(mapper, device.annotations()));
-        return result;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Produces a JSON object from the specified key/value annotations.
-     *
-     * @param mapper ObjectMapper to use while converting to JSON
-     * @param annotations key/value annotations
-     * @return JSON object
-     */
-    private static ObjectNode annotations(ObjectMapper mapper, Annotations annotations) {
-        ObjectNode result = mapper.createObjectNode();
-        for (String key : annotations.keys()) {
-            result.put(key, annotations.value(key));
+    private ArrayNode generateArrayNode(TableRow[] rows) {
+        ArrayNode devices = MAPPER.createArrayNode();
+        for (TableRow r : rows) {
+            devices.add(r.toJsonNode());
         }
-        return result;
+        return devices;
     }
 
+    private TableRow[] generateTableRows(DeviceService service) {
+        List<TableRow> list = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (Device dev : service.getDevices()) {
+            list.add(new DeviceTableRow(service, dev));
+        }
+        return list.toArray(new TableRow[list.size()]);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/DeviceTableRow.java b/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/DeviceTableRow.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab13467
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/DeviceTableRow.java
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.onosproject.gui;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ObjectNode;
+import org.onosproject.net.Device;
+import org.onosproject.net.device.DeviceService;
+
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+public class DeviceTableRow implements TableRow {
+
+    private static final String ID = "id";
+    private static final String AVAILABLE = "available";
+    private static final String AVAILABLE_IID = "_iconid_available";
+    private static final String TYPE = "type";
+    private static final String ROLE = "role";
+    private static final String MFR = "mfr";
+    private static final String HW = "hw";
+    private static final String SW = "sw";
+    private static final String SERIAL = "serial";
+    private static final String PROTOCOL = "protocol";
+
+    private static final String ICON_ID_ONLINE = "deviceOnline";
+    private static final String ICON_ID_OFFLINE = "deviceOffline";
+
+    private static final ObjectMapper MAPPER = new ObjectMapper();
+
+    private final Map<String, String> data = new HashMap<>();
+
+    public DeviceTableRow(DeviceService service, Device d) {
+        boolean available = service.isAvailable(d.id());
+        String iconId = available ? ICON_ID_ONLINE : ICON_ID_OFFLINE;
+
+        data.put(ID, d.id().toString());
+        data.put(AVAILABLE, Boolean.toString(available));
+        data.put(AVAILABLE_IID, iconId);
+        data.put(TYPE, d.type().toString());
+        data.put(ROLE, service.getRole(d.id()).toString());
+        data.put(MFR, d.manufacturer());
+        data.put(HW, d.hwVersion());
+        data.put(SW, d.swVersion());
+        data.put(SERIAL, d.serialNumber());
+        data.put(PROTOCOL, d.annotations().value(PROTOCOL));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String get(String key) {
+        return data.get(key);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public ObjectNode toJsonNode() {
+        ObjectNode result = MAPPER.createObjectNode();
+        result.put(ID, data.get(ID));
+        result.put(AVAILABLE, data.get(AVAILABLE));
+        result.put(AVAILABLE_IID, data.get(AVAILABLE_IID));
+        result.put(TYPE, data.get(TYPE));
+        result.put(ROLE, data.get(ROLE));
+        result.put(MFR, data.get(MFR));
+        result.put(HW, data.get(HW));
+        result.put(SW, data.get(SW));
+        result.put(SERIAL, data.get(SERIAL));
+        result.put(PROTOCOL, data.get(PROTOCOL));
+        return result;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/RowComparator.java b/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/RowComparator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f14a660
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/RowComparator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.onosproject.gui;
+
+import java.util.Comparator;
+
+/**
+ * Comparator for {@link TableRow}.
+ */
+public class RowComparator implements Comparator<TableRow> {
+    public static enum Direction { ASC, DESC }
+
+    public static final String DESC_STR = "desc";
+
+    private final String colId;
+    private final Direction dir;
+
+    public RowComparator(String colId, Direction dir) {
+        if (colId == null || dir == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("Null parameters not allowed");
+        }
+        this.colId = colId;
+        this.dir = dir;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int compare(TableRow a, TableRow b) {
+        String cellA = a.get(colId);
+        String cellB = b.get(colId);
+
+        if (dir.equals(Direction.ASC)) {
+            return cellA.compareTo(cellB);
+        }
+        return cellB.compareTo(cellA);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the sort direction constant for the given string.
+     * The expected strings are "asc" and "desc"; defaults to "asc".
+     *
+     * @param s the direction as a string
+     * @return the constant
+     */
+    public static Direction direction(String s) {
+        return DESC_STR.equals(s) ? Direction.DESC : Direction.ASC;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/TableRow.java b/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/TableRow.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..67c8449
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/gui/TableRow.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.onosproject.gui;
+
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ObjectNode;
+
+/**
+ * Defines a table row abstraction to support sortable tables on the GUI.
+ */
+public interface TableRow {
+    /**
+     * Returns the value of the cell for the given column ID.
+     *
+     * @param key the column ID
+     * @return the cell value
+     */
+    String get(String key);
+
+    /**
+     * Returns this table row in the form of a JSON object.
+     *
+     * @return the JSON node
+     */
+    ObjectNode toJsonNode();
+}
diff --git a/web/gui/src/main/webapp/app/view/device/device.html b/web/gui/src/main/webapp/app/view/device/device.html
index 15cfac7..2d8dd62 100644
--- a/web/gui/src/main/webapp/app/view/device/device.html
+++ b/web/gui/src/main/webapp/app/view/device/device.html
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
         <thead>
             <tr>
                 <th colId="available"></th>
-                <th colId="id" sortable>URI</th>
+                <th colId="id" sortable>Device ID</th>
                 <th colId="mfr" sortable>Vendor</th>
                 <th colId="hw" sortable>Hardware Version</th>
                 <th colId="sw" sortable>Software Version</th>
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
                 <td>{{dev.hw}}</td>
                 <td>{{dev.sw}}</td>
                 <td>{{dev.serial}}</td>
-                <td>{{dev.annotations.protocol}}</td>
+                <td>{{dev.protocol}}</td>
             </tr>
         </tbody>
     </table>