Your Network's Edge®
Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) has gone through interesting dynamics. From a predominately enterprise data center technology to a distributed solution adopted by communications service providers for the network edge in the form of vCPE (virtual Customer Premises Equipment). Nowadays, it’s back at the enterprise playground, as CIOs/CISOs are facing challenges concerning the enterprise edge. Among such challenges are the need to manage multiple, application-specific appliances, the diverse application mix required in different sites and the limited flexibility allowed by existing appliance suppliers.
Perhaps the key driver to enterprises’ great interest in virtualizing their network edge is the case of software defined wide area networking (SD-WAN). SD-WAN’s claim to fame is its ability to provide a unified, secure VPN across multiple public and private WANs to lower the cost of IP VPNs purchased from carriers. As one of several connectivity options, SD-WAN’s user experience is considered a “good enough” solution for most enterprise needs. However, SD-WAN vendors' monolithic, gated approach presents its own concerns for IT managers. These can be alleviated by implementing SD-WAN as a virtualized function – vSD-WAN – hosted alongside other networking staples, such as vFirewall and vRouter, as per the specific requirements of each and every branch.
Sounds intriguing, right? I’ll be discussing all this and more at our upcoming webinar “Virtualizing the Enterprise Edge - Paradigm Shifts in Enterprise IT”. In this session, we’ll take a closer look at vCPE and the network edge from an enterprise point of view, including:
Reserve your place here. See you Thursday!
We’ll be blogging on a wide range of hot topics affecting service providers and critical infrastructure network operators. Our resident experts will be discussing vCPE, Cyber Security, 5G, Industrial IoT and much, much more.
Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) has gone through interesting dynamics. From a predominately enterprise data center technology to a distributed solution adopted by communications service providers for the network edge in the form of vCPE (virtual Customer Premises Equipment).
In the last year or so, SD-WAN has caught the attention of service providers, with some of them going as far as investing in related startups. At the same time, service providers began to realize that while the technology provides easy-to-deploy solutions that include VNFs, white boxes and a management suite, these solutions are in effect walled gardens.
