Virtually Simple

By Dan O’Donnell

Live simple. What a nice concept. Our lives in the technology industry, however, seem to be all about conquering the complicated rather than pursuing the simple.

Mobility, virtualization, more data, faster links, new applications and increasing vulnerability all require complex and sophisticated systems to manage and protect networks. Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure growth is increasing bandwidth requirements. Appliances are becoming more specialized so more are required. Connecting the tools without impacting network availability and managing all the appliances at 10Gbps link speeds is now becoming its own specialty.

A Gartner report, “Emerging Technology Analysis: Hosted Virtual Desktops” says the number of virtual desktops worldwide will increase to 66 million by 2014. While this growth of virtual technology is efficient for businesses, it adds complexity to network and application management. The need for greater visibility into network performance and application performance will increase just as dramatically as the growth of network bandwidth and virtual desktops.

Boiling it all down, there is a need to pursue simplicity in this ever more complicated environment. Time spent chasing network issues when the problem is with an application is time wasted. Time spent drilling down through layers and layers of analysis on 10Gbps link traffic can be frustrating while clients are experiencing outages or response time issues. Resolving performance issues proactively and optimizing network performance are more worthy pursuits than troubleshooting problems.

A side note on the business perspective of simple proactive network management…A team focused on trouble shooting is considered a cost center. A team focused on improving network performance and IT ROI is considered a strategic asset to the company.

So, in pursuit of a simple answer, what about a unified system providing end-to-end performance visibility across the network, allowing quick isolation of the root cause of performance issues? What about a solution that solves complex application issues simply? What about a couple of simple tools that are easy to deploy and take only a few RUs of rack space? What about connecting all your 1Gbps links through a port aggregator rolling them up to a few high-speed links for consolidated management? What about proactive network management, resolving issues before the clients even notice problems?

The Network Critical AFS port aggregator and the Visual Networks VPM Xpress 10G combine to provide a complete yet simple solution for link aggregation, network and application management. The AFS and Xpress solution allows network managers in virtual environments, carrier and cloud networks an efficient, simple solution to proactive network and application management.

Simple is good. Follow the links below for more information:

View the Network Critical AFS port aggregator here
Download the Network Critical Aggregating Filtering System (AFS) datasheet here
View the Visual Networks VPM Xpress 10G here
Download the Visual Networks VPM Xpress brochure here

Keepin’ it real in a Virtual World

By Dan O’Donnell

The web is bursting with buzz about “The Cloud” and “Virtualization” as networking nirvana. I have no doubt that these are important developments in networking. Among other things, cloud computing goes to the heart of the old business school adage of sticking to your knitting. If you are a car company, you need to invest in making better cars and let a networking company manage your network. Cloud computing can help companies do just that. Virtualization can help companies get more productivity out of the hardware that they have and grow more efficiently; also, a good thing.

So, what is my beef? It is actually not really a beef, but a warning. These trends pop up from time to time…remember how ATM was going to save the world? Remember Y2K? Remember Beanie Babies? The point is that people tend to get caught up in the buzz. Network operators are people too and can also get caught up in the vendor hype of the latest trends.

You know the Marketing departments are working overtime when “The Cloud” appeared in a Dilbert Comic strip. The point of the cartoon was that companies are jumping on the Cloud bandwagon from all angles. A new Cloud brochure and a fresh paint job is breathing new life into many legacy networking products.

Now, none of this is necessarily a bad thing. It is, in fact, smart business. However, it is important that network engineers and architects analyze these new Cloud products and presentations with a critical eye. The same basic questions must be asked when evaluating new products for the network. Regardless of what it is called, how is this new product going to connect to my network? How is it going to protect my network? How is it going to help my network perform better? How is it going to help cut costs, save energy and reduce footprint?

Clouds are applications or services that are accessed via the web. No real magic. There still needs to be access to the web and the access needs to be secured. Virtual machines are not magic either. They are multiple instances of operating systems running concurrently on a single computer. The access to virtual servers is the same as access to a single server. Performance must be managed and access must be protected.

So, the good news is that as you build your virtual machines and your cloud networks, be assured that it is not much different from the physical networks you have been building all along. Make sure your access is fast enough to meet your demand and secure enough to protect your customers and your company. Fortunately, there are many specialized appliances to help with accessing, capturing, analyzing and protecting your network data. Connecting these appliances to links is as easy as it always was using reliable network access taps.

As we move forward to new dimensions of information storage and networking, I am hearing Talking Heads lyrics… “Same as it ever was, same as it ever was”.

Click here to watch the Talking Heads video “Once in a Lifetime.”

For more information about Network Critical, please visit networkcritical.com