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Internet Solutions launches CloudWAN
for next-gen enterprise networking
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I
nternet Solutions, the leading
pan-African telecommunications
services provider, has launched
CloudWAN – its first virtual wide area
network (WAN) solution for next-
generation enterprise networking. like adaptability and elasticity, each
enterprise will have a network for its
exact needs – perfectly customised,
whatever the bandwidth or
geographic demand.
Using software-defined networking
(SDN) technology and network function
virtualisation, CloudWAN links public
and private clouds into a seamless
virtual network that is smart, responsive
and endlessly elastic. Extensible network functions
By delivering cloud-based,
centralised network provision and
management, CloudWAN overcomes
the biggest drawbacks of legacy
network technologies.
“Enterprises usually invest in private
network services based on MPLS,
which has been an industry standard
for decades,” says Greg Montjoie,
Executive Head: SDN/Internet at
Internet Solutions, “but data traffic and
network complexity between business
sites is more and more substantial.
“As multitudes of devices in numerous
sites are added to an enterprise WAN,
existing network technologies are
increasingly restrictive, prohibitively
expensive and can no longer
guarantee quick and reliable
network connections.”
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When an already-complex network
requires additional capability, instead
of investing in additional equipment,
cumbersome installation and costly
support, CloudWAN virtualises network
functions such as firewalls or
WAN accelerators.
“Software-defined networking is
leading to open communication
protocols and APIs that are device-
agnostic but still offer the same
security, reliability and resiliency of
vendor-proprietary hardware and
appliances. This will lead to significant
cost-savings for enterprises as they
scale their networks,” says Montjoie.
Using CloudWAN, deploying virtualised
functions onto the core virtual network
is fast and there is central control of
setup and configuration.
Network applications and
services
“Today’s networks are strained by the
business demand for more bandwidth,
more optimisation, more dynamism
and more value,” says Montjoie.
Enterprise WANs today require network
hardware such as hubs, routers, switches,
proxy servers and firewalls, as well as
network architects and engineers to
install, then connect, configure and test
the hardware manually. “CloudWAN responds to this demand
by enabling enterprises to use its
optimisable features when there is a
need to deliver applications to users on
the network or to increase bandwidth.”
CloudWAN turns an enterprise network
into a programmable entity for
traditional network device deployment
and upgrades, simplifying management
and automating control of the
network. By giving the network cloud- For example, when an additional site
such as a new warehouse, branch
or outlet needs to be added to an
enterprise network, the configurations
and appropriate application rule sets
are instantly deployed to that site. The
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configuration profiles are
pre-set according to the client’s
grouping structure.
“Traditional networks are bottlenecks
that hamper business growth, but
we’re well on the way to changing
that,” says Montjoie. “I anticipate
that software-defined networking will
disrupt business ICT as dramatically as
the cloud did.”
CloudWAN was developed through a
close partnership between Japanese
telecommunications giant NTT, the
NTT Innovation Institute Inc. (NTT i³)
and Internet Solutions.
“Together with NTT i3, we have built a
software-defined networking solution
that is engineered to our clients’
current needs and our open standards
approach to SDN, with an eye on our
vision of the future enterprise,” says
Saki Missaikos, Managing Director of
Internet Solutions.
“By uncoupling the network from its
physical confines, like data storage
has been with the invention of cloud
services, the enterprise can adapt and
expand in response to market and
customer needs with more agility than
ever before,” he says. ¡
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