FEATURE: CLOUD MANAGEMENT
G
one is the time where IT assets
were limited to a handful of
data centres. Gone is the time
where users and applications were all
bound by one unified MPLS network.
Gone is the time where the enterprise
perimeter was limited to a few
centralised Internet breakouts.
As enterprises are becoming more
hybrid, the shape of the network itself is
dramatically changing. The underlying
networks are getting more diverse in
terms of performance and security.
MPLS is now combined with the
Internet using a variety of transports
from DSL to fibre and even 4G/LTE.
The network perimeter is getting more
distributed.
Branches are now directly connected
to the Internet. On-premises assets
are directly tied to off-premise assets
to form hybrid cloud workloads. Users
in the branch are connecting to offpremise applications and users at
home are connecting to on-premise
applications.
The traffic mix and the communication
requirements are getting richer
and more dynamic. Users adopt
applications at a faster pace. HD
Internet video can rapidly create
contention even on fibre. Unified
Communication and Collaboration
(UCC) is dramatically increasing traffic
variance and branch-to-branch flows.
The number of service providers
involved in the network and connected
assets is exploding. Enterprises are
going from one network service provider
to multiple, one or more for MPLS,
plus one or more for the Internet.
Just like network services, SaaS and
IaaS services need to managed and
monitored.
The network has never been so
heterogeneous and distributed.
With HD Internet Video or Unified
Communication and Collaboration
(UCC), the traffic mix and the
communication requirements are
getting richer and more dynamic.
The complexity of configuration and
change management of network
elements has never been so high.
Architectures built for the network as
it was ten years ago are rapidly losing
relevance.
• Managing multiple WAN paths
is becoming crucial but existing
path selection mechanisms are
not aware of the applications and
of the underlying network, they
cannot efficiently manage/hide their
diversity.
• With local Internet breakouts, the
security perimeter is becoming
distributed but existing solutions,
including firewalls, Intrusion
Prevention Systems (IPS), Intrusion
Detection Systems (IDS), Advanced
Threat Protection (APT) that were
designed for central locations are
too costly to be distributed in the
branches.
• Re-creating both a consistent and
efficient security perimeter between
on-premise assets, off-premise
assets, on-premise users and offpremise users is nearly impossible
with existing VPN solutions.
• QoS that was already difficult to
manage becomes a nightmare
‘ON-PREMISES ASSETS ARE DIRECTLY TIED TO OFFPREMISE ASSETS TO FORM HYBRID CLOUD WORKLOADS.
USERS IN THE BRANCH ARE CONNECTING TO OFF-PREMISE
APPLICATIONS AND USERS AT HOME ARE CONNECTING TO
ON-PREMISE APPLICATIONS.’
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