Traffic has changed so must your Infrastructure

May 11, 2010 by varidion Leave a Comment

Network traffic profiles have changed.  Back in the 1990′s email connectivity to a desktop was one of the primary driving forces for the deployment of Local Area Networks, LANs, built primarily with Ethernet.  Lets look at the traffic characteristics of e-mail….  non-real time, asymmetric, bursty traffic pattern that goes from a fixed, fat client to a fixed server and back.  This is the traffic pattern that defined today’s networking architectures.

In order to better support the delivery of email to more users cost effectively, the designers of network equipment built in over subscription; basically to deliver more ports, at a lower price, but each port will never have full bandwidth capability.  This was perfectly fine for the e-mail application and many devices were oversubscribed at 4:1 or more and deployed in a classic Access – Distribution – Core  model.  This is essentially 64:1 over-subscription in each direction – again not a problem for a bursty, non-real-time and asymmetric traffic flow.  We all assumed VoIP would change LANs, but a 64kb/s traffic flow doesn’t get congested too often on a GbE LAN and if it does some simple QoS prioritisation can deal with it.

But the adoption of Web2.0 applications will kill your Infrastructure…..  If its Social Enterprise, SOA, VM, Grids, Clouds – public or private your data no longer goes North South, in fact it travels in every conceivable direction and as you move towards a Cloud based application model your nice local predicable data is now various IP hops away over your 64:1 contended network…  And as all network managers know jitter and latency kills applications.

So, in summary, today’s applications require a new infrastructure, a 2.0 Infrastructure – low latency, low hops, flat and simple network.  If you don’t have one, best you get one…..

Filed under Application Enabled Networks, Cloud Networking, SaaS, Social Enterprise Tagged with ,

The Network is the Computer…..

April 8, 2010 by varidion Leave a Comment

Is your Data Centre ready for the Cloud?  If you have more than two hops between the Internet/WAN and your applications the answer is no.  With today’s SOA architectures, latency and throughput is more critical to application performance.

The traditional three tier switching model of Access, Distribution and Core was conceived by Cisco in the days where data thus traffic flowed vertically to a single point, gathering speed on the way.  100Mbp/s access to GbE uplinks aggregated on 10GbE switches at the core, these in turn fed big fat application specific hosts with GbE network adaptors pushing and pulling very similar data types – mostly all fat clients.

The world is now flat….. Well, its getting flatter by the day.  Applications will no longer live in private data centres; Enterprises will use a mix of SaaS and Private Cloud solutions to meet tomorrow’s demands.  Virtualisation will allow business to turn up and down IT resources to meet with demand.  This has a huge effect on your network infrastructure.

To add to your woes, your staff are using more and more Social Applications, not just Facebook and YouTube but Google Apps, Internet chat and Blogging are all seeing a huge increase within the Enterprise.

So what do I do?

The concern with the traditional model is latency – forcing packets to stop at every layer.  Enterprises should build networks with a distribution layer of 10 GbE switches that is flattened out, becoming the communication link between servers with as few hops as possible, thus killing network latency.

Leaf-spine topology for computing network architecture

Some describe this two-layer switching method as leaf-spine switching topology or, similarly, a fat-tree switching topology.  In this scenario, servers are connected to leaf switches, which are then connected to a broad web of spine switches that provide interconnected bandwidth between leafs and spines.

This fabric of switches, which includes as many ports as possible, allows equal bandwidth access to every connection, enabling non-blocked movement data in an any-to-any server environment. Cloud leaf fabric controls the flow of traffic between servers, while the spine switching fabric moves traffic between nodes bi-directionally.

Very little is static in a cloud environment. Instances of servers and networks are provisioned at the drop of a hat.  To this end, the network architect must seek out a partner that understands the end-to-end solution from Application to User.  Varidion are a next generation service provider that builds and operates fully managed Infrastructure as a service that allows Enterprises to focus on the business elements of IT and not the technology end.

Remember – The network is the Computer!

Filed under Application Enabled Networks, Cloud Networking, SaaS Tagged with , , , ,

The LAN has left the Building

December 3, 2009 by varidion Leave a Comment

In 1973, Ethernet was invented, and went from 4Mbp/s to 10Gbp/s in 30 years. But it’s the last 5 years that will revolutionise the communications market. 

Today’s Enterprises are consuming megabits at an alarming rate simply to meet the demands of today’s server centric applications but this appetite is about to rocket with the adoption of SaaS and Cloud based applications.  As applications become truly network centric the demands placed on the Wide Area Network will multiply, so will complexity and thus so will cost.  Don’t panic…

In my best Elvis acent Ladeez n Genillmen;  Thu LAN hayuz leff thuh Beolding.

35 years later its LAN not WAN technologies that are fixing the bandwidth the challenge.  Ethernet WAN services are revolutionising wide area connectivity by removing the glass ceiling of capacity, simplifying end points and providing connections that can used for desperate applications such as Video, Voice, Data and Internet thus lowering the total cost of communications.

Buyer beware; Ethernet is more than an access technology, carriers who simply use it to give access to their MPLS cores are only providing a fraction of its benefit, yes you will get cheaper access but having 100Mbp/s pipe into your MPLS provider and only using 20Mbp/s is pointless especially when it takes them 20 days to upgrade it…

So Ethernet is a silver bullet for communications, but only if the core provider it connects you too can compliment it.  Ethernet WANs should provide flexible bandwidth for multiple applications, upgradable at an instant, and allow the removal of legacy “one pipe per application” connections.  Embracing Ethernet without a clear consolidation strategy is madness; contact Varidion today and we’ll show you how to reduce costs and increase business performance with our VPLS powered Ethernet WAN service. 

The LAN has left the building….don’t be left out!

www.varidion.com

Filed under Application Enabled Networks, Cloud Networking, SaaS Tagged with , , , ,

Long Range Forecast: It’s getting Cloudy with Storms.

November 9, 2009 by varidion 2 Comments

CloudsLast week I was discussing the merits of a Cloud based infrastructure with a prospect and he jokingly asked me for a “Long Term Weather Forecast”,  I thought it was a joke but it soon became apparent that some insight into the coming Years would help them choose their wardrobe for the coming seasons.  So in true Michael Fish tradition.

Private Secure Cloud – Enterprises will see through the Fog and embrace the “Private Cloud” and host ICT within their network and not at the edge of their network.  Be quick!  Hosting facilities are filling fast and some very good deals can be had.

Application Specific Clouds – You buy vertical applications for specific business need, so why can’t we do this with Cloud?  You can.  Subscribing to different vendors for Voice, Email, Storage and Security is the best world strategy but can prove complex.  Incidentally, this is a key benefit of Varidions HYDRA platform – Choice!

Self Service – Outsourcing an application to a Cloud provider doesn’t mean you lose control, however some providers have better management platforms than others.  The ability to control your applications and services via consoles and control panels is big business and as SaaS providers try to differentiate themselves, this is where the gaps will appear.

Mostly Cloudy

Quality of Service – Many early adopters cite “Internet Weather” as a major complaint of SaaS; when users complain of slow response from applications and erratic performance the Network and IT Manager is helpless as the problem is after their network but before the SaaS provider.  Varidions HYDRA leads the way in providing QoS based interconnects between Customers and SaaS providers.

Application Monitoring – you’ve subscribed to SaaS, your applications and services are in the Cloud and users are complaining.  You’re blind!  Understanding where your providers are meeting or exceeding their SLAs is critical to companies that are to embrace SaaS.  Not only that, what is the actual application performance users are getting?

Filed under Application Enabled Networks, Cloud Networking, SaaS Tagged with , , , ,

The Cloud is Very Very Wooly…..

November 5, 2009 by varidion Leave a Comment

Cool Art by Joshua Self

Cloud or Sheep?

It’s all Cloud, SaaS, Cloud, SaaS…

But to someone who has always started  a topology workshop by drawing a “Welsh Lover ” in the middle of the whiteboard when discussing ICT architecture with customers it’s not a surprise.  What’s is a surprise, is the way the “The Cloud” is being used by every provider, be they Network, Application or Systems Integrator, most who haven’t changed their product in years, but market their “new” Cloud or SaaS based service…..   That will be the Herd Behaviour!

Filed under Cloud Networking, DLP, SaaS Tagged with , , ,

It’s all about the Benjamins…….. what can a Cloud infrastructure do for your wallet…

November 3, 2009 by varidion Leave a Comment

Dollars

Money saved by the cloud

is the best quote yet I have heard about why Enterprises should move to a Cloud infrastructure  The best bit, it was said by Andy Bechtolsheim the Chairman of Arista Networks and Co-Founder of Sun Microsystems…is he’s not alone, the Analysts agree, IDC predicts that spend on Cloud based services will be 6x that of traditional spend for the foreseeable future.

So why the hype?  Its simple, very simple, very simple indeed.  But that is it….  It’s all about Simplification.

Taking your applications to the network and not your network to the applications will drive complexity and cost out of any infrastructure.  And don’t get confused about Software as a Service, SaaS is the most abused term in IT right now and embracing a cloud model doesn’t need you to run headlong into Internet-based applications such as Google Apps and Saleforce.com, leading Cloud adopters are building their own Secure Clouds on Next Generation Networks.  Speak to Varidion about the Collision of the Clouds and how you can migrate your legacy into our Cloud Networking Platform - The Hydra.

Filed under Application Enabled Networks, Cloud Networking, SaaS Tagged with , ,

Move your Data to the Network, Not your Network to the Data

November 2, 2009 by varidion Leave a Comment

The Enterprise CIO now understands the value of new world Cloud based applications, so why are they still installing old world network topologies to deliver these?  As many companies start to build their own Cloud infrastructures they are hindered by low speed and high latency environments that can not meet the demands of today’s high performance virtualised environments.  Not only that; the traditional three tier infrastructure model implemented by most enterprises is exactly what you should not be installing to support an Enterprise Cloud environment.

Applications have changed and so have the rules; speak to Varidion about how our Hydra, the Cloud Networking Platform can deliver your applications quicker, cheaper and more securely.

Filed under Application Enabled Networks, Cloud Networking, SaaS, Varidion Tagged with , , , ,

What do Virtualised Servers of the future look like……

October 26, 2009 by varidion Leave a Comment

….not a Server.

Well not a server as a CIO knows of it today, not even a blade, the cutting edge of servers as they currently see it…

Our view at Varidion is the world of virtualisation is about to collide head-on with the world of networking as the applications of tomorrow will be run directly on what we know today as an Ethernet switch.  The reasons are simple; as the enterprise continues to deploy highly loaded virtualised servers running hotter and hotter it’s the network that will struggle to keep up with the server, so we have a couple of options:

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Filed under Application Enabled Networks, SaaS Tagged with , , ,