by Mike Cohen Few question that Linux containers signal a tectonic shift in how applications are built, deployed, and operated and their composition into microservices will likely become a best practice in application design.(1) This shift could mean a lot for us in the networking space. We’ll see a faster migration to 40G or 25/50/100G architectures, a serious focus on scale as we could see up to a million MAC/IPs coming to a single ToR, and a push for improved visibility and telemetry as the…
Today, we catch up with Adam Forch, co-chair of the ONUG Software-Defined Security Services (SDSS) Working Group, to drill down on some of the implications software-defined networking will have for enterprise security. Forch is the Network Security Information Security Advisor at FedEx, and involved in the planning and implementation of new SDN technologies at FedEx.
by Nick Lippis The IT industry is living in a Picasso moment; it is creating a new future via software and in the process shedding its decades-long love affair with hardware. As the hardware era ends and the software-defined world progresses, the over $400B worldwide compute, storage, and networking market and vendors like Dell, Cisco, IBM, HP, and many others that supply it are struggling with the change. Legacy vendors are disappearing or restructuring, as evidenced by the HP breakup and Dell’s purchase of…
As enterprise IT explores ways of streamlining operations, there’s a growing requirement for individuals with cross-functional skill sets. The full-stack revolution, as this is called, combines conventional networking skill with other disciplines, such as application and security skill sets. It’s been seen by some as a threat to traditional network engineering. Not so, says Pablo Espinosa, director of network engineering at Intuit.
As products have become more specialized, they are appealing to an increasingly narrow and more sophisticated customer set. Firewalls are no longer meant for IT engineers, but firewall experts. SSL requires deep knowledge of SSL certifications. Such segmentation subsequently requires specialized expertise from IT personnel and poses a multidimensional challenge for hiring managers.
by Nick Lippis Last year members of the ONUG Community took front row seats to the emergence of a software-defined Infrastructure ecosystem and its cloudification. In this new software-defined world, the wide area or (SD-WAN) came into focus. ONUG Fall at NYU saw the greatest participation ever of SD-WAN players, as thirteen vendors exhibited an SD-WAN solution. In 2016, the ONUG Community will again have front-row seats to witness the significant changes taking place in the IT industry, particularly in open infrastructure.
by Lee Doyle At the most recent Open Networking User Group (ONUG) Conference, halls were buzzing with discussions regarding the expansion of open IT frameworks and how companies will move forward in managing them. Organizations like ONUG are critical in assisting IT managers by providing a framework to evaluate network management tools and a vision for unified network visibility.
ONUG Fall 2015 may be finished, but the implications and themes from the show will be with us for years to come. Center stage was the evolution of network infrastructure to software and the emerging open IT Frameworks. Software defined networking (SDN) is part of a broader IT transition toward open Software-Defined Infrastructure in the context of open IT Frameworks for enterprise systems. Keynotes and sessions explored how IT consumption models are changing IT service delivery and supply chain systemically throughout the IT industry.
by Steve Woo This fall ONUG participants are focusing on interoperability. For enterprises and service providers alike interoperability means avoiding vendor lock in, but even more importantly it means achieving the ability to piece together the best solutions for their needs. Interoperability may be considered a key promise of applying SDN principles to the WAN. It goes beyond the architectural separation of the control plane from the data plane to explicitly focus on the goal of open and interoperable systems. Let’s look at some examples…
Next week we’ll converge on New York City for ONUG Fall. The ONUG team has a ton of amazing content planned: fireside chats with IT leaders, roundtables with executives, and more. But it’s the POC demonstrations that have us most excited.
