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Virtualising WANs: The claim of their software-centric future
I came across an article a few hours ago, http://www.networkworld.com/article/3121969/lan-wan/virtualizing-wan-capabilities.html [networkworld.com]
I was wondering how much of all that makes sense. It seems to put a lot of focus on the virtual buzz that exists today everywhere and it seems to be being pushed in networking as well. While I don't mind this being implemented by those who want to, I am a bit of a fanboy of the saying "Hardware is King". All this "IT as a service" doesn't seem to have much sense unless one defines what IT is. It may range from just a shared printer, to an entire rack full of servers and switches, to an entire floor full of them. Virtualised WANs and the notion of a 'WAN as a service' could be easy as a breeze to be managed, but how robust could they be? While performance needs at the network level always go up, how does this relate to virtualizing that in itself, transforming it into yet another layer down the stack? A layer which encapsulates all the other layers and which in turn may contain such a layer too. How deep would the nesting level go?
From the article:
“In the network, NFV allows routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, content delivery systems, end-user devices, IMS Nodes, and almost any other network function to be run as software on virtual machines—ultimately, on shared servers, using shared storage, ” Honnachari explained in an executive brief.
Basically it is the promise of being able to draw a network in a CAD-like software, and push a "Run" button.
Then there is also:
In a world where every part of business is moving, ever faster, the new WAN era will be characterized by user-intuitive solutions that help businesses sense and adapt to shifting demands, allowing those businesses to achieve competitive advantage by helping them optimize their business in motion.
What could be these shifting demands to change your mind often about the WAN infrastructure on which many other things depend on? The virtual network of the International Stock Exchange traffic, anyone?
Like someone else mentioned, would the soylentis enjoy playing "The Sims: NOC Edition" ?
