HP made its SDN ambitions clear and laid stress on unified BYOD solutions during the HP Network University 2013. By Mehak Chawla
That the networks of today are becoming difficult to manage and increasingly more complex is a fact that is undisputed. The network infrastructure of the present era is reeling under pressure on multiple fronts like mobility, cloud and BYOD. While experts believe that migration to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) could be the answer to some of these problems, software defined networks (SDN) are being touted as the other technical panacea to the troubles of the networking world.
These two networking aspects were the cynosure of HP’s Network University event which was held in Bangalore from March 6-7, 2013.
It is estimated that by 2020, 50 billion devices with be connected to wireless networks. For an experience of that scale to materialize, it is imperative that the networks be prepared. These were the thoughts that Amol Mitra, Worldwide VP, Channel, Alliances & SI, HP Networking, pondered upon at the beginning of his address which was titled “Demystifying SDN”.
According to Mitra, one of the key advantages of SDN, and consequently its biggest driver, is that it can get applications on board in a relatively quicker time.
Open networking
A key feature that HP stressed upon during the event was a high degree of visibility and control of the network. According to Mitra, SDN comes with a control layer that sits between the infrastructure and the application layer and can give software as well as hardware related controls to the network manager. The concept of intelligent network was also stressed upon, especially through HP’s intent of a “single control plane” for the entire network.
According to Uday Birje, Country Manager, Network Consulting – Technology Services, HP India, enterprises are increasingly realizing the pressures their networks face and thus, there is a considerable amount of innovation happening on the network side. He also believed that the concept of a dashboard for the whole network is gaining ground in India.
HP, with its OpenFlow SDN, is looking to enhance network agility and at the same time provide enterprises an open platform that they can build upon. Mitra explained that for many enterprises moving to the cloud, command-line interface (CLI), a manual configuration of networks, can prove to be error-prone. That is why SDN, which is easy to program, is fast becoming a popular choice.
Though it is unlikely that SDN will see rapid adoption, because there is no rip-and-replace when it comes to networks, Birje believed that many organizations are in the process of charting out a migration strategy that takes them toward SDN, and some are even doing pilots. The real impetus for SDN is expected to come from large greenfield projects that are not only opting for IPv6 but are also actively considering SDN. “Newer buying patterns indicate that enterprises are taking SDN into consideration before making their network decisions. Even if they don’t want to switch to SDN immediately, they are certainly looking for an SDN-capable network.”
Birje is of the opinion that one of the biggest pushes for SDN will come from the banking vertical, which has now been mandated to switch to IPv6 and is thus undertaking a drive to transform legacy networks into modern and agile ones. “We are working with at least three banks in their migration to IPv6.”
The other potential verticals for SDN are likely to be IT/ITeS and education.
The BYOD platform
The event also saw HP announcing its unified wired and wireless solutions that enable BYOD for organizations in a secure manner. The latest solution is an extension of HP’s Intelligent Management Center (IMC) platform and will deliver unified wired and wireless management and switching platforms that create a single network for wired and wireless connectivity.
By 2016, two-thirds of the workforce will own smartphones, and 40% of the workforce will be mobile. Yet, today’s legacy infrastructure requires two separate networks and management applications for wired and wireless connectivity, resulting in operational complexity. Additionally, these legacy infrastructures lack scalability to support multiple devices per user or the security to protect mission-critical information. It is this complexity that HP is looking to address.
According to Andrew Habgood, Region Sales Director, Cloud, Data Center and Critical Facilities, APJ, HP Technology Consulting, “The key enabler of BYOD lies in shifting the focus away from the device. Devices and their form factors shall keep on evolving. We should focus on the experience and not the device.”
He also elaborated on the “wars of form factor” that are currently on in the BYOD arena and fueling debates like which OS provides the best interface as well access and how can touch co-exist with traditional mailing? Habgood explained that the key to BYOD is to make a service viable across networks and to design apps that can cope up with such a scenario.
HP’s BYOD solution seeks to not only simplify operations but also reduce costs by up to 38% by eliminating the need for traditional network access devices, including separate switches and controllers, while supporting up to 1,000 wireless devices with the HP 830 Unified/WLAN switch, said Habgood.
He also stressed upon the fact that mobility services will eventually assist an organization in its move toward cloud. “An organization that doesn’t have a mobility strategy cannot figure out a cloud mechanism.”
For starters, HP has partnered with IIITB, where it has set up a demo lab for its BYOD solution and is demonstrating aspects like security, network switching and video capabilities for BYOD. Education is one of the primary verticals that HP is looking to tap into for BYOD; healthcare and insurance being the others.
As a part of its network initiatives, HP Education Services in association with IIITB will also launch certificate programs in integrated networks, network security and networking for cloud. The three certified courses with combine e-learning with traditional classroom modules.