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EDITOR’S NOTE: SDN AN SDN SEA CHANGE: PRACTICALITIES: HOW THE SDN WAN ADDRESSES
WAN PROMISES A TRANSFORMING WAN NETWORK PROS CAN THE DEMANDS OF CLOUD,
PARADIGM SHIFT OPERATIONS APPLY SDN TO THE WAN SAAS AND BYOD
EDITOR’S
NOTE
In the words of network engineer and blog- why every organization with a WAN should
HOME
ger Greg Ferro, software-defined networking have SDN on its radar.
EDITOR’S NOTE in the data center is “so last year”; now SDN in Finally, Lee Doyle, an intelligent networks
the wide area network (WAN) is stepping for- expert, explores the potential applications of
AN SDN SEA
CHANGE: TRANSFORMING ward to steal the spotlight. IT decision makers SDN in the WAN and the challenges involved
WAN OPERATIONS
are wise to pay attention to the escalating buzz. in implementing it. The increasing connectiv-
PRACTICALITIES: The software-defined WAN appears poised ity demands posed by cloud technology, soft-
HOW NETWORK PROS
to catalyze a sea change in the enterprise ware as a service (SaaS) and bring your own
CAN APPLY SDN TO
THE WAN space, transforming WANs from inflexible and device (BYOD) policies pose new questions, to
expensive to agile and cost-effective, and dra- which SDN may well be the answer. However,
THE SDN WAN
ADDRESSES THE matically altering network engineering career significant hurdles remain.
DEMANDS OF CLOUD,
prospects and job descriptions in the process. Inevitably, uncertainty accompanies a para-
SAAS AND BYOD
This guide tackles these issues and more. digm shift. One thing is sure: It’s an exciting
First, founder of Nemertes Research Johna time to be in networking. We hope this guide
Till Johnson examines the skillsets that engi- helps you navigate the waters of SDN in the
neers will need in this brave new world of WAN and provides both a big picture look at
dynamic network environments, and the ideal the emerging technology and practical insight
ratio of “deep” technologists to application pro- into how it might perform in your enterprise. n
grammers in a networking team.
Next, John Burke considers the most compel- Alissa Irei
ling use cases for software-defined WANs and Site Editor, SearchSDN
SOAP and the like). security expertise, and what sort, should be
For managers, this shift in required skills represented on the team. Although it doesn’t
poses several challenges. The first is how to yet get a lot of press, software-defined security
acquire the combination of network and pro- (SDS) is the natural outgrowth of an environ-
gramming expertise: Is it better to teach net- ment in which most infrastructure (servers,
work engineers programming skills, or teach storage and networking) is virtualized. This
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programmers the fundamentals of routing? requires, once again, a shift away from hard-
EDITOR’S NOTE There’s no right answer—you can make a solid ware-oriented expertise (the ability to con-
argument either way—but the fact remains figure security devices such as Palo Alto and
AN SDN SEA
CHANGE: TRANSFORMING that the required skill set is a blend of exper- Check Point firewalls, for instance) to more of a
WAN OPERATIONS
tise that’s currently rare. software focus.
PRACTICALITIES:
HOW NETWORK PROS
CAN APPLY SDN TO
THE WAN TEAM REMIX SKILLS APPLICATIONS
A second, weightier challenge is the team mix. Finally, one of the biggest challenges in a soft-
THE SDN WAN
ADDRESSES THE While it’s important to have networking exper- ware-defined-everything world lies in rethink-
DEMANDS OF CLOUD,
tise, and a few individuals blending networking ing the current “horizontally portable” skills
SAAS AND BYOD
and programming expertise, what’s the right and recognizing the value of more “vertically
ratio of “deep” network engineers to more soft- focused” skills. What I’m getting at here is this:
ware-oriented SDN specialists? Again, there’s In the old (pre-SDN) days, network architecture
no right answer, although experience from the was a horizontally portable skill. A routed net-
server-virtualization transition suggests there’s work for, say, a financial services firm wasn’t
likely to be a dramatic reduction in the number significantly different from one for a phar-
of “deep” network engineers, compared to their maceutical company. The important depth to
more software-focused counterparts. acquire was in technical competence, not in the
There’s also the question of how much specific company or vertical industry.
But SDN’s ability to deliver specific use cases network design—or more general SDN spe-
means that infrastructure engineers need to cialists, with both coding and networking
think longer and harder about what those use expertise. Will their team most need the deep
cases might be—and use cases are typically skills or general SDN ones?
specific to a vertical or a particular company.
A retail company might shift traffic flows to ■■ Network managers should think about how to
HOME
cloud-based data centers for increased capacity acquire the right blend of expertise. Do they
EDITOR’S NOTE at specific times of the week, month or year, for want to train their current networking teams
instance. in programming, or hire programmers and
AN SDN SEA
CHANGE: TRANSFORMING So just as former sys admins moved from teach them networking? (The decision will
WAN OPERATIONS
configuring servers to match technical specif- also affect the career advancement possibili-
PRACTICALITIES: ics to crafting various computing solutions ties for architects and engineers.)
HOW NETWORK PROS
for internal customers, network professionals
CAN APPLY SDN TO
THE WAN will move toward developing a library of SDN ■■ Network managers will need to fine-tune
use cases that meet specific business needs. the composition of their teams. As noted,
THE SDN WAN
ADDRESSES THE Much of the value of SDN technologists will be the SDN-centric networking team is likely
DEMANDS OF CLOUD,
encapsulated in that use case library. to include a very limited number of deep
SAAS AND BYOD
The bottom line? Network professionals at networking technologists (often only one);
all levels (engineers, architects and managers) a handful of SDN specialists with both net-
need to prepare for a sea change in their job working and software expertise; and at least
functions. Some takeaways: one individual with expertise in SDS.
■■ Network engineers and architects should ■■ Finally, all professionals should think about
decide whether they want to become “deep taking a structured approach toward develop-
technologists”—the go-to folks for under- ing and managing a library of SDN use cases.
standing the finer nuances of routing and —Johna Till Johnson
It’s easy to see the role of SDN in the data network traffic challenges outside the data cen-
HOME
center context, where it is an adjunct to the ter as well as inside it. The most expensive gear
EDITOR’S NOTE evolution of private clouds and of data center may be in the data centers, but in most envi-
virtualization generally. For years, the network ronments the bulk of the gear is not. When an
AN SDN SEA
CHANGE: TRANSFORMING has been the sticking point there, slowing or organization relies on having lots of branches,
WAN OPERATIONS
making more difficult efforts to fully virtualize, each specialized network device added to the
PRACTICALITIES: automate and orchestrate data centers. standard “branch stack” can represent both a
HOW NETWORK PROS
SDN brings the network fully up to speed. significant capital expense and an impediment
CAN APPLY SDN TO
THE WAN It separates control decisions (about how to to growth, thanks to the overhead of configur-
handle network packets and flows) from actual ing, deploying, maintaining and operating the
THE SDN WAN
ADDRESSES THE packet handling. By putting a standard inter- device in every location.
DEMANDS OF CLOUD,
face between the two functional units (con-
SAAS AND BYOD
troller and data plane), SDN simply fulfills the
promise hinted at when chassis-based rout- THE APPEAL OF SDN
ers first separated controller cards from line For the WAN, then, the appeal of SDN rests
cards. By putting an API in front of the con- as much on the ability to consolidate branch-
troller, SDN makes the network fully suscep- stack services onto a smaller number of
tible to programmatic control, automation and cheaper, more manageable generic devices
orchestration. as it does on the idea of programmatic con-
SDN won’t stop in the data center, though, trol. Smaller stacks are needed because SDN
and why should it? The enterprise faces allows a data-plane device to simultaneously
implement policies in security, optimiza- most compelling use cases for SDN in the
tion and other roles. SDN brings in cheaper WAN. On the security front, for example, a
and more manageable devices, because each is security application would tell the SDN con-
essentially the same: a generic switch without troller things like “Subnet A cannot talk to the
much native intelligence. But it’s not restricted Internet, but subnet B can” or “No device on
in function to switching ready-to-move pack- the desktop VLAN should be talking directly to
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ets according to whatever rules the controller any other; if they try to, sound an alarm.”
EDITOR’S NOTE passes down. In this way, each device requires The controller would instruct the branch
little or no unique configuration of its own and devices on how to move packets by setting up
AN SDN SEA
CHANGE: TRANSFORMING becomes easier to maintain. flow tables and make decisions about any new
WAN OPERATIONS
The SDN branch, then, instead of being com- flows as needed. In optimization, an applica-
PRACTICALITIES: posed of a router and a unified threat manage- tion could, for example, dynamically prioritize
HOW NETWORK PROS
ment device and WAN optimizer and a DLP voice packets going from data center to branch
CAN APPLY SDN TO
THE WAN appliance, would contain generic data-plane endpoint, or from one endpoint in one branch
devices. Each would be the same as the oth- to another endpoint in a different branch,
THE SDN WAN
ADDRESSES THE ers; companies could equip them for higher or then tear down prioritizations when the call
DEMANDS OF CLOUD,
lower bandwidth, or greater or lesser port den- completes.
SAAS AND BYOD
sity. They would be distinguished by whether Given the possibilities for making the WAN
an external link is plugged into them (making it and branch networks both more functional and
a WAN edge device), or into servers or users or less expensive, every organization with a WAN
some combination of the two. should be keeping its eyes on developments in
SDN applications, controllers and switching
gear, and planning to test possible new WAN
COMPELLING USES architectures within the next two years.
Security and optimization provide two of the —John Burke
difficult to manage. But it’s even more difficult ■■ Improved security (e.g., encryption)
and are accessed remotely by a range of ■■ Flexible VPN access, improving secure
remote data centers. Many IT managers would ■■ Performance monitoring and management
ficer of Nemertes Research, where she sets research direc- Linda Koury | Director of Online Design
THE SDN WAN
ADDRESSES THE tion and works with strategic clients. She has decades of Neva Maniscalco | Graphic Designer
DEMANDS OF CLOUD,
SAAS AND BYOD
experience in IT structure, processes, and organizations Doug Olender | Senior Vice President/Publisher
dolender@techtarget.com
and has worked closely with senior IT executives at lead-
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