Cloud Computing: Layer 4-7 network orchestration – Are we there yet?

May 2, 2015 Off By David

Grazed from TechTarget.  Author: Jessica Scarpati.

Networks have developed a middle-child syndrome over the years.  Ever since the first server virtualization platforms allowed systems administrators to easily spin up or decommission virtual machines (VMs) within minutes, the data center solidified its place as the golden child, representing agility and efficiency in infrastructure. It paved the way for cloud computing, putting more pressure on IT to be responsive to dynamic environments.

While virtualization soon seeped into other parts of IT like storage and desktops, the network was largely ignored. Although Layer 4-7 appliance vendors released virtualized versions of their products — virtual firewalls, virtual load balancers, virtual WAN optimization controllers and so forth — their primary focus was on reducing expenses, not improving agility. Networking as a whole remained frozen in hardware governed by static architectures, and most attempts to innovate focused on moving bits faster…

Software-defined networking (SDN) and network virtualization finally caught up, however, adding more flexibility and programmability to switching and routing. Now enterprises and service providers steeped in cloud and software-defined data centers are eager to see these platforms climb up the stack to tie in Layer 4-7. They’re hungry for orchestration tools that can automate the deployment and management of those services with minimal human intervention…

Read more from the source @ http://searchsdn.techtarget.com/feature/Layer-4-7-network-orchestration-Are-we-there-yet