Monitoring Overlay Networks with Cubro Cloud Switch
November 13, 2019
Cubro, a leading vendor of network visibility products, offers the most advanced solution to monitor overlay networks – Cubro Cloud Switch (CCS). The CCS combines an advanced switching fabric with a visibility fabric.
The existing approach of network visibility like in legacy times to tap a link and feed this to a tool is no longer valid. This approach is not appropriate because this “link” is not a physical link anymore. It is a virtual link on top of the physical network. The reason is that today more and more networks are designed as overlays.
These overlay networks are actually the operating network which should be monitored but a network TAP and a classical network packet broker (NPB) is a physical device which works on one layer below the overlay.
This would not be such a problem in theory if we expect to have only one overlay technology but in reality, overlay technologies are stacked and there are different overlays on the same physical network. In some cases, dozens or even hundreds of overlays are seen in large networks. In the absence of any coordination between the overlay and underlay, the network cannot provide strict performance guarantees except with overprovisioning.
Current tools do not support these kinds of networks. If these tools are used, then it is necessary to separate these logical overlay networks and feed only the correct network to the tools. To do this, advanced NPBs are needed, which can filter in these virtual overlay networks.
The Cubro Cloud switch provides switching functions in layer 2 to 7 and at the same time visibility. This is possible because the packet forwarding is done in HW, the switch infrastructure knows where the micro service is running, and can copy the relevant traffic and send it over the switch infrastructure to the probing system (virtual/real).
The solution is the Sonic-based cloud switch design in high-performance hardware from Cubro. The Cubro Cloud Fabric offers secure and scalable network visibility solution which can simplify the work of network engineer.
Security is nowadays an important part of network management. Secure networks are vital for running an uninterrupted business, preventing data loss and maintaining the overall image of the business.
