Pluribus Networks UNUM Management Platform Radically Simplifies SDN Fabrics for Data Centers

Pluribus Networks has integrated the Pluribus UNUM unified management platform onto the Dell EMC Virtual Edge Platform 4600 (VEP4600), a purpose-built open modular platform designed to host virtual networking functions (VNFs) that is extremely easy to deploy.

Pluribus UNUM Release 5.2

Pluribus UNUM is an agile, multi-functional web management portal that provides a rich graphical user interface (GUI) for the distributed and controllerless Adaptive Cloud Fabric solution. UNUM has two key modules, UNUM Fabric Manager and UNUM Insight Analytics, both contained within the UNUM management platform. UNUM Fabric Manager provides comprehensive GUI-based management, including topology visualization, zero-touch provisioning, automated fabric creation and fabric-wide configuration management. UNUM Insight Analytics is a powerful analytics module that provides proactive insight via rich graphical dashboards and robust search functionality into the network and applications data of every flow through the fabric to assure peak operating performance to meet user experience expectations.

With release 5.2 UNUM adds a number of key new capabilities:

• Integrated into Dell Virtual Edge Platform 4600, which can handle up to 30 days of flow data and up to 500 million stored flows and also includes two virtual Netvisor ONE machines to help manage larger, busier fabrics.
• All changes to the fabric now tracked and displayed via notifications dashboard for a robust audit trail of network changes.
• New analytics dashboard to monitor security, QoS and packet broker vFlow policies.
• Streamlined creation of vFlow policies for packet broker applications.
• Highly simplified dashboard for lab automation to fully automate the creation of IP VirtualWire point-to-point connections between any two devices connected to the fabric.
• New QuickStart functionality for fabric creation. Performance tested to provision a 10-switch fabric in under 15 minutes.

Simplifying Network Operations with Pluribus UNUM and Insight Analytics on the VEP4600

The Adaptive Cloud Fabric is a peer-to-peer distributed SDN underlay and overlay solution that can be managed via CLI, REST API or UNUM from any switch in the fabric, even if those switches are globally distributed. However, an increasing number of customers prefer to manage the entire fabric through the UNUM GUI so they can spend more time on strategic initiatives and less time on managing network details. By integrating Pluribus UNUM onto the pre-tested Dell EMC VEP4600, Pluribus and Dell have made the deployment of UNUM that much easier. While the Adaptive Cloud Fabric intrinsically provides comprehensive automation and telemetry, once UNUM Fabric Manager and UNUM Insight Analytics are deployed, network operators are further liberated from the complexity of provisioning and operating data center networks – whether single site or multi-site. Pluribus UNUM automates the complete network lifecycle from implementation to operation and optimization, enabling intent-based network operations with vastly reduced deployment times, all delivered on the compact footprint of a Dell EMC VEP4600.

“In today’s marketplace, it has become a business imperative to simplify network complexity, while increasing agility and speed to service for our customers,” said Alley Hasan, director of Open Networking, Dell EMC. “In utilizing UNUM on Dell EMC VEP4600, we are providing customers with another option to streamline SDN automation of single- and multi-site data center fabrics.”

“Pluribus and Dell EMC have a strong focus on open networking and extending SDN capabilities to edge and distributed cloud infrastructures. Pluribus’ network OS and fabric technologies are unique in the market and aligned with market evolution towards more distributed data center architectures, edge computing and network slicing. This integration will simplify the management of edge deployments,” said Dana Cooperson, research director, Analysys Mason.

“Pluribus and Dell EMC are committed to open networking and enabling service providers and enterprises to build out their data center infrastructure, including smaller and more compact single site and multi-site environments. More than ever, the need to apply SDN automation and achieve pervasive visibility across the entire data center infrastructure is critical. That’s exactly what Pluribus can deliver on top of the high-performance open networking hardware from Dell EMC,” said Kumar Srikantan, Chief Executive Officer of Pluribus Networks.

Pluribus & Dell EMC: Delivering “Tangible Benefits”

In a white paper titled How Network Disaggregation Facilitates Datacenter and IT Modernization, IDC analysts interviewed two Dell EMC Open Networking customers with Pluribus Networks software about their experiences with network disaggregation. One was a regional cloud service provider, and the other was an enterprise. The customers provided insights into several tangible benefits they have derived from the combination of Dell EMC Open Networking and Pluribus software. IDC found that the two customers achieved significant operational efficiencies, increased business and operational agility, performance improvements and higher overall productivity in support of business outcomes.