4 Factors Driving the Adoption of Network Virtualization

TechTarget’s white paper “Organizations Increasing Their Adoption of Network Functions Virtualization to Reduce Complexity and Ease Management” summarizes a survey of more than 1,300 IT and networking professionals from around the world. The result: a wealth of comparative data about the opportunities and challenges associated with the adoption of network virtualization and deployment. Businesses exploring NFV capabilities and benefits will find the white paper useful for comparing their perspectives and initiatives with organizations already deploying or soon planning NFV deployment.

What’s driving the adoption of network virtualization?

The survey ranks the major factors driving the adoption of network virtualization technologies. This blog focuses on the top four, and explains how the Equinix approach to NFV deployment via Network Edge and Platform Equinix facilitates each. The Equinix approach makes NFV adoption a viable strategy for organizations of any size—from small businesses to global enterprises.

Easier network management

As organizations move data and applications to the cloud, they soon confront the stark reality of the evolving complexity of managing hybrid and multicloud network infrastructures. Network Edge helps organizations simplify the complexity of network management by:

• Supporting centralized deployment and management of VNFs lowers CapEx. VNFs are installed remotely without the need for an organization to have a physical presence in a specific geography or technical expertise on site.
• Offering a range of virtual network functions from leading vendors such as Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Juniper, Fortinet, CloudGenix and Versa that provide firewall, router and SD-WAN services. Architects can select which virtual network function from different vendors as part of a single workflow, freeing up time for network architects.
• Providing a global platform of 200 interconnected data centers and business ecosystems with access to more than 1,800 network and 2,500 cloud service providers. Global reach and presence enable organizations to securely deploy and directly connect to easily access remote markets and optimize network performance.

Enhanced security

An expanded network presence exposes organizations to increased threats of attacks. Network architects and security teams are challenged to design and implement security services that prevent attacks without degrading network performance. Network Edge helps organizations enhance the security of their network infrastructure by providing:

• A range of virtual firewall functions that complement and augment already installed firewall hardware.
• SD-WAN services with integrated firewall and secure web gateway capabilities such as IPS, malware detection, application controls and URL filtering to establish consistent security policies across networks and proactively minimize threats.
• Private virtual connections to the cloud providers, bypassing the Public Internet.

Improved network availability

Network availability is a critical factor in workload performance. Cloud and network providers make significant investments to build out and continually enhance their data centers and network infrastructures. Unfortunately, many organizations unknowingly sabotage their access to and availability of these resources with piecemeal approaches to connectivity and management.

VNFs deployed via Network Edge on Platform Equinix, the world’s largest global platform of interconnected data centers and business ecosystems, support improved network availability by providing secure, direct, low-latency, private connections to clouds and network service providers for consistent performance without being susceptible to the congestion of normal Public Internet traffic.

Enhanced network agility

The ability to anticipate and proactively address expected changes in network demand or quickly deploy network services in response to immediate business needs are vital requirements for managing data and applications in hybrid and multicloud environments. Network Edge supports network agility by:

• Pre-integrating virtual network functions into Platform Equinix to ensure easy deployment in minutes, as opposed to days or weeks. Architects can build out required network infrastructure without the delays of hardware deployment.
• The ability to provision virtual network functions quickly, reliably and securely as business demands shift and new services and applications are required.

Network management simplified with NFV deployment

The Global Interconnection Index (GXI) Volume 3 quantitatively describes how workloads shifting to cloud environments create greater demand for network capacity and optimized interconnections. As a result of this transformation and growth, architects are challenged to design and implement more flexible, scalable and agile infrastructures. NFV offers architects solutions to simplify the deployment and management of network services across widely-distributed hybrid and cloud environments.

Readers interested in learning how Network Edge enables NFV deployment are invited to register for a free trial today.