Network Management Strategies for the CIO
Access "Data center network fabrics vs. software – defined fabrics"
This article is part of the August 2012 Vol. 3, No. 4 issue of Data center fabric wars
Just last year, data center network fabrics were the hot topic in networking. Flat, low-latency networks with any-to-any bandwidth promised to solve the networking problems of highly virtualized data centers. These fabrics would enable increased east-west traffic in—and free up bandwidth constraints created by—spanning tree protocol (STP), making networks responsive to server virtualization and resulting in easier-to-operate data center infrastructure. Then something else happened—a tsunami of hype hit the networking industry in the form of OpenFlow and software defined networking (SDN). Startups emerged with claims that SDN could enable programmable networks in multi-vendor environments, solving many of the problems that expensive data center fabrics promised to fix, but for a whole lot less money. Now network engineers and architects must sort through two separate hype machines. And they must ask whether data center fabrics and SDN are an either-or proposition, or two architectures that complement each other. The answer to this question is hard to find, ... Access >>>
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Features
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Data center network fabrics vs. software – defined fabrics
by Shamus McGillicuddy
Are data center fabrics and software defined networks competitive or complementary technologies?
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Deep packet inspection tools: Proxy vs. stream-based
by David B. Jacobs, Contributor
As more enterprises consider deep packet inspection tools, network managers must choose the technique that works best for them.
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Data center network fabrics vs. software – defined fabrics
by Shamus McGillicuddy
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With network fabrics, choosing a vendor means commitment
by Michael Morisy
Can incompatible fabrics be good for data center networking?
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Using wireless network bandwidth monitoring to stay within data caps
by Lisa Phifer, Wireless Expert
Wireless network bandwidth monitoring is important for users who must remain within data caps that are often broken by smartphone/tablets and cloud services.
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With network fabrics, choosing a vendor means commitment
by Michael Morisy
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News
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VMware networking CTO on SDN, OpenFlow and network virtualization
by Shamus McGillicuddy
VMware networking CTO Allwyn Sequeira explains the software-defined data center, the future of OpenFlow and how the company already has network virtualization 'nailed.'
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VMware networking CTO on SDN, OpenFlow and network virtualization
by Shamus McGillicuddy
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Columns
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Point-Counterpoint: Do both SDN and data center network fabrics fail?
by Rivka Gewirtz Little
In this point-counterpoint feature, two network engineers turned-bloggers—Ivan Pepelnjak of IOS hints and Brad Casemore of Twilight in the Valley of Nerds—take opposing sides in the battle of network fabric vs. SDN. Read both, and see which side you agree with.
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Point-Counterpoint: Do both SDN and data center network fabrics fail?
by Rivka Gewirtz Little
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