Evaluate

Evaluate

Weigh the pros and cons of technologies, products and projects you are considering.

• What's the difference between hybrid, virtual and SD-WAN?

  An expert explains the differences between hybrid, virtual and software-defined WANs and tells how they are each related. Continue Reading

• Cisco, Brocade virtual router review

  Virtual routers can be measured by platforms, features and price. Kevin Tolly reviews VRs from Brocade and Cisco. Continue Reading

• SN blogs: New Cisco CEO Robbins' strategy praised, panned

  An analyst says incoming Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins' move to prioritize strategies will help the vendor. But there are areas that still need attention. Continue Reading

• Arista launches network automation tools for enterprises

  Arista introduces network automation tools with enterprise features like network-wide rollback. Continue Reading

• OpenStack Heat jumpstarts SDN learning, but still needs work

  OpenStack Heat -- an orchestration project -- uses SDN to launch applications in the cloud. It's one step closer to mainstream SDN, but we're not there yet. Continue Reading

• Next-generation Wi-Fi: How SDN changes the wireless landscape

  The future is now. SDN technologies are quickly becoming central to vendors' next-generation Wi-Fi products and services -- and their role will only increase.Continue Reading

• BYOD, MDM streamlined with Xirrus Wi-Fi

  Wi-Fi vendor Xirrus introduces EasyPass, a set of cloud-based Wi-Fi security services for enterprise customers.Continue Reading

• Brocade VDX 8770: Data center switch overview

  The Brocade VDX 8770 is a data center switch tailored for complex enterprise IT environments, such as data centers with extensive virtualization.Continue Reading

• Cisco Nexus 9500 series: Data center switch overview

  In this overview, learn more about the Cisco Nexus 9500 series, a family of data center switches designed for enterprises and highly virtualized data centers.Continue Reading

• Dell E1200i and E600i series: Data center-class switch overview

  Find out more about the Dell E-series family of data center-class switches, which is tailored for complex enterprise IT environments like highly virtualized data centers.Continue Reading

• HP FlexFabric 12500 series: Data center-class switch overview

  The HP FlexFabric 12500 series is designed for enterprise IT environments, including highly virtualized data centers. Learn more about the series' features and capabilities in this overview.Continue Reading

• HP FlexFabric 12900 series: Data center-class switch fabric overview

  In this data center-class switch product overview, learn more about the HP FlexFabric 12900 series, including its capabilities, features, and pricing and support information.Continue Reading

• Juniper EX9200 series: Data center-class switch overview

  The Juniper EX9200 series is a family of data center-class switches for enterprises and service providers with large data centers and campuses with highly virtualized and cloud environments.Continue Reading

• Cisco Nexus 7700 series: Data center switch overview

  The Cisco Nexus 7700 series is a family of data center-class switches designed for enterprises and highly virtualized environments. Learn about the features of this series in this product overview.Continue Reading

• Silver Peak launches gear to boost hybrid WAN performance

  Silver Peak has released an appliance that lowers networking costs by providing more traffic control in a hybrid WAN.Continue Reading

• The new cloud network: More than an Internet link

  Learn about the virtual WAN, the software-defined WAN and other new cloud network possibilities.Continue Reading

• ICYMI: Group issues open source NFV app to spur expansion

  In this week's SDN news, the OPNFV Project releases its open source NFV platform to help companies add virtual functions while NEC releases two new switches to help build large software-defined data centers.Continue Reading

• Cisco broadens SDN on Nexus switches

  Cisco is using open SDN technology to make its Nexus switches more appealing to services providers, enterprises.Continue Reading

• Data warehousing projects benefit from cloud and Hadoop

  SN blogs: This week, analysts discuss a new way to network a campus LAN and if ACI and NSX can work well together.Continue Reading

• How software-defined WAN architecture is changing the market

  SDN principles are transforming the wide area network, with a number of networking companies -- both startups and established players -- offering software-defined WAN technologies to enterprises.Continue Reading

• Brocade app ups performance of OpenDaylight SDN

  Brocade makes generally available an OpenDaylight SDN app that improves network performance through more efficient traffic flow.Continue Reading

• Buying data center-class switches: What you need to know

  Choosing the right switches for your data center can be difficult in an increasingly virtual environment. In this article, we explore the purchasing criteria for data center-class switches.Continue Reading

• Making the business case for data center-class switches

  Choosing the right data center-class switch depends on your needs. This article breaks down the benefits and uses for data center-class switches in emerging data center architectures.Continue Reading

• What are data center-class switches?

  Choosing the right switch for your data center can be a difficult task. This article looks at how data center-class switches are evolving in the enterprise to offer flexibility and speed for new traffic flows.Continue Reading

• Understanding the basics of a hybrid VPN

  In part two of a three-part series, an expert looks at how hybrid VPNs are impacted by the shift from private services to the public Internet.Continue Reading

• Will IT generalists replace network engineering jobs?

  Network engineering jobs have moved from crimping cable to managing traffic between VMs. Software-everything means another seismic shift. Is the network engineer still relevant?Continue Reading

• The science behind virtual routers and their emerging roles

  The evolution of virtualization has now hit the router market. Here's what you need to know to make virtual routers work for you.Continue Reading

• Could SDN network virtualization change everything?

  Jim Metzler explains the need for network virtualization, explores SDN in the WAN and discusses bringing SDN into the data center.Continue Reading

• NFV basics: Hold the specialized hardware

  John Burke writes that network functions virtualization goes way beyond merely deploying a physical appliance.Continue Reading

• What to consider when choosing the best Ethernet switch

  IT pros need to consider new developments in technology like software-defined networking and the Internet of Things when choosing the best Ethernet switch for their current and future network.Continue Reading

• IT managers should focus on capacity, not wireless throughput

  Wireless throughput is getting faster, but capacity is the measure you should really be studying.Continue Reading

• Service providers take cautious approach to NFV implementation

  Service providers' strategies for NFV implementation are designed to minimize disruption while transitioning legacy architectures to a virtualized world.Continue Reading

• The evolution of Carrier Ethernet service chaining offers new options

  Operators looking to service chaining for Carrier Ethernet must assess both the issues and opportunities for use via NFV or as hosted network edge services.Continue Reading

• Shattering the 'single pane of glass' myth of network management

  Vendors claim that their network management systems can do it all, but in a world of virtualization and cloud, is that still true?Continue Reading

• 802.11ac speed gains may drive WLAN architecture changes in Wave 2

  How much your network needs to adapt to the jump in 802.11ac speed from Wave 1 -- or even from 802.11n -- to the standard's next phase, Wave 2, depends on where you are in the upgrade cycle.Continue Reading

• Will 802.11ac speeds redefine network architectures?

  After months of anticipation, the first 802.11ac Wave 2 access points are hitting the market, ushering in the era of multi-gigabit speeds on wireless LANs.

  This second and final phase of the latest Wi-Fi standard boasts a theoretical maximum ...Continue Reading

• MPLS fabric is natural fit for ISP backbone overlays

  While data centers typically use an IP fabric under their network overlays, ISPs may find that MPLS fabric makes more sense as backbone underlays.Continue Reading

• How network overlays could benefit provider backbones

  ISPs are weighing potential benefits of network overlays in the backbone, including increased agility, faster service provisioning and lower Opex.Continue Reading

• Overlay networks could revolutionize ISP backbone

  Overlay networks have already taken the data center by storm, but they also offer advantages to the ISP backbone network, including more agility and reduced Opex.Continue Reading

• What you need to know about application performance monitoring tools

  The use of application performance monitoring tools in any organization arms network engineers with key performance metrics.Continue Reading

• SN blogs: OpenStack deployments still lacking

  SN blogs: This week, a research director explains that even though OpenStack is a popular open source framework, it's not seeing as many deployments as one might expect.Continue Reading

• NFVi: Virtual networks drive changes in telecom infrastructure needs

  Expert Lee Doyle explains why service provider networks need NFV infrastructure -- high-performance, reliable and scalable platforms to support virtual network functions.Continue Reading

• Time to replace RJ-45 connectors in the data center?

  Ubiquitous RJ-45 connectors reign supreme even in the wake of newer data center technologies. USB 3.1 cables are out there; can they be the next big thing?Continue Reading

• What is SDN? The answer now includes automation and virtualization

  What is SDN? What software-defined networking really means has evolved dramatically and now includes automation and virtualization.Continue Reading

• Minecraft paves the way to grow enterprise SDN, seriously

  Insight from the Minecraft video game points to how enterprise SDN adoption could grow faster with a single interface for monitoring, confirmation and troubleshooting.Continue Reading

• Network virtualization now, and the overlay network future

  In this presentation, our expert reviews traditional approaches to network virtualization and considers its future.Continue Reading

• Cisco vs. VMware vs. BYOC: Bright-box war heats up

  Big vendors like HP are jumping on the bright-box bandwagon, which could represent a new angle in the Cisco ACI-VMware NSX showdown.Continue Reading

• Identify the right WAN optimization products for your company

  Leading WAN optimization product vendors use a variety of techniques to get the job done. Find out who does what and if it's right for you.Continue Reading

• Choosing WAN optimization techniques, more is better

  When it comes to choosing WAN optimization techniques, more is definitely better. Part two of this three-part series offers up a catalog of optimization options.Continue Reading

• Before you buy: Finding the right WAN optimization appliance

  Picking the right WAN optimization appliance for your environment involves comparing different data reduction methods. Learn how to pinpoint the best option.Continue Reading

• The WAN connection waiting game: Engineers long for faster provisioning

  It can take one to three months to install a private WAN connection at a new branch office. For many enterprises, that’s just not acceptable anymore.Continue Reading

• WAN 2.0: Say goodbye to network provisioning delays

  Network engineers have long suffered the consequences of slow provisioning times for many traditional wide area network (WAN) connections like point-to-point T1 lines or MPLS networks. They're at the mercy of carriers that can take as long as three ...Continue Reading

• Virtual network functions, not network functions virtualization, belong in enterprise

  While network functions virtualization is exclusively a service provider technology, virtual network functions are at home in the enterprise space.Continue Reading

• Facebook, Google use SDN to boost data center connectivity

  Internet content providers like Facebook and Google are already using SDN to improve hyperscale data center connectivity. But more could be done.Continue Reading

• What's involved with global ISP Internet breakout?

  An expert explains how to achieve global Internet breakout connections and gives examples of different connection options.Continue Reading

• Are OpenStack and NFV MANO interchangeable?

  Network functions virtualization and cloud management systems appear to overlap, but whether or not the latter can manage and orchestrate a virtual network is open to debate.Continue Reading

• Advent of 2.5, 5 Gigabit Ethernet switches roiling market

  Faster wireless has opened the market for a new breed of switches. Expert Craig Mathias will tell you what you need to know.Continue Reading

• SDN load balancer debate: Controller or ADC?

  Expert David Jacobs discusses whether software-defined networking will render application delivery controllers obsolete or complement evolving SDN.Continue Reading

• SN blogs: Lenovo Superfish security breach unnerves customers

  SN blogs: Analysts this week discussed why big data analytics needs to be reassessed and why Lenovo's response to Superfish spawned consumer distaste -- and distrust.Continue Reading

• Virtual network function development: Ecosystem or silo?

  The future of virtual network functions depends on how easily they can be deployed. Consensus is still a ways off.Continue Reading

• SDN starter kits remove some do-it-yourself aspects of an SDN deployment

  Not many network engineers can confidently design and launch an SDN deployment from scratch. But with SDN starter kits, there's less need to do that on their own.Continue Reading

• Ten recommendations to improve your NFV network evolution

  As providers move into network functions virtualization, these 10 recommendations can help guarantee a successful NFV network transition.Continue Reading

• What to look for in data center switches

  Enterprises continue to virtualize data centers in the name of agility and efficiency. Because of this, the data center switches they buy today need to address both data center existing needs and future requirements. DC switches must be able to work...Continue Reading

• With wave 2 Wi-Fi on the horizon, is your network ready?

  Wave 2 Gigabit Wi-Fi will usher in speeds of up to 7 Gbps. Expert Lisa Phifer explains what you need to do to get ready.Continue Reading

• SDN blogs: Overlay networks can be scaled

  In this week's SDN blogs, experts talk about the scalability of overlay networks and ask questions about SD WAN, and an open source SDN website is launched.Continue Reading

• Identifying the top 10 network-cloud integration challenges

  IT managers face a variety of network-cloud integration challenges. But there are steps they can take to keep those challenges at a minimum.Continue Reading

• SN blogs: Vendors focusing on SD WAN, but WAN optimization still key

  SN blogs: This week, an analyst urged vendors to keep focus on WAN optimization; the rise of big data analytics is forcing firms to see what's next.Continue Reading

• Network management projects top list of 2015 IT initiatives

  According to TechTarget’s 2015 IT Priorities Survey, 44% of enterprises are planning network management projects this year.Continue Reading

• How to buy: What IT needs to look for in data center switches

  IT needs to know what to look for when buying data center switches that support high speeds and lower latencies to pave the way for agile data center network consolidation.Continue Reading

• Seven wireless networking trends to remember

  Wireless networking is empowering, but it comes with a fair amount of complexity. Stay clear-headed and understand your own needs and constraints, even as the fog gathers around you.Continue Reading

• Opportunistic encryption: The IETF's 50 shades of protection

  The IETF is asking for help as it defines the opportunistic security standard. What does this mean to the enterprise?Continue Reading

• Open NFV toolkit Snabb Switch offers virtual Ethernet programming

  Snabb Switch, an emerging open NFV toolkit, enables Ethernet function programming in a software switch. Could it leave vendor-developed hardware in its wake?Continue Reading

• SN blogs: Cybersecurity leadership needs restructuring

  SN blogs: This week, why having two CISOs could benefit cybersecurity strategy; how Google's plans to become an MVNO could be a good thing.Continue Reading

• Named Data Networking project wants to retire TCP/IP

  TCP/IP is buckling under the demands of today's Internet, according to researchers who want to replace it with a new Internet protocol stack. Their solution: Named Data Networking.Continue Reading

• Latest network security threats prompt one question: ‘Are we next?'

  After the latest wave of attacks, including the most recent on Sony, network security pros are losing sleep. Can new platforms stop today's network security threats?Continue Reading

• Could vendor divide on new Ethernet speeds hurt enterprise networks?

  Vendor alliances are bypassing the IEEE again, this time with specs for two new Ethernet speeds, 2.5 and 5 GbE. Without common standards, could enterprise networks suffer?Continue Reading

• Recent flurry of slower Ethernet speeds focuses on strategy, not acceleration

  For the first time, Ethernet innovation isn't about higher speeds. The recent push for 2.5 and 5 Gigabit Ethernet show it's all about use cases.Continue Reading

• NFV and SDN technology benefits drive telecom changes

  NFV and SDN technology could be mainstream options for providers' cloud and network architectures within five years; time to review the benefits.Continue Reading

• New Ethernet speeds, 2.5 and 5 GbE, ready campus LAN for 802.11ac

  The next generation of Wi-Fi technology, 802.11ac Wave 2, will be able to push multiple gigabits of data per second, but most enterprise networks wouldn't be able to take full advantage of it with the infrastructure they have in place today. That's ...Continue Reading

• Mitigating IPv6 neighbor discovery attacks

  You might be vulnerable to IPv6 neighbor discovery attacks. But there are tools you can use to counter those threats.Continue Reading

• Five SDN starter kit options you should know

  SDN starter kits are designed to help enterprises evaluate the technology before they begin transitioning their networks to the new architecture. What should you look for?Continue Reading

• SN blogs: WebRTC browser applications boost enterprise networking

  SN blogs: This week, an analyst discusses why browser-based communication is enhanced with WebRTC applications.Continue Reading

• How to protect your IPv6 address management

  Expert Fernando Gont explains how to probe whether your IPv6 address components are vulnerable to attack.Continue Reading

• Price vs. design, how do you choose MPLS service providers?

  When you meet with several MPLS service providers, you need to weigh the cost vs. the design of the product. Cheaper products might not give you all the capabilities you need.Continue Reading

• IT network management and SMBs: What to look for

  Resource-challenged small, medium-sized businesses need special tools to help them oversee their networks. What to look for.Continue Reading

• Network Innovation Award: Dell breaks mold with Dell/Cumulus partnership

  Dell wins this month's Network Innovation Award from SearchNetworking for its partnership with Cumulus Networks, in which Dell became the first mainstream switch vendor to permit third-party OSes to run on its switches.Continue Reading

• The journey to next-generation networks begins now

  Network operators will see real change in their next-generation networks in 2015, moving SDN and NFV from science project status to serious trials, while mobile networks get the lion's share of investment, and new regulations affect all of it.Continue Reading

• What is the security impact of enterprise IoT?

  Software management at the device level is key to mitigating security risks in the enterprise when IoT arrives.Continue Reading

• Network programmability, SDN blend into virtualization hairball

  The challenge is to forget demarcation lines between networking programmability, SDN and data center virtualization. Columnist Patrick Hubbard says they're becoming something between a giant hairball and a flock of magic unicorns.Continue Reading

• Managing mobility means understanding EMM

  As enterprises become more mobile, enterprises need to understand the tools available to help them manage that growth.Continue Reading

• SN blogs: Software infrastructure products to blossom in 2015

  SN blogs: This week, an analyst gives his 2015 IT infrastructure predictions; an engineer discusses when to use a router versus a switch.Continue Reading

• What buyers need from Wi-Fi access point upgrades

  A recap of SearchNetworking's How to Buy series, which teaches IT professionals what to keep an eye on when buying new products for their networks.Continue Reading

• VWAN threatens traditional three-tiered WAN design

  With vWAN providers changing the traditional three-legged WAN structure, carriers need to develop new WAN plans and services using SDN and NFV to keep enterprises on their networks.Continue Reading

• Network management, next-gen firewall tools take center stage

  A recap of SearchNetworking's How to Buy series, which teaches IT professionals what to keep an eye on when buying new products for their networks.Continue Reading

• As WLANs grow, so does need for secure wireless networks

  Wireless LANs are growing in size and importance, making it imperative for every networking pro to ensure they have a secure wireless network.Continue Reading

• New, branded open network hardware model emerges

  Hyperscale data center operators have radically altered their infrastructure with open network hardware that runs a range of operating systems. As this strategy trickles down into the enterprise, vendors are unveiling branded-but-open technology.Continue Reading

• How to plot SIP services to a WAN foundation

  What you need to measure when evaluating SIP services from your WAN services provider.Continue Reading

• Virtual network functions bring potential with some risk

  Virtual network functions are the magic behind NFV. They bring software capability to routing, mobile core, security and more. But they're not without implementation challenges.Continue Reading

• How NASA and SDN are alike... Think: network automation

  When NASA launched the Orion this month, it had to suspend automated wind sensors and use human intervention to determine when the winds were right. Turns out, SDN engineers would have much less room to fumble in halting network automation.Continue Reading

• What is a hybrid WAN service?

  When considering hybrid WAN architecture, organizations must focus on the end-user experience and security.Continue Reading