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Vyatta virtualization tools: Toward a more agile network

After fighting complexity for ages, companies are looking for ways to re-unify their computing environment. Vyatta is making it possible to reunite networking with computing.
Written by Dan Kusnetzky, Contributor

Vyatta let me know about the release of their newest edition of their network operating system. Vyatta Network OS V6.5 (VNOS) added support the use of Microsoft's Hyper-V as well as features to expand and extend the concept of a "software defined network."

Vyatta now offers network virtualization tools for VMware, Xen, KVM and now Hyper-V making it possible for the network to be as agile as processing in a virtual environment.

What Yvatta has to say about VNOS 6.5

Vyatta, the leader in software-based networking for virtual and cloud environments, today announced the general availability of Vyatta Network OS 6.5. With new features including Policy-Based Routing (PBR), BGP Multipath and more, Vyatta Network OS 6.5 is the industry’s most advanced software-based networking solution. Vyatta also increases its platform support with the inclusion of Microsoft Hyper-V, which delivers a new level of flexibility for enterprise and service provider datacenters.

The availability of Microsoft Hyper-V support in Vyatta Network OS delivers an enterprise-class networking and security solution for datacenters using virtualization from Microsoft or a combination of vendors. By deploying Vyatta in a Microsoft environment, datacenter architects can support advanced networking in support of Microsoft applications and systems.

In addition to extending hypervisor support, Vyatta Network OS 6.5 introduces several enhancements to its routing and security functionality:

  • Policy-Based Routing (PBR)
  • Virtual Tunnel Interface (VTI)
  • BGP Multipath
  • IPSec support for IPv6
  • Improved Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)

 

Snapshot analysis

Once upon a time, a long time ago, all computing functions resided in a single box. Processing, input/output, storage and networking were unified. Then functions and applications were split out into a large array of special-purpose appliances. This lead to complexity. After fighting complexity for ages, companies are looking for ways to re-unify their computing environment. Vyatta is making it possible to reunite networking with computing.

It started by building a complete network virtualization environment that could be run on an industry standard system rather than requiring a special-purpose networking appliance or router. This approach made it possible for Vyatta customers to purchase systems from their favorite supplier, under their normal volume purchasing agreement, and get the same functions that perviously were available only by purchasing stand-alone routing systems from suppliers such as Cisco or Juniper.

The next step Vyatta took was to make this software available to run as a virtual machine so that the network virtualization function could be consolidated with all of the other tasks that industry standard systems were supporting. When one considered the processing power, the memory and the network I/O available in these systems, network virtualization could still have more resources available than if the special-purpose network routers or network appliances were installed.

As the concept of "software defined networks," that is networking that is dynamic and parameter driven, began to emerge, Vyatta added this capability to its software.

Vyatta's announcement of VNOS 6.5 follows logically from what it has done in the past. It is possible the organizations could both improve their network operations and reduce the overall cost of network hardware through the use of technology like that being offered by Vyatta.

 

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