According to Cisco’s Mark Lohmeyer, rumors of WAAS’ demise have been greatly exaggerated. “Cisco is fully committed to the WAAS business.” Given the growing WAN optimization prospects for the foreseeable future, that commitment shouldn’t come as a surprise. Questions about the networking giant’s commitment to WAAS (Wide Area Application Services) – its software/hardware WAN optimization [...]
Self Service: The Most Understated Reason Why SDNs Will Rock Your World
Aug 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
As I noted previously, two surveys give different pictures about SDNs. My take: every enterprise will adopt SDNs, but lower hardware prices will not be the biggest reason. Here’s why: To hear proponents tell it, Software Defined Networks (SDNs) are going to commoditize switching and routing, moving all the expensive intelligence software created by the infrastructure [...]
Choosing a Virtual WOC
Aug 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment
In my last blog I pointed out that the network is the last major component of IT to be virtualized. However, recent events, such as VMware’s acquisition of Nicira for US $1.26 billion, are dramatic proof-points that network virtualization is gaining traction. Given what has happened to other components of IT, such as servers, that [...]
WANop Gears Up For Tomorrow’s Networks
Aug 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
As the economy continues to struggle, the news for IT networks and WAN optimization has been mixed. Almost half – 45% – of networks will be totally obsolete within five years, while Q1 data center equipment sales rose 17% with Fibre Channel (FC) and Ethernet products turning in impressive performances, growing 52% and more than [...]
Virtualization: Coming Soon To A Network Near You
Jul 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The virtualize everything movement is well underway, but other than servers, which started getting virtual back in the 1970s with IBM (VM and MVS), and really took off in the 2000s with VMware, virtualizing storage, networks, desktops, applications and infrastructure has been more about vendor push than customer pull. While the proportion of server workloads [...]
Software-Defined Networking: Not If, But When!
Jul 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
With the demands on IT outpacing the resources available for IT, the future is all about doing more with less, and nowhere is that more apparent than in today’s networks. According to a new study from Dimension Data, the 2012 Network Barometer Report, 45% of networks will be totally obsolete within five years, and of [...]
WANop: Dying to be Different
Jun 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The latest market research on SAN and data center network equipment shows that bigger, faster pipes are driving the biggest growth, but in many respects, it can be characterized as business as usual, says Sam Barnett, directing analyst for data center and cloud at Infonetics Research. But there are a number of trends emerging that [...]
Root Canal or Cloud Migration?
Jun 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
According to a new Cisco study, almost 40% of IT decision makers would rather get a root canal, dig a ditch, or do their own taxes than address network challenges associated with public or private cloud deployments without the proper cloud migration strategy. However, as any number of other studies indicate, i.e., Forrester or
CRN names Silver Peak a Networking Company to Watch
Mar 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
CRN magazine has named Silver Peak one of 10 Networking and Infrastructure Companies to Watch! According to Chad Berndtson of CRN, “Silver Peak is a dark horse in the crowded WAN optimization space dominated by bigger competitors like Riverbed, Cisco and Blue Coat. Chad goes on to say that Silver Peak has “an ace up its [...]
Virtualization Breaks Networking, Server, and Storage Silos
Dec 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment
This year, 2011, has been an incredible year of technology innovation and change, and 2012 promises to be even more exciting as the dynamics of networking, server, and storage technology further evolve and become interconnected. During the next few weeks, I’ll outline some of my expectations of change and disruption for the coming year and [...]