Versa Networks
February 16, 2017
In our last post, we talked about the benefits of network function virtualization (NFV) for managed service providers. Taking a step further, we’ll now examine how providers that deploy NFV can further benefit from this rapidly growing industry trend of evolving previously hardware-centric networks by leveraging security technologies into software-based services. A core element of NFV is the virtualized network function (VNF), which is a software-based or virtualized version of a specific function such as a next-generation firewall (NGFW). Employing VNFs goes far beyond just converting from point hardware to virtualized software instances such as an NGFW. VNFs, which are…
Versa Networks
February 2, 2017
Software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs) and network function virtualization (NFV) are among the most talked about technologies in the networking and communications industries, and in this first of a two-part series, we will explore the benefits they bring to service providers. Part two will explain how service providers can leverage software-defined security (SD-Security). Providers understand that to gain market share and deal with the constant evolution of enterprise and consumer demands for new services, they are going to have to re-architect their networks. Interestingly, providers are quickly realizing that, while initial advantages and drivers towards virtualization were reduction in Capex…
Versa Networks
January 12, 2017
WAN optimization technologies have for years been the go-to solutions for improving enterprise application performance across the WAN. The WAN is changing though, and traditional WAN optimization technologies may soon not be enough on their own. The rise of software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) provides enterprises with greater control over WAN operations, promising more efficiency and effective application management across the entire corporate WAN infrastructure. Traditional WAN optimization technologies aren’t about to disappear of course, but the challenges presented by the current — and future — state of the WAN beg for more than basic application optimization. That’s where SD-WAN technologies can…
Versa Networks
November 17, 2016
As with any startup, the courage and sacrifices necessary to make an endeavor successful are difficult to justify, because the possibility of success is equally balanced with a likelihood of disappointment– and therein lies the dilemma. As such, it isn’t often that one can see their vision come to fruition. And yet, four years after starting Versa, it has become one of the most formidable companies in the Software Defined WAN and SD-Security landscape. In 2012, Apurva and I began recognizing the macro-trend developing in which the future of networking would be software-based. Expensive and proprietary hardware was going to…
Versa Networks
October 25, 2016
The growth of software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) has created new opportunities for distributed enterprises to better manage their WAN environments, but it has also given rise to several incorrect assumptions about the technology and how it’s used. It’s something that happens with any new technology. As the technology gains attention and acceptance in the market, some misconceptions about it are also bound to spring up. Here are three of the biggest myths that surround SD-WAN … and the real story behind them: #1: Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) will be entirely replaced by public Internet transport connections The real story: The reasoning behind…
Versa Networks
September 27, 2016
Telecommunications companies have taken a strong interest in SDN. At the same time, more enterprise use cases for NFV have been emerging. Network functions virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) are related and both use network abstraction. However, SDN separates and abstracts the control plane into software from the data plane, which remains in hardware, and NFV is a combination of separating wholesale network and security functions into specific software, then service chaining them. NFV: Not Just for Telcos When network function virtualization (NFV) first started making headlines about four years ago, the initial use cases for the technology had…
Versa Networks
September 13, 2016
Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) promises a wide variety of benefits — from cost savings by enabling the use of public Internet as well as MPLS and single-use CPE links to faster time-to-response in making changes to the WAN. The software-defined world is new to many WAN administrators and engineers. They’re being pushed further away from hardware and toward software. There’s even an expectation in many organizations that networking professionals learn to code — or at least begin to treat their infrastructure as such. It’s a change that appears to be accelerating, and the WAN administrator/engineer role will become one…
Versa Networks
August 23, 2016
A recent IDG report predicted that the nascent software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) industry, worth a mere $225 million last year, will experience a 90 percent compound annual growth rate over the next five years to become a $6 billion industry by 2020. SNS Research revealed that by the end of 2020, service provider investments in network function virtualization (NFV), SD-WAN and software-defined networking (SDN) will total more than $18 Billion. The Growth Drivers Telcos are aggressively jumping on the NFV and SDN bandwagon, targeting deployments across a multitude of areas. SNS Research said that operators are driven by the…
Versa Networks
August 2, 2016
In November 2015, Versa Networks emerged publicly with its vision of addressing core operational, business agility and cost-reduction issues faced by both network service providers and enterprise customers. Since then, our products have received unequivocal recognition from analyst firms, industry publications and thought leaders. Recently, we added two more feathers to the cap by being included in CRN’s 2016 Emerging Vendors List and Startup 50’s Big 50-2016. These awards recognize our vision to overhaul the legacy enterprise WAN and branch network architecture. CRN’s Emerging Vendors CRN’s 2016 Emerging Vendors List recognizes up-and-coming technology suppliers that are shaping the future of…
Versa Networks
June 28, 2016
Whether you’re a product manager or operations leader at a managed service provider (MSP) – or the end customer of an MSP – you know the challenges of building and deploying a successful WAN across dozens (or hundreds) of sites. Truck rolls (yes, that’s usually plural) to each branch office to drop off, plug-in and properly configure equipment. Often 5 to 7 pieces of equipment. And the ongoing maintenance + equipment swap outs or additions as business needs or capacity requirements expand. But managed service offerings are starting to change. Just as enterprise data centers evolved from physical servers/storage/networks to…
