And again Huawei Cloud Fabric: what is SDN-architecture and what does it eat with?

Not so long ago, we talked about integrating the Huawei Cloud Fabric SDN solution with the VMware vSphere platform and talked about the benefits that this integration brings.

This time, I would like to pay more attention to software-defined networks (SDN), business benefits that can be learned from their use, and directly Huawei's SD Fabric solution for the Huawei Cloud Fabric data center.
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The industry dictates its own rules

Business is increasingly using virtualization and cloud technologies to increase efficiency, improve processes and gain competitive advantages.

Corporate data centers are evolving in the direction of cloud-based virtualization, which has become a commonplace business need, and not some kind of know-how.

The logical chain is quite simple:

1. Virtualization of computing and storage resources, combined with management and orchestration automation, made workload virtualization possible;

2. In turn, workload virtualization allows IT system managers and application developers to quickly create new instances of services and applications in the data center.

Increasing bandwidth when connecting independent workloads and any related services through the network was, until recently, one of the main growth points, but the increased development rates of virtualized resources for computing and storing data dictate new rules of the game.

The arrival of software-defined networks initiated the emergence of more flexible systems for determining and configuring network paths and externalizing the network control plane from individual devices. This out-of-control plane, which defines the logical network topology, now represents a close-up view of the network and provides flexible network optimization based on criteria adapted to the operational aspects of the environment.

From the point of view of external integration, this SDN controller is preferable due to software interfaces that allow systems to work together and in concert with other components of the data center.

Huawei is responding

Cloud Fabric — Huawei's SDN data center solution — offers companies a user-friendly and extremely open SDN architecture that can scale in one direction or another to work with a datacenter of any size, while providing the integration and infrastructure flexibility necessary to rapid deployment of new applications and services.

Intelligent System Center - Agile Controller. It provides centralized, highly resilient and intelligent control plane capabilities for the data center network structure built on Huawei's CloudEngine switching platform.

Huawei’s Agile Controller for Data Centers is designed as a fully open solution, providing effective integration with popular third-party industry solutions through an open and standardized software interface (API).

What are the key benefits of the correct application of a software-based network approach to the infrastructure of data centers in general, and Cloud Fabric's SDN solutions in particular?

And most importantly - what impact can these benefits have on the business?

Internal processes

First of all, the emergence of software-defined networks brought a tangible improvement in IT-processes in data centers, depending on changes in the network or its reconfiguration for the deployment of complex services or applications

Previously, network planning, design of new application instances and their preparation for the changes needed for support were carried out either manually or using coarse automation tools. But thanks to the development of SDN, new levels of integrated automation, training and management of network orchestration capabilities have become available, which include computing and storage virtualization platforms.

The gain in time and resources needed to prepare network elements and components for new applications varies from five to thirty times.

In addition, the integration of SDN with all other data center resources forms the foundation for creating truly private cloud self-service platforms, allowing end users to independently request and independently provide cloud services within their corporation. The reduction in the amount of manual processes leads to a reduction in operational overload, acceleration of the introduction of new applications and services to the market, as well as lower deployment costs.

In addition, the improved operational control provided by Huawei Cloud Fabric's SDN solution (thanks to extensive telemetry collection across the entire network combined with big data analysis) provides a higher level of automation in resource-intensive operation and maintenance tasks.

A large-scale, high-level and at the same time highly detailed vision and intelligent analysis of the network status through Agile Controller allows you to identify, isolate and eliminate the consequences of errors and failures faster and more efficiently. A direct increase in working time without failures reduces the negative consequences for the business and reduces the need for human resources.

Resource Efficiency

Improvements in data center IT processes ensure a natural increase in the efficiency of the organization as a whole.

1. In addition to the growth in operating efficiency, SDN allows the network to independently provide internal balance and make adjustments to optimize traffic flows through the infrastructure.

At the same time, the possibility of self-optimization extends not only to the local data center network, but also affects the data center interworking (DCI) using the Huawei SDN architecture.

2. In addition to combining corporate cloud resources distributed across different geographic features, well-optimized DCI provides a much higher utilization rate of available resources, increasing it from 30% on average to 90%.

As server virtualization has shown, increasing resource efficiency directly reduces operational costs while significantly increasing the life cycle of data center resources.

Increase competitiveness

The speed and flexibility introduced by Huawei’s SDN solutions to corporate data centers create an environment that shifts technical focus from service delivery and application delivery mechanisms to services and applications themselves, and therefore reduces the time to market new applications. These applications or services can be both internal, which contribute to the improvement of processes that improve the experience of the end customer, and turned outward, which enrich the interaction and relations with the customer. Shifting focus from process to opportunity allows platforms to quickly and innovatively develop user experience, giving impetus to overall competitiveness, regardless of industry.

Open solutions

In terms of its openness and integration capabilities, Huawei’s SDN solution is leading the way in the industry. What does this mean for business?

A genuinely open SDN solution not only provides the user with basic integration at the interface level through standard APIs, but also provides interchangeable key components in the solution architecture, while still providing a high level of functionality and reliability.

This goes beyond the simple implementation of standardized interfaces - it is about creating a partner ecosystem of proven and certified solutions from various manufacturers that can be customized to unique requirements in any environment. Providing connectivity based on standard and open technologies for various network components, such as an SDN network controller or a cloud orchestration platform, an open solution provides not only adaptability for specific requirements, but also a serious foundation for the future for the development of the entire system.

Eventually

As the technical benefits of SDN become more and more obvious, the importance of understanding how this development of network technologies can directly contribute to the achievement of business goals increases.

Despite the fact that many of the advantages listed here are characteristic of SDN technology in general and are inherent in most SDN solutions, two important differences between Huawei's data center solutions distinguish it from others:

1. The parameters of the integrated unified SDN-solution of Huawei Cloud Fabric provide uniform integration capabilities of SDN for both the local data center network and inter-network communications (DCI) and network storage systems (SAN).

2. The broad interchangeability and open nature of both the architecture as a whole and the approach to each component of the solution in particular, provide maximum integration opportunities, flexibility and the life cycle of the infrastructure in the context of an extensive ecosystem and sectoral partnership.

As there are many SDN providers on the market declaring similar benefits, Huawei can offer global coverage, high usability, corporate support and partnerships, extensive research investments and an open industry-wide approach.

In connection with all of the above, your user experience with Huawei Cloud Fabric is crucial, and we ask you to actively share it with us.