I went car shopping this past weekend and the theme of this blog entry sprang to mind: Nuage Networks is the Tesla of Software Defined Networking (SDN). How can that be? Before Tesla, pure electric cars were largely do-it-yourself projects out of science magazines or commission work from a customization shop. Now, I probably have the skill to build an electric car from scratch. I rebuilt a 70’s-era Jeepster, largely on various stretches of US Highway 40 in New Mexico where it broke down – typically in a snowstorm or in a flash flood zone! Despite having the skill set, building an electric car is simply too daunting a task for me to consider.
With Tesla, the electric car became a true product. You can drive it straight off of the lot and charge it at home. To help a Tesla interface with your home’s electrical wiring, you can install an optional charger for your garage. A couple of charger models are available based on your system and needs.
Software Defined architectures often come with a critical assumption – that the enterprise wants to build and maintain its own car. For many products, the enterprise will have to begin with a SDx platform and then compile it with various vendor and Open Source software packages. Custom integration modules must be built to interface with various hardware and software platforms. Then, the enterprise team has to figure out how to architect, build, test, and evaluate the performance of various hardware configurations. The system has to be made both resilient and highly available. Finally, the enterprise has to maintain the entire system for 3-5 years. Many, if not most, enterprises are daunted by that task. (This is the “hardwired SDN” model that Nuage Network’s Founder and VP of Product Management, Florin Balus, discussed at Tech Field Day Extra at VMworld US 2014.)
Here’s how Nuage Networks is the Tesla of SDN: Nuage Networks VSP is a drop-in product. Each component overlays on whatever the enterprise or service provider has for operating systems, cloud management stacks (e.g. OpenStack and Cloud Stack), virtualization environments, and hardware. VSP was architected to deliver Fortune 500 and Service Provider-type reliability at scale. Yet, consistent with the tenets of Software Defined architectures, all VSP components are software-based, designed to run in a Virtual Machine, and do not require any special hardware to run.
Like Tesla, we have some hardware-based options. Developed in response to requests from our customers, the options provide an efficient way of interfacing with an enterprise’s hardware environment or accommodating an enterprise’s unique hardware standards.
In short, implementing our products means no required hardware, no custom coding, and no hassle. Working with Nuage Networks is like buying a Tesla and installing a charger in your garage. Once our software and optional gear is installed, you’re good to go. And, we won’t leave you stranded in the snow!
More detailed info: There’s an easy way to learn more about how VSP is unique. Founder and VP of Product Management, Florin Balus, gave a great talk at Tech Field Day Extra at VMworld US 2014.
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