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  5. Analysis: The Virtual Data Center: Page 6 of 8
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Analysis: The Virtual Data Center: Page 6 of 8

Switch vendors want to sideline servers by making their devices smarter. Now IT must decide if this is a brave new world ... or a nightmare of lock-in and higher
February 16, 2008

Problem is, AON hasn't proved popular--Cisco was unable to put us in touch with anyone actually using the products. In an apparent admission of defeat, a year ago the company acquired Reactivity, a maker of a more typical XML appliance that Cisco now sells as the ACE XML Gateway. Like competing products from IBM and Layer 7, ACE can implement common Web services operations like encrypting XML elements and verifying SAML assertions while it's inspecting packets, but it doesn't try to be as customizable as AON. Still, Cisco says it hasn't abandoned AON and believes there eventually will be a place for programmable XML processors at the network core.

How Networks Can Assist Applications
Technology What it does Examples Status
Hardware off-load (application front ends, XML gateways) Dedicated hardware processes SSL, HTTP, TCP, and, increasingly, XML, reducing computational burden on servers for savings in power consumption and software-licensing costs. Alcatel OmniAccess, Cisco ACE, F5 BIG-IP, IBM DataPower,Juniper NetScaler,Radware AppExcel Mature products already used successfully in most large data centers. Undergoing a renaissance thanks to rich Internet applications.
WAN optimization Reduces WAN bandwidth consumption by caching data in dedicated appliances at branch or on users' hard disks; can also improve app performance by tuning TCP setting and enforcing QoS. Cisco WAAS, Expand Accelerator, F5 WANJet, Juniper WX, Riverbed Steelhead, SilverPeak NX Fast-growing categorywith vendors rapidly releasing new features, such as software clients and improved SSL support.
Integrated devices Adds functionality such as firewall, wireless management, or WAN optimization to a switch or router, reducing need for separate hardware. Cisco Catalyst 6500 Z The usual advance of and ISR, Nortel CSR technology: doing more with less. Particularly popular in branch offices thanks to simplified support.
Open switch and router API Gives applications direct access to network device functionality, allowing theswitch or router to assist applications that run elsewhere. Cisco IOS, Juniper JunOS Still in its infancy, partly due to security and stability concerns. Most apps still written by vendor partners, not customers.
Service virtualization Embeds application or entire server within VM on switch or router, reducing need for server hardware and network bandwidth. 3Com OSN Offered by only one vendor virtualizationso far, and confined mostly to network-centric software such as firewalls and WAN optimization. Cisco sees it extending to much more.
Application component virtualization Portions of applications run on a switch, router, or appliance, giving similar benefits to edge processing and hardware off-load but theoretically more flexible. Alcatel OmniAccess, Cisco AON, Extreme, XOS New and so far unproved, but could become more popular thanks to the growth of SOA and related componentized application development styles like SCA.
Edge processing Moves processing out to devices at the network edge, aiming to save time and bandwidth by avoiding a trip to the data center. Augusta, Blue Vector, Omnitrol, Sentilla Mostly the domain of startups, which expect it to grow thanks to large volumes of round data from RFID and wireless sensor networks.

OVER THE EDGE
At least three startups are also chasing the idea of non-XML application network appliances, though they're not aimed at the data center. Augusta Systems, Blue Vector Systems, and Omnitrol focus on processing data gathered from what they call "edge assets." Those include RFID readers and other sensors that are just now being linked into enterprise IT systems. The appliances aim to handle data from these assets locally, without involving a data center or a server.

"The network management issues that arise from the deluge of edge asset data require an intelligent network infrastructure," says Patrick Esposito, Augusta's president and chief operating officer. Such assets tend to be located in warehouses, factories, and other areas far from corporate data centers, giving this kind of appliance the same business case as WAN optimization--to avoid sending data over costly, slow WAN links.

Augusta started as a software company, selling .Net-based middleware called EdgeFrontier. Though most customers still install EdgeFrontier on Windows servers, Augusta expects to move into switches and routers; it's talking with at least two potential partners.

Omnitrol and Blue Vector also make appliances, again designed to be installed at remote locations. Omnitrol's includes a wireless switch that works with access points from 3Com and D-Link, aiming to take care of all of a branch office's communications needs. Blue Vector is more tightly focused on RFID, often combining its products with RFID readers. For example, it has an RFID-equipped refrigerator aimed at the pharmaceutical industry that automatically reorders drugs when supplies get low. It has also partnered with Nortel to use wireless mesh networks to link sensors.

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