FEATURE : SDN
on what is available and an understanding of what is possible , they can leverage these to architect and modernise their networks with greater ease .”
Common mistakes
Despite the caution that CIOs and IT teams take when deploying SDN , they still face challenges . According to Snell , it ’ s important
to guide CIOs so that they can avoid pitfalls before moving forward with implementation , and they can do this by asking three areas namely : Are current network function capabilities built into the SDN technology ? Are they extensible , will the SDN technology help solve for the unknown and can the solution support exponential thinking ?
He explained that common networking technologies may be virtualised today and are highly effective . “ However , the benefit of SDN is that it allows you to future-proof your infrastructure . You should plan on investing in solutions that are built to accommodate future needs . Look for extensible technology that allows you to add functionality as your deployment matures and your requirements change ,” he said . “ You don ’ t want to replace one set of limited capabilities with another . Think about where your business is heading , and which changes may happen in the future . Look for SDN solutions that will allow you to add the types of services that you may not necessarily need today .”
Snell explained that with SDN , there is great opportunity for innovation . “ Think about how SDN can help you write applications differently . How could your business benefit if the application could speak to or respond to the network directly ,” he asked ? “ What if you could rapidly create or change services based on market demand ? This is the kind of innovation that can help your company differentiate itself from the competition . It will also better prepare you to respond quickly to potential interruptions to Business Continuity .”
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PITFALLS THAT CIOS AND IT TEAMS FACE WHEN IMPLEMENTING SDN , BUT ONE OF THE BIGGEST IS TRYING TO RETROFIT TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE ON TO THE NEW TECHNOLOGY , INSTEAD OF FULLY UNDERSTANDING THE CAPABILITIES OF SDN .
Van Rayne said there are a number of pitfalls that CIOs and IT teams face when implementing SDN , but one of the biggest ( and possibly the root cause of some of the others ) is trying to retrofit traditional architecture on to the new technology , instead of fully understanding the capabilities of SDN . “ There is an immense amount of flexibility and agility that SDN brings to the table and if CIOs and IT teams have a clear view of that the other pitfalls are significantly minimised ,” he said .
Walid Yehia , Sr . Director , Presales – Dell Technologies , Middle East , Russia , Africa and Turkey ( MERAT ), said the premise is simple : Digital Transformation starts with IT transformation , which requires customers to modernise their data centres with infrastructure designed to simplify their data landscape , optimise workloads at any scale and secure an organisation ’ s most valuable asset – data .
As a result , Yehia said organisations that are looking to increase competitiveness by maximising the value of data , must update their storage infrastructure to create business opportunities .
“ In data storage – which touches every ITdriven business – the pace of innovation is accelerating , yet most enterprises continue to struggle with data ’ s explosive growth and velocity ,” he noted . “ Getting the highest use and value from their data is becoming ever more critical for organisations , especially for those with data stores reaching exabyte scale . So , this brings us to the real question . What are some of the enterprise data storage practices that would help unlock the real value of data capital ?”
Firstly , said Yehia , it is important for organisations to refresh their storage hardware on a regular basis and keep up with the increased data demands by eliminating aging infrastructure that is more susceptible to failures that cause outages or downtime . “ Modern storage infrastructure can also reduce the data silos and the struggle to manage messy data . It also frequently includes advanced data protection features that help ensure the on-premises data remains safe and secure . Data encryption adds an additional layer of protection to this , improving data security and mitigating the potential for data loss ,” he said . “ Second , as we look at technology requirements today and beyond 2020 , one thing is clear . Storage will be architected and consumed as Software Defined and the lines between storage and compute will continue to blur as organisations demand unparalleled agility and simplicity for business-critical IT infrastructure to respond effectively to rapidly changing market dynamics .”
He said some of Dell ’ s customers are telling the company they are looking for more flexibility in their traditional storage area networks ( SANs ), wishing to have compute as close to storage as possible to support data-centric workloads and to reduce operational complexity . “ This is because Software Defined approaches combine industry-standard hardware components and protocols with software to pool and manage resources within modern data centres ,” he said . “ And for organisations that require the flexibility of rapidly scaling storage and compute independently of each other or need to consolidate multiple high performance or general workloads , Software Defined infrastructure ( SDI ) becomes a viable alternative to traditional SANs and hyper-converged infrastructure ( HCI ) for certain workloads .”
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