Lostdomain

This article is number two of a series about the upcoming network virtualization spree, specifically the one coming from VMware. Check out the other articles.

Traditional network services have evolved over the last years. Introducing more advanced firewalling, loadbalancing and remote access services. Typically, datacenter networks architecture these days look somewhat look this:

The routers can be virtualized inside a physical box, using either VRFs or vendor proprietary router virtual routers, such as Cisco VDC. However, the external and internal firewalls are usually separate monolithic hardware firewalls, which puts a large dent into the network budget.

As we move … Read more

This article is number one of a series about the upcoming network virtualization spree, specifically the one coming from VMware.

I spent 14 to 17 October at VMworld 2013 in Barcelona, basically getting my mind blown by the futuristic possibilities of network flexibility. Things are changing for the network, flattening the entire stack, distributing network services throughout the virtual network (instead of the monolithic central hardware), lowering network costs and making it more flexible and simple to manage.

In this post, I will go over the basics of the components that are used to form the VMware NSX virtual network.… Read more