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Consolidation, virtualization, and their effect on network management
Data center consolidation and server virtualization affect IT networks too. Networks’ scale, bandwidth, and complexity are increasing, but tools for security, performance, and application monitoring haven’t kept pace. Solutions called “intelligent management aggregation networks” can help IT regain control. Will iMANs become mainstream? Signs point to yes. By Bob Laliberte, ESG Senior Analyst.
O
rganizations consolidating data centers and virtualizing server environments are doing something else, too—watching their networks expand in size and complexity.
Greater densities of virtual machines on physical servers have increased throughput demands enough to prompt some organizations to move to 10Gb Ethernet networks. Meanwhile, the consumerization of IT is snowballing; workforce mobility is increasing, and a new wave of rich content applications is emerging. Those unstoppable trends are pushing more traffic through campus networks.
Massive Change and a Need to Monitor Aside from traffic volume, today’s networks are affected by granular security, layers of segmentation, bursty communication protocols, and
What does an iMAN do?
An intelligent management aggregation network (iMAN) connects to network equipment via SPAN/mirror ports or network taps. It captures behavior, provides middleware services (i.e., publish/ subscribe) for the management tools, and distributes data to the analysis tools handling application performance management, network performance management, intrusion detection/prevention, and packet capture.
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www.dcseurope.info I May 2012
latency-sensitive applications. To address the performance, security, and operational needs, some large organizations have deployed tools promising enhanced monitoring and centralized command and control.
As networks scale, those tools must scale too. Almost half the large organizations ESG surveyed monitor 500 or more hosts and networking devices. More than 10% monitor 5,000 or more. These organizations are collecting massive amounts of network- management data—sometimes more than a terabyte per week.
All that data feeds the management tools. Today, network performance tools dominate, but security, application performance, and packet-capture tools should also see increased usage soon.
Growth Causes Problems As networks grow in size and complexity, they may cause problems with application/network performance and security. Organizations respond by deploying yet more tools—all requiring additional SPAN/mirror ports and network taps. It’s a short-term solution, and networking administrators are experiencing problems with it already:
- Difficulties collecting data from too many points across the network; - Problems with SPAN/mirror ports dropping packets, limiting network visibility;
- Inadequate numbers of SPAN/mirror ports, especially when trying to connect multiple network and security tools to the same networking
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