Upcoming Validation Solutions For Cloud, Data Centers

At this week’s Interop show in Las Vegas, Ixia will showcase its latest data-center and cloud-network validation solutions, including new products for impairment, security, networking, application delivery and Wi-Fi.

At Interop, Ixia will demonstrate:? ?

>> Virtual Infrastructure:  Ixia says its IxVM solution provides virtual test ports that reside "inside" of the compute infrastructure, creating L2-7 traffic generation and analysis for virtual environments while validating application delivery during VM migrations. This reportedly helps operators improve performance of virtual and access switching, select the best network virtualization strategy, and ensure multi-tenant service level agreements??.

>> Storage Infrastructure:  Ixia’s IxNetwork and IxLoad applications help to improve FC/FCoE switch and CNA performance, verify lossless Ethernet (DCB) for SAN with mixed LAN/SAN traffic, and can load test NAS (CIFS, NFS) and iSCSI target devices. “This allows operators to deliver high quality of experience for cloud users, ensure big data applications don’t have storage bottlenecks, and support the storage IO scale requirements of Web/cloud applications,” Ixia adds.??·  

>> Switching Fabric:  Ixia’s IxNetwork reportedly covers all the multipath bases with TRILL, SPBM and Cisco Fabric Path for integrated data/control plane validation. Ixia also will unveil its new flexible OpenFlow protocol emulation within IxNetwork. “These tools allow operators to improve reliability and scalability of switch fabrics, implement cutting edge software defined networking designs using OpenFlow, and validate forwarding performance and low latency to improve application delivery,” company literature says. “Ixia is launching an industry-only 40G impairment module that simulates higher-speed Ethernet data center interconnects and clouds with seamless traffic generation and analysis.”?

>> Security:  Ixia’s IxLoad can help ensure performance of legitimate stateful traffic using mix of real enterprise applications, provide the latest and diverse set of malware definitions and DDoS attacks through IxLoad-Attack as well as hammering both perimeter and virtual security boundaries using a mix of virtual and physical test interfaces.

>> Application Delivery:  Ixia’s IxLoad uses 100s of real, stateful enterprise applications with multi-protocol user workflows, including Internet, video, voice and infrastructure protocols; it contains unique QoE metrics for each application. IxLoad now supports network impairment to emulate data center clouds and interconnects for integrated application delivery validation. ?

By using the new tools and solutions, Ixia says data-center and network-cloud providers can benefit from:? ?

>> Reduced time to deploy applications in cloud;
>> Overcoming cloud-adoption reluctance by proving security effectiveness; ?
>> Reduced customer churn through greater focus on application delivery and QoE?;
>> Fewer service disruptions;
>> Monetized cloud services like tiered services and IPv6; and?
>> The ability to pinpoint internal data-center bottlenecks to unlock performance.

In separate but related Ixia news, the company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Anue Systems Inc., a developer of network-Vvsibility solutions.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ixia will pay $145 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments including an adjustment based on the amount of Anue’s net working capital at closing. The transaction is anticipated to close in the second quarter, after all customary closing conditions and approvals. ? 

This purchase, already approved by both boards, fits in well with Ixia’s focus on cloud networks and large data centers. Anue’s Net Tool Optimizer solution aggregates and filters network traffic to help optimize network monitoring tool usage. ? ?

“Many networking trends such as the deployment of cloud and virtualization, LTE and mobility driven growth, security implications of applications delivered over cloud infrastructures, and the massive expansion in bandwidth are fueling both Ixia’s and Anue’s growth,” says Ixia COO Vic Alston. “Next-generation cloud providers, mobility operators and enterprises all require network and traffic visibility to maintain quality of service across application and service delivery. Anue’s Optimizer solutions provide customers with a measurable value regarding performance, scale, and resiliency of networks, while enabling the creation of a next generation platform for quality of service delivery across live networks.”?