HP has unveiled a network virtualisation system for large enterprise and Cloud providers designed to simplify network configuration.
Called Distributed Cloud Networking (DCN), HP says the product allows service providers and large organizations to deploy secure cloud networks across a distributed infrastructure in minutes instead of months. DCN is also intended to optimise network resources and speed time-to-market, HP says, through centralsed control and automated management of private, public or hybrid data centers.
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DCN includes a Virtualised Service Directory that integrates with customer policies to refine service delivery and manage of user, compute and network resources. It also includes the Distributed Services Controller, a control plane for the data center network, which runs on an x86 server.
The Distributed Services Controller is designed to federate with other controllers so network administrators can centrally control the network, irrespective of how many data centers are being managed. HP says, though, that the Distributed Services Controller is not yet federated with other controllers.
The Distributed Services Controller is different from HP's existing Virtual Application Network SDN Controller and is based on a technology collaboration with Nuage Networks. HP says it is using a different controller for DCN based on time-to-market issues as well as for service provider use cases - multiple datacentres at very large scale, where an MPLS control plane can be leveraged.
The Virtual Application Network SDN Controller federates with VMware's NSX network virtualization controller.
DCN also includes Distributed Virtual Routing and Switching, based on Open vSwitch, which serves as a virtual endpoint for network services. This capability allows for changes in the compute environment to be detected and accommodated on behalf of application needs, HP says.
In addition to automating and simplifying configuration, DCN is intended to facilitate DevOps by rapidly provisioning test environments and reducing production deployment time. It is also intended to encourage service provider adoption of Network Functions Virtualisation, in which many hardware dependent network functions are virtualised to create a more automated and agile environment across multiple data centers.
DCN is immediately available worldwide with a starting price of $US65,585.
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