Tech Lover 9

Given its rapid adoption, virtualization can potentially benefit billions—or serve as a vector for calamity. Even as it opens new avenues of productivity, cost-savings, and environmental relief, virtualization alters a company’s infrastructure profoundly, testing its ability to monitor and manage the new environment. Virtualization is enabling the global evolution to Cloud computing, but along with that comes the challenge of securing applications and data in that Cloud.
The outsourced nature of the Cloud means that companies must surrender a large measure of control. Near-infinite elasticity and automated resource maximization also overwhelm previous management approaches. In years past, monitoring and access required physical proximity to the instrumentation layer, with the result that networks and data centers were designed for static, physical devices, not mobile virtual ones. Firewalls and tools were inserted into the aggregation layer, with nearby physical servers in the same security zone.

Now, server virtualization and the mobility of VMs make sending raw traffic to the instrumentation layer more of a problem. A virtualized environment also calls for sophisticated capabilities such as load balancing to make sure that the instrumentation layer performs at peak efficiency. Effective virtual monitoring access must enable:

• Swift detection and resolution of power and equipment failure
• Management of complex device implementations
• Enforcement of security policies
• Smooth, secure onboarding of new users
• Efficient rack space utilization
• Streamlined consolidation
• Cost-efficient monitoring of distributed sites
• Quick response to intrusion or attack
• Securing of performance data for planning and compliance

At Net Optics, we design and manufacture intelligent access and monitoring architecture solutions to protect and manage business-critical traffic in the virtual environment. These provide real-time, end-to-end traffic visibility, monitoring and control to virtualized data centers, cloud computing networks, and remote offices.  The importance of total visibility cannot be overstated. In order to perform vital inspection, analysis and compliance activities, traffic must be visible to network-based security devices such as firewalls and IPSs. Our goal is to surpass physical hardware in security, compliance and performance monitoring.

Complementing the hypervisor-specific Phantom Virtual Tap in the enterprise-grade environment, Phantom HD aggregates virtual traffic of interest from across the cloud infrastructure—moving from server to server, location to location and even from continent to continent. The appliance is architected to overcome barriers to traffic mobility across locations, devices and providers for total inspection anywhere, extending monitoring and access across LAN / WAN / Cloud infrastructures and inter-VM traffic. At 10GB wire speed, Phantom HD enables aggregation of up to 250 Phantom Virtual Taps or other vendor devices.

Phantom HD eliminates the need for a physical, wired connection between the monitoring and access layers and the instrumentation layer. Phantom HD resolves the proximity paradigm, bridging virtual traffic to physical monitoring tools with no need for SPAN Ports on Virtual Switch or Promiscuous Mode.

Along with expanding total visibility into the virtual network, Phantom HD terminates and de-capsulates tunnels transporting traffic of interest out of virtual networks to the instrumentation layer. It encapsulates raw traffic of interest that needs to be transported to a remote location for inspection or storage. Phantom HD™ high-throughput appliance allows switching layer and instrumentation layer devices such as high-end routers to perform the sophisticated functions they were designed for—rather than being wastefully employed on routine GRE de-capsulation tasks. This helps customers gain the full benefit of their investment in these expensive products. As with all our virtual solutions, Phantom HD is engineered to defer or eliminate investment in costly new virtual tools, holding down CAPEX, training and operations costs.

Virtualization and consolidation demand ever-higher levels of network integrity because in a virtual landscape, applications and administrative functions share common resources. The shock waves of a failed, hacked or mismanaged element can now travel outward to affect countless applications and users. Only with total visibility to monitor both the physical and virtual arenas can a company realize virtualization’s many benefits.