Skip Links

Addressing the 'only MPLS offers predictability and supports enterprise VoIP' myth

Technologies of the next-generation enterprise WAN architecture deliver both of these at higher bandwidth and lower cost than MPLS.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 05/20/13 - 11:57am.

Having knocked down a number of the myths of why enterprises "need" MPLS over our last few columns, let's now address the most difficult – and in many ways "legitimate" – myths around MPLS. They can be worded different ways, but boil down to the claim that MPLS delivers reliable, predictable application performance for the enterprise, while using Internet connectivity does not.

Read more

MTBF, MTTR and SLAs, oh my

While MTBF and MTTR for broadband are much higher than MPLS, having multiple diverse links addresses the key issue of higher uptime; MPLS' "better" SLA doesn't actually deliver what enterprises care about.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 05/06/13 - 1:25pm.

Continuing our look into myths of why enterprises "need" MPLS. Today we'll consider two more:

Read more

'We can't use asymmetric broadband' - knocking down more MPLS myths

Broadband has more total bandwidth and reflects how traffic flows today, while WAN Virtualization can address the "single DSL upstream bandwidth" issue.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 04/22/13 - 1:29pm.

As we started to address a couple columns back, until recently, for a serious enterprise WAN, you probably needed MPLS. Thanks to the Next-generation Enterprise WAN (NEW) architecture, this is no longer the case. 

Read more

Knocking down MPLS myths

While enterprises need any-any connectivity, neither traffic patterns nor VoIP require a fully meshed WAN.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 04/15/13 - 11:54am.

As we began to cover last time, until recently, if you were an enterprise WAN manager responsible for a serious WAN, you probably needed MPLS.  Thanks to the Next-generation Enterprise WAN (NEW) architecture

Read more

Knocking down the myths of why enterprises need MPLS

What was very true just a few years ago – enterprises needing MPLS to have a reliable, high-performance WAN – is no longer, thanks to the NEW architecture.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 04/08/13 - 12:09pm.

If you're responsible for a serious enterprise WAN, do you need MPLS? 

Until recently, the answer to this question for almost all larger enterprises, many mid-sized and some smaller ones as well, was a resounding yes.

Thanks to the Next-generation Enterprise WAN (NEW) architecture, the answer going forward is: probably not. 

Read more

A NEW architecture for enterprise Internet access

Benefits include lower costs, scalability and improved performance for both intranet and public cloud-based services/SaaS access, while maintaining centralized network security management.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 03/25/13 - 1:29pm.

Last time, we looked at a specific solution to the problem of the "trombone" effect in enterprise Internet access using the

Read more

Centralizing Internet access with WAN Virtualization

Next-generation Enterprise WAN architecture addresses "trombone" effect leveraging link aggregation and colo facilities to deliver best-of-both-worlds solution.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 03/11/13 - 11:52am.

For the last several columns we have been exploring the details of how enterprise Internet access is established.

Read more

Why the 'trombone' effect is problematic for Enterprise Internet access

Increased latency, often with congestion, leading to sluggish, unpredictable application performance for branch-based users can undermine cloud computing efforts.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 03/04/13 - 11:58am.

Last time, we began looking at the "trombone" effect, what it is, and why it existed. Here, we'll delve more into why this "trombone" effect is a problem for Enterprise WAN design going forward.

Read more

A spectre is haunting Europe (and cloud computing everywhere) – the spectre of the 'trombone' effect

Backhauling all Internet traffic though HQ or data center makes network management and security simpler, at the expense of application access performance.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 02/25/13 - 12:03pm.

A spectre is haunting Europe – and North America, and Asia Pacific – in Enterprise IT managers' quest to leverage the power of cloud computing. It is the spectre of the "trombone" effect in enterprise Internet access!

Read more

You can’t be too rich, too thin, or have too much Internet bandwidth

Videoconferencing, large video files, enterprise synchronization, public cloud computing all will contribute to the need for a lot more bandwidth
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 02/11/13 - 12:19pm.

As we move into the era of the cloud, and further into the era of BYOD and the explosion of personal/consumer use of the Internet as a fundamental expectation of individual workers and their devices, having much more bandwidth at each enterprise location will be critical to the efficiency of enterprise IT. Yet I also believe that this topic is rarely given the consideration it is due.

Read more

Why you need (a lot) more Internet bandwidth on your Enterprise WAN

BYOD cloud synching, SaaS, cloud computing, video just a few of the reasons
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 01/28/13 - 12:07pm.

Last time we covered the reasons I believe the time is now ripe for a Next-generation Enterprise WAN (NEW) architecture.

Read more

The Next-generation Enterprise WAN: Let's start with why

Cloud services, SaaS, the power of the colo, Internet economics, MPLS expense, ensuring high performance, predictability and reliability for WAN users, and visibility and control for network managers all key.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 01/21/13 - 1:49pm.

For the last several columns we've looked at the key factors affecting WAN performance – loss, latency, jitter and bandwidth – and various ways of addressing these issues. As 2013 begins, I'd like to step back and look at the bigger picture, before any further dives down into the details.

Read more

Addressing WAN packet loss – go where the loss isn’t

WAN Virtualization enables reliable, predictable high-performance in the face of packet loss on a network path.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 01/14/13 - 1:31pm.

We continue our discussion of what can be done to address the impact of packet loss on application performance over the WAN. In our previous 3 columns, we've covered five of the six different possibilities listed in the first column of this arc.

Read more

Addressing WAN packet loss – borrowing from the CDN/ADN world

Using a multi-segment architecture combined with a dedicated core can drastically reduce the impact of WAN packet loss on TCP applications.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Wed, 12/19/12 - 2:57pm.

We continue our discussion of what can be done to address the impact of packet loss on application performance over the WAN. We've covered three of the six different possibilities listed in the first column of this arc.

Read more

Addressing WAN packet loss, Part 2

Handling loss differently, mitigating the effects and hiding the loss from end stations can improve WAN application performance.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 12/03/12 - 12:17pm.

Last time, we began our discussion of what can be done to address the impact of packet loss on application performance over the WAN. We listed six different possibilities, and went through how one of them can significantly improve application performance in the face of packet loss.

Read more

What can be done about WAN packet loss and its impact on WAN application performance?

Multiple approaches are possible, and drastically reducing the number of packets that need to traverse the WAN is one good one
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 11/26/12 - 12:05pm.

Last time, we delved into the reasons that packet loss has such an enormous impact on application performance over the WAN in the first place.

Read more

Why does packet loss destroy application performance over the WAN?

TCP's primary mechanism for signaling congestion causes application performance degradation in many ways, and was never optimized for high-bandwidth WANs or interactive applications over the WAN.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Tue, 11/13/12 - 1:06pm.

Before continuing on to cover which of the various technologies – those that are part of the Next-generation Enterprise WAN (NEW) architecture as well as others – addresses packet loss and how, I think it will be worthwhile to go a bit deeper into why packet loss has such a huge impact on application performance over the WAN in the first place.

Read more

What to do when you need more Enterprise WAN bandwidth

WAN Optimization, the obvious choice, usually works very well, but WAN Virtualization, Network-as-a-Service or replicated file service contribute mightily here too
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 11/05/12 - 12:37pm.

Moving on in our coverage of which of the various technologies – including those that are part of the Next-generation Enterprise WAN (NEW) architecture, like WAN Optimization, WAN Virtualization and

Read more

How to address WAN jitter issues for real-time applications

Traditional WAN Optimization techniques don’t help much, so other solutions are needed.
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 10/22/12 - 3:47pm.

We continue to cover the broad topic of which of the various technologies – including those that are part of the Next-generation Enterprise WAN (NEW) architecture, like WAN Optimization, WAN Virtualization and

Read more

How to address application performance issues from WAN latency variability

Certain techniques work better to deal with the effects of congestion-based increases in latency application performance over the WAN
Submitted by Andy Gottlieb on Mon, 10/15/12 - 12:07pm.

Continuing the broad topic of which of the various technologies, including those that are part of the Next-generation Enterprise WAN (NEW) architecture, like WAN Optimization, WAN Virtualization and

Read more

123next ›last »