Set your sights on components of the agile multi-cloud data center.

By David Geer

It may seem a long journey from command-line-interfaces and legacy network switches to the programmable data center network that automatically interfaces with multiple clouds, remote offices, and employee end-users. But as you make your way toward multi-cloud nirvana, you will acquire new technologies that are compatible with current assets while building your way to the multi-cloud with bite-sized investments that you can make during naturally appearing technology refresh points.

There is a lot of industry agreement on certain aspects of the multi-cloud-ready data center. Those aspects represent an excellent place to focus as you develop your multi-cloud data center roadmap.

1. Programmable Switches

Many elements make up a multi-cloud-ready data center architecture. Because you need to automatically configure and deploy each new cloud environment that you orchestrate using a multi-cloud platform that puts the needs of the application workload first, every aspect of the network must be agile. The multi-cloud data center network achieves this agility mainly in flexible, reprogrammable software.

One key home for programmability in the multi-cloud data center design is inside the programmable network switch. Programmable network switches are critical, allowing the enterprise to support evolving network protocols that are necessary for the growing variety of vendor-agnostic technologies.

Programmable switches are fundamental to open-source SDN overlay networks, which empower the business to deploy differing application workloads in different clouds, orchestrated as part of a secure, cohesive multi-cloud infrastructure. An overarching SDN network enables the enterprise to manage and direct each application workload on any combination of clusters of physical and virtual machines and containers. Enterprises can automate the programmable network using application-centric policy rules to create environments and start workloads at will across and within a variety of public and private clouds.

2. Open Standards

Enterprises need to architect data center network designs with common, widespread, open source standards such as OpenFlow in mind. OpenFlow enables SDN controllers to orchestrate the network dynamically, which allows the systems to respond to the needs of the application-centric workload in real-time. The Open Container Format standard, as well as the Open Virtualization Format, OpenDaylight, and OpenStack, are all examples of standards the multi-cloud ready data center should support.

3. Underlay Networks & Vendor-Agnostic Devices

For multi-cloud orchestration, the enterprise must have centralized control of the underlay networks that manage vendor-agnostic devices in the network fabrics that support differing cloud environments and configurations. This orchestration should automate network fabric creation, using policies that determine how everything should run for the sake of the given application workload.

4. End-To-End Security & Visibility

End-to-end security for the data center, multi-cloud, and every office and user requires a centralized ability to see, touch, monitor, secure, and control all elements of the network infrastructure and design. The enterprise must have a mechanism for enforcing security policies from the clouds, through the data center, and into remote locations and mobile technologies. Security approaches must include network segmentation at the container level, to prevent containers on one network from breaching containers in another.

Visibility into data center architecture for multi-cloud must extend from a place of central control through the seven layers of the open systems interconnect (OSI) model and through the multi-cloud stack that is apparent in and around those layers including the application-centric workloads, the cloud, SDN infrastructures, and the physical and virtual devices.

5. Monitoring

The overarching orchestration of the data center architecture to support multi-cloud for various application workloads must support centralized monitoring that seeps into every crack of the infrastructure. This oversight must align with automation tools that envelope data center and cloud resources using open source software.

6. Policy Orchestration

Policy orchestration must extend through the overlay and underlay networks into the network fabric and every kind of server and virtual entity including VMs and containers in all clouds regardless of homogeneous environments. Enterprises must be able to manage the networks and fabrics centrally.

Let’s Get Started

You should start with a large vendor that has the reach, partnerships, integrations, and interoperability to guide you through your entire multi-cloud data center journey. Make precise scrutiny of your vendors, too.

Good luck!

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This post is brought to you by Juniper and IDG. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the view and opinions of Juniper.



