The Enterprise Network of the Future Will Be Hyperconverged

Gartner RAS Core Research Note G00208637, Bjarne Munch, David A. Willis, 18 November 2010, RA9 05012011

In the enterprise network, we are entering the era of hyperconvergence, where all services are delivered by a common Internet Protocol (IP) network — not only for voice, video and data, but also for wired and wireless, and for storage and computing. We propose a new set of design and collaboration principles.

Key Findings

• Applicationtraffichasbecomemoreunpredictableandmoredifficulttomodel.

• Keyvendors,suchasCisco,HPandOracle,arepursuingafullyintegratedstackapproach,spanningareasincludingnetworking,storageandservers.Takingadvantageoftheseofferingsrequiresacollaborativeeffort,withclearlinesofdecisionmakingregardingthe architecture.

• Standardhierarchicalnetworkdesignsinhibitconsistentlygoodperformance.

Recommendations

• Networkdesignersshouldfocustheirdesignsaroundend-to-endsolutionsfor(1)broadinfrastructuredomains,suchasthedatacenterandtheWAN,and(2)theworkplaceenvironment,suchasthecampusorbranchoffice.Traditional,technology-centricdomains,likevoice,data,WAN,etc.,onlyserveasbarriers.

• Managersmustalsochangetheorganizationandcollaborativestructureby,atminimum,openingupthelinesofcommunicationbetweenteams,ledbycross-disciplinaryleaders.Cost-effectivesupportisachievedviaatightlyintegratedthird-levelplanningteamthatissupportedbyteamsofversatilists(thatis,engineerswhospanmultipledisciplines).

• Integrateallnetworkdomainsanduseraccesscontrolmechanismstoenableseamlessuserconnectivityatthenetworkaccessandapplicationtrafficflowwithinthenetworkbyremovingcentralizedcontrolandconnectivityhubs.Applysecuritypolicyatthefirsttouchpointtothenetwork,atmultiplelayerswithinit.

2WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOWAscloudcomputing,virtualization,mobility,unifiedcommunicationsandvideodrivemoreapplicationtraffictothenetwork,traditionalnetworkdesignpracticeswillbecomeincreasinglysignificantconstraintsonthefunctioningofthebusiness.Traditionalsilosofserver,storageandnetworkarebeingcombinedasvendorssellintegratedstacksolutions.Securitypolicymanagementcapabilitieshavetoexistateverytouchpointtothenetwork.Anewapproachthatbringstogetherthesedisciplinesenablesorganizationstomaketherightdecisionsaboutarchitecture,ratherthanbeingledbyasingleinfrastructureview.

ANALYSISDrivenbytheCIO’stopprioritiesincloudcomputing,mobility,unifiedcommunicationsandvideo,plannersmustthinkaheadtohownetworksaredesigned,howtheyarebuiltandhowtheyarerun.“Dumbpipe”networkswillnotsupportthelevelsofscale,reliabilityorsecuritythatbusinessleadersneed.Therefore,thesilosbetweennetworkinfrastructureandapplicationsarebreakingdown,asevidencedbymajortrendssuchascontext-awarecomputing,application-fluentnetworkingandidentity-awarenetworking.Meanwhile,cloudcomputingandvirtualizationarecollapsingtheboundariesbetweenserver,storageandnetwork.Theuserenvironmentisalsomovingtoamixofwirelessandwiredcapabilities.

Weseethesechangescollectivelyinthehyperconvergednetwork—anapproachinwhichcompute,storage,contentmanagement,communicationandapplicationservicesareconsumedoveranintegratednetwork,enabledbyvirtualization,withintegratedsecurity,independentofthenetworkaccessmethod,definedbypolicy,andcraftedtothespecificdeviceandsituationalneed.

Corporateandgovernmentnetworksarehittinganinflectionpoint.Afteryearsofmerelyevolvingcommunicationsystemsinaslowreactiontochangingneeds,afundamentalchangeinapproachisnecessary.Thisisnotmerelyamovetoaconsolidatednetwork,ortoacommonsetofprotocols.Instead,itisamultidisciplinaryapproachthatanticipateschangesintheworkenvironment,leveragesamixofconsumerizedandcommoditizedtechnologies,takesadvantageofcloud-servicecapabilities,andmaximizestheefficiencyofthecorebackbone.

Itiseasytoseewhythischangemustoccursoon;end-userdemandsarerapidlychanging.Collaborationsystemswillallowuserstomoveseamlesslyfromtraditionalphonecallingintoaudioconferencing,sharedworkspacesandvideoconferencing—notasseparatesystems,butasanintegratedexperience.Voice,videoanddatacannolongerbeseparatedomains.Deliverycannotjustbeon-premises,thusrestrictingaccesstointernalemployees,

butalsomustintegratetopubliccloud-basedsolutionsthatspanmultipleorganizations—onceagain,withaminimumofuserhassle.Theresultingtrafficflowswillbemorepeertopeerinnatureand less hierarchical.

Anotherreasonwhythischangemustoccursoonisthemessynatureoflegacynetworksystemsthatcomprisethetypicalnetwork,evenasmoremodernsystemsarethrownintothemixtactically.Itiscommontomanydifferentmodelsofswitchesandrouters,andmultiplePBXorkeysystemswithlittletonointegration,allrunningdozensofdifferentsoftwareversions.Manytraditionalequipmentsuppliershavegoneoutofbusinessormovedontonewproductportfolios.Maintenancecostsareontherise.Complexityisthebarriertoloweringcost,improvingreliabilityandenhancingsecurity.Oldnetworkdesignsbasedonoldandinvalidassumptionsarecommon.

Costisanotheraspect.Evenasthecostofbandwidthfromcarriershasdeclined,theoperationalcostsassociatedwithmaintainingnetworkshaverisen.Networksystemsanddatacommunicationsanalystsareprojectedtobethesecond-fastest-growingoccupationintheU.S.(Source:U.S.BureauofLaborStatisticsOccupationalOutlookHandbook,2010-11).Totalnetworkcosts,asapercentageofITspending,currentlymeasures15%atminimum,apercentagethatislikelytoincreasetomorethan20%by2014,drivenbymorewirelessserviceconsolidationintoITandtherapidriseofvideo.

Toadapt,plannersshouldfocusonremovingbottlenecksandcomplexityinthenetworksothattheyareabletoadapttothechangingwaysthatbusinessusersaccesstheirapplications,andtothechanging,andevenchaotic,trafficflowsintheirnetworks.Thismeansthatenterprisenetworkdesignmustmovebeyondthetraditionalnetworkconnectivityfocustoincludehowtoconnectuserstoapplications,andessentiallyadapttheirnetworksolutionstochangingapplicationdeploymentsandthechangingbusinessneedsoftheseapplications.

Enterprisesneedtoplantheirnetworkdesignaroundtheongoingbreakdownoftraditionaltechnologyboundariesandtraditionalnetworkconstraints,whereusuallyseparatesolutionareasconvergeintothehyperconvergedenterprise,suchas:

• Convergenceinthedatacenterofnetworking,serversandstorage,enablingamorecost-effectivenetworkdesigninsupportofservervirtualization

• ConvergenceoftheLANandWAN,insupportofchangingapplicationdeploymentarchitectures(inparticular,cloudcomputing,voice,videoandcollaboration)

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3• Convergenceofthewiredandwirelessnetwork,enablingthe

wirelessoffice

The Evolution in Network DesignCriticalnetworkdesignfactorshavechangedinthreemajorwavessincethe1980s,asillustratedinFigure1.Often,thesedesignsremaininusetoday,despitetheirinefficiencyandcomplexity.

Inthe1980s,hierarchicalsystemsruled,wherealluserservicescamefromthenextupstreamneighbor,andallconnectionswerewired.TherewaslittleconvergencebeyondSystemsNetworkArchitecture(SNA)hostemulationontheLAN.Wide-areapricingwasdrivenbypoint-to-pointlinksanddistance-sensitivecharging.Meanwhile,distributeddepartmentalsystemsproliferated,settingthestageforthenextwave.

Inthe1990s,distributedsystemsbecamemoreinterconnected,butinahighlystaticway.Distancestillmattered,sonetworkdesignerscreatedtraffichubsthatwouldaggregatetraffictotakeadvantageofcapacitypricing.Fixedtimedivisionmultiplexing(TDM)voicenetworksremainedbasedonthe1980smodel,butdataservicesbegantoconvergearoundacommonprotocol(IP).LANsbecamefullyintegrated.Meanwhile,mobile(cellular)servicesrampedup,butwerecenteredonvoice.

The2000ssawthefirstwaveoftrueconvergenceofvoiceanddataaroundIP.Distancebecameimmaterialin-countryovertheWANasservice-specificpricingappeared,andglobalregionalhubsbecamethecommondesignformultinationalenterprises.Internetservicesbecameanimportantelementofthecorporatenetwork,butusagewastightlycontrolledandlimited.Meanwhile,themobileenterpriseexpandedrapidly,andWi-Figrewfromaverticalmarketdatacollectiontechnologytobecomeacommonconnectionmethodforcarpeted-spacedeploymentsintheenterprise.

Theseolddesignsarestillfoundinoperationalnetworkstoday,leadingtoaneedtomodernizethem.

Hyperconvergence: The Fourth Wave in Network DesignThenatureofthebusinessenvironmentandtheapplicationenvironmentisbecominghighlydistributed,andapplicationtrafficistakingonanalmostchaoticnature,movingbetweenalloffices,externalandinternal,andwithendusersconnectedviawired,wirelessandmobilemethods.Thisisdrivingconvergenceinseveralareasofthenetworkintoahyperconvergedinfrastructure,wherenew,distributednetworkdesignscenteronthefollowingfactors.

Figure 1. The Evolution in Network Design Is Changing Network Topology From Hub and Spoke to Meshed

HQ:headquarters

Source:Gartner(November2010)

1980s

Distance Matters

Host | Voice Networking2000s

Campus Networking | First Convergence1990sWAN

Hierarchical Isolated ->Converged

CentralOfficeSwitch

PBX

Phones

Core

Distribution

Access

Wi-Fi

VoiceMainframe

Front-EndProcessor

Controller

1980s

Distance Matters

Host | Voice Networking2000s

Campus Networking | First Convergence1990sWAN

Hierarchical Isolated ->Converged

CentralOfficeSwitch

PBX

Phones

Core

Distribution

Access

Wi-Fi

VoiceMainframe

Front-EndProcessor

Controller

4

Figure 2. The Enterprise Network Typically Consists of Several Network Clouds (e.g., MPLS and Internet in the WAN)

Source:Gartner(November2010)

Cloud computing —Enterpriseapplicationswillincreasinglymoveintovarioustypesofprivateandpubliccloudservices,oftenwithlimitedconsiderationofthenetworkimpact.Traditionalcentralizedhub-and-spokearchitecturesdonothandletheseapplicationdeploymentsverywell,andhybridMultiprotocolLabelSwitching(MPLS)andInternetnetworksareoftenstillcentralizingtrafficflowsforsecurityreasons,thusintroducingsimilarissuesasforhub-and-spokearchitectures(seeFigure2).

Enterprisesneedtoremovethesebottlenecksbyflatteningthenetwork(i.e.,addingadditionaltouchpointsbetweenallnetworks,anddistributingmore-secureInternetaccesspointsaroundthenetwork).Thiswillimproveefficiency,eliminatebottlenecksandsinglepointsoffailure,andprovideabetterexperiencefortheuser.ThismaybeimplementedthroughtechnologiesthatcansupportdistributedInternetaccesswithcentralizedsecuritypolicyadministration,andserviceprovidersthatcanoffloadthisadministrative burden.

IP communication for all data types —EnterprisecommunicationismigratingtoIP-basedplatformsandbeingintegratedwithunifiedcommunicationsandcollaboration(UCC),whichwillincreasinglybedeployedbothinternally(withintheenterprise)andexternally(intheproviders’clouds;seeFigure3).Thesewillnotbedeployedasseparatesolutions,butwillbebasedonintegratedhybriddesigns.IPtelephonyandUCCsystemsbasedonSessionInitiationProtocol(SIP)willallowUCCfunctionstobedistributedaroundthenetwork,whilestillremainingfunctionallyintegrated.Inaddition,thiswillenablehighlychangeableapplicationstoleverageelementsinthevoicenetworkthatchangeverylittle.

Enterprisesshouldbuildarchitecturesthatenablethedistributionofcommunicationsandcollaborationfunctionsacrossseparatesystems.Forexample,inUCC,standardizearoundatechnologystack(andvendor)fortelephony,messaging,conferencingandcollaborationsystems—bothin-houseandinthepubliccloud—andsocial-networking-basedsolutions.Thefurtherupthetechnologystack,themorediversityshouldbeexpectedandallowed.

Data center virtualization—Theimpactofservervirtualizationondatacenternetworkinghasalreadybeenprofound,andwillcontinuetodrivesignificantchangesindatacenternetworkdesign.VendorslikeCisco,HP,OracleandIBMwanttoownthestackfromtoptobottom.Fromadesignperspective,datacenternetworkingwillflattenandvirtualizetoenableafreeandrapidmovementofvirtualmachinesandserverloadwithinthedatacenter,andthiswillcontinuetoevolvewithdistributedvirtualizationbetweendatacenters.Today,itistechnicallypossibletomovevirtualserverinstancesbetweenremotedatacentersattheclickofamouse,asdemonstratedbycompaniessuchasF5andVMware.Thiscanmovegigabytesquickly,butwilldriveaneedforhigh-capacitynetworkcore,whereEthernetWAN-basedinterconnecteddatacenterswillbethepreferredsolutionduetotheirsupportofhighlyscalablebandwidthandlowlatency(seeFigure4).

Enterprisesneedtodeterminewhethertheirstrategiesallowforafullyintegratedstacksolutionfromasinglevendor.Also,theyshouldanticipateaneedforbest-of-breedsolutionsininfrastructureareaslikeapplicationdeliverycontrollers,whereindividualvendorsstillhaveasignificantinnovativelead.

2010s — WAN and Cloud

MPLS

HQ

Internet

2010s — WAN and Cloud

MPLS

HQ

InternetMPLSMPLS

HQHQ

InternetInternet

Figure 3. Communication and Collaboration Is Being Integrated and Deployed Internally and Externally

Source:Gartner(November2010)

2010s — Voice

TelephonyMessaging

Collaboration

Conferencing

2010s — Voice

TelephonyMessaging

Collaboration

Conferencing

TelephonyMessaging

Collaboration

Conferencing

TelephonyMessaging

Collaboration

Conferencing

5Figure 4. Data Centers Will Be Directly Interconnected to Support Low-Latency and High-Bandwidth Needs

DC:datacenter Source:Gartner(November2010)

2010s — Data Center Interconnect

DC

DC

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2010s — Data Center Interconnect

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DC

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DCDC

DCDC

DCDC

Data center Ethernet —Servervirtualizationisalsoadriverbehindtheongoingdiscussionaboutconvergenceofdatanetworkingandstoragenetworkingwithinthedatacenter.Theevolutionincomputinghardwareanditsvirtualizationhasledtoanexplosionofrequiredinterfacesandcablingwithineachserverrack,whichisthekeyreasonforthetrendtowardconvergenceofstoragenetworkingontoEthernet(seeFigure5),FibreChanneloverEthernetandConvergedEnhancedEthernet.Thisevolutionisbeingsupportedbytop-of-rackswitchingandnewunifiedswitchesthatsupportboth standards.

Wireless-first access—Aswirelesscapacity,affordabilityandubiquityareincreasing,userswillbesatisfied—and,indeed,happier—withwireless-onlyaccessformostworkloads.DrivenbyInstituteofElectricalandElectronicsEngineers(IEEE)802.11ntodayand802.11acinthecomingyearsincreasingwirelessLAN(WLAN)bandwidthcapacity,enterpriseswillevolvetheWLANfromjustbeingconnectivityforconvenienceintoacompleteofficeconnectivitysolution.Theall-wirelessofficeisemerging,inwhichcompanieswillblankettheirorganizationswithWi-Fi,whichwillbecomethedefaultconnectionforallservicesinsidethefirewall,andthecommonconnectionmodelformobileworkers(seeFigure6).LANdesignswillbegreatlysimplified,movingtoasimpletwo-tierapproach.

Figure 5. There Is Emerging Convergence of Compute and Storage Networking in the Data Center

Source:Gartner(November2010)

2010s — Data Center Networking

Compute

Storage

2010s — Data Center Networking

Compute

Storage

ComputeCompute

StorageStorage

Designprincipleswillchange.Thenewnetworkdesignneedstofocusonenablingapplicationtrafficflowacrosstheentirenetwork,whereenduserswillexpectconsistentlygoodperformancelevels,irrespectiveoftheirmethodofconnectivity,andwhereapplicationprocessingcanbemovedtoavailableprocessingcapacity,whereveritislocated,forcostoptimization.Securitymechanismsneedtobeembeddedanddistributedwithinthenetworktoavoidabottleneckdesign.Remotemonitoringandnetworktrafficcontrol,andproactivenetworkchangesbasedonnetworkpolicies,becomeindispensableasmoreandmoreapplicationtrafficwillexistoutsidethetraditionalenterprise’sboundaries,andincreasinglywillconsistofHTTPandvirtualdesktoptraffic,whicharebothnotoriouslydifficultapplicationtraffictypesinthenetwork.

Managersmustalsochangetheorganizationandcollaborativestructure,atminimumopeningupthelinesofcommunicationbetweenteamsledbycross-disciplinaryleaders.Someleadingorganizationshavealreadymovedtoanorganizationalstructurethatseparatesfoundationalnetworking(i.e.,transport,switchingandrouting)versusapplications(unifiedcommunications,mobility,messaging,endpointsandapplicationservers)versuslogicalnetworking(directoryandaddressing,includingDomainNameSystem[DNS],DynamicHostConfigurationProtocol[DHCP]andActiveDirectory).Multiplelevelsofthedeliveryandsupportchainarealsochanging;cost-effectivesupportisachievedviaatightlyintegratedthird-levelplanningteamthatissupportedbyteamsofversatilists.

6Tactical Guidelines

• Integrateplanningofnetwork,storage,serveranddesktopinfrastructureviaacross-disciplinaryplanningteam.

• Separatedesignsintocoreinfrastructuredomains:datacenterinfrastructure,wideareainfrastructure,campus,remoteoffice,etc.

• Examinewhetheryourcurrentnetworkdesignenablestrafficflowbetweenallusersandtheirapplications(e.g.,byregionorcountry)sothatperformanceisacceptable.Thisisespeciallycriticalwhenhandlinghighvolumesofcollaborationtraffic,whichisoftenbetweenpeers,andinadoptingpubliccloud-computingmodels,whichrequirehighlydistributed(butstillsecured)connectionstotheInternet.

Figure 6. Wireless Network Access Is Becoming Pervasive

Source:Gartner(November2010)

2010s — Campus Networking

Blanket Wi-Fi

2010s — Campus Networking

Blanket Wi-FiBlanket Wi-FiBlanket Wi-Fi