Digital transformation underpins FatPipe’s multi-function VNF
FatPipe Networks, a provider of router clustering products for WAN optimization, recently debuted a new SD-WAN product, which the company said makes it easier to deploy virtual network functions (VNFs).
SD-WAN and network functions virtualization (NFV) platforms used to deploy VNFs are beginning to converge, according to FatPipe. The purpose of the multi-purpose VFN solution is to accelerate this process by combining SD-WAN functionality with routing, firewall, security, Deep Packet Inspection (DIP), among others. It enables companies to add and launch additional VNFs without the complexities typically anchored to multi-vendor deployments, said the company.
“The FatPipe VNF could help enterprises more easily deploy NFV, which has been previously constrained due to the difficulties involved with multiple-vendor components required for a successful NFV implementation, including OpenStack,” noted 451 Research’s Senior Analyst Networking Jim Duffy, in a statement.
FatPipe VNF is also available on FatPipe-branded hardware. Customers will be able to choose between custom-manufactured hardware, or hardware based on OpenStack with FatPipe integrated into it in advance. The OpenStack based hardware allows third-party VNFs to be loaded onto it. The company said it has been delivering SD-WANs since 2001.
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“OpenStack is becoming the standard for virtualization of network functions,” said FatPipe’s CTO Sanch Datta. “By building an integrated VNF/SD-WAN that’s branded-to-deployment of OpenStack, we can reduce the complexities and barriers to entry for enterprise NFV deployments. We expect this to have a similar benefit to NFV adoption as commercially branded Linux software had for enterprise adoption.”
According to Datta, the company anticipates FatPipe VNF will reach a wider audience among telecom carriers attempting to build networks through isolated NFV services. Enterprise IT companies have a greater stake in achieving the advantages of VNFs in a way that is simple and easy. In some instances, IT companies will provision their own VNFs, exhausting network resources usually offered by service providers.
According to a study by Futuriom, revenue for SD-WAN tools and “network-as a-service” (NaaS) is set to reach almost $1 billion by 2019 and swell to $1.6 billion by 2021. FatPipe is amid the SD-WAN vendors expected to reach $100 million by 2018 and potentially go public.
