Modern networks are constantly evolving - and so is their functionality. The explosive growth of the Internet, for example, has caused a rapid migration of business processes onto the corporate network.
Applications such as Web browsing, e-mail communications and Internet Protocol (IP) telephony are today central to the efficient running of most businesses.
Messaging and presence applications (instant messaging) are increasingly - while admittedly controversially - seen as valuable business tools for future communication among employees, partners and customers.
At the same time, corporate networks are growing to support multiple departments, locations and remote users.
Yes, network appliances have been in existence for some time - but they have been hamstrung by limited scope and poor technology.
Graham Vorster, CTO, Westcon AME.
Against this backdrop, security has emerged as a prime concern for network managers, many of whom have witnessed first hand the devastation that can be caused by viruses, Trojans, denial-of-service attacks and other malware breaching the broadening perimeters of the modern network.
Availability - uptime - is also critical to many networks, particularly those that support online businesses, as is quality of service, as it relates to the capability of a network to provide better service to selected network traffic flows over various technologies.
A key discipline is the manageability of the network, from a variety of perspectives - including usage, policy maintenance and corporate governance.
Another vital discipline is the ability of the network to support growing numbers of mobile workers by optimising new technologies to broaden the reach of wireless LANs and take successful IEEE 802.11 or WiFi standards into the integrated access arena.
Under the spotlight of deregulation, the transfer of voice traffic over packet networks, especially voice over IP (VOIP), is rapidly gaining acceptance - to the point where the integration of the most basic IP telephony services to the most advanced VOIP communication technologies on a common platform is a fundamental goal of most organisations.
The challenge
Today`s network is also expected to accommodate a wide range of applications that are critical to the running of the business, including data storage, multimedia and converged communications packages.
The challenge for networking vendors today is to take all of these disciplines and applications - which have traditionally required different platforms on which to run - into consideration.
What is needed is an appliance - a hardware device with preinstalled software - that can be brought into service with little or no configuration to address all these issues within a truly integrated, efficient and highly available end-to-end intelligent information network.
Yes, network appliances have been in existence for some time - but they have been hamstrung by limited scope and poor technology.
They were but the forerunners of the new breed of "super appliances" which are making their appearance at both the core and edge of the network today.
Super appliances are characterised by their "all-in-one" approach to networking services and applications - as well as traffic discovery, application visibility, performance optimisation and the cast-iron protection of mission-critical applications.
At the network core, super appliances are rapidly evolving from chassis-based Ethernet switches which have been directly plugged into security, wireless, e-mail, voice, storage and other servers.
As their sophistication is enhanced, these appliances will soon meet all of the network`s needs from within a truly collapsed backbone framework.
At the edge of the network, the super appliance is found in the form of a new generation of routers that builds services into the hardware, enabling the simultaneous use of more interfaces and features - while increasing the performance of multiple, concurrent services.
Super appliances at the edge are laying the foundation for branch environments that include increased security via self-defending networks; self-healing, system-level analysis and management; enhanced video and communications services; and the integration of wired and wireless networks.
The appliance is the network
As multifunction appliances begin to characterise the modern network - and as more functionally different blades are connected within the switch/router chassis - so communications will begin to establish themselves over the chassis backplane, rather than between many different appliances talking over the Ethernet to one another.
At this point the appliance will have effectively "become the network", reaching across historical boundaries and blending physical, functional, interactive and graphical disciplines within a single framework.
While proponents of the network appliance support the simplification of the various disciplines within the network infrastructure, opponents note that if a business purchases an all-in-one super appliance solution, it cannot be assured of getting best-of-breed technology in every area.
While, currently, this might be true, the fact is the concept of the all-embracing network appliance is spawning "super appliance companies" producing next-generation super chassis for core and edge devices.
These will lead directly to the establishment of standards-based chassis in which the high value elements will be found in the blade technology.
Individual blades will be designed and manufactured by a growing number of specialist, third-party vendors to address a variety of disciplines.
The standard chassis will easily accommodate these "plug and play" blades allowing true best of breed technologies to be incorporated into a single chassis, providing long-term performance and security guarantees for tomorrow`s mission-critical business applications.
* Graham Vorster is CTO of Westcon AME.
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