The Lippis Report

May 20th, 2013

As the need for visibility of applications flowing inside networks grows, network architecture itself is changing thanks to network plus server virtualization in data centers, and now Software-Defined Networking. Also trends like BYOD, virtualization, and application mobility are bringing complexity and a new dynamism to today’s networks. Larry Hart, Vice President, Ixia/Anue joins me to discuss how Software-Defined Networking is enhancing the hot network visualization market.

May 13th, 2013

As the need for visibility of applications flowing inside networks grows, network architecture itself is changing thanks to network plus server virtualization in data centers, and now Software-Defined Networking. Also trends like BYOD, virtualization, and application mobility are bringing complexity and a new dynamism to today’s networks. Shehzad Merchant, Chief Strategy Officer at Gigamon joins me to discuss the role of network visualization in the world of Software-Defined Networking.

April 8th, 2013

At the last Open Networking User Group (ONUG) meeting in Boston organized with partner Fidelity Investments, it became very clear that there are two killer SDN applications: network virtualization and visualization. Some argue that network virtualization used for VM-VM networking is not an SDN technology, but I beg to differ. Sure, there are closed and open approaches to network virtualization, but over the next business cycle, the integration of OpenStack and OpenFlow will make it clear that network virtualization is an SDN application, especially as it’s extended to physical networks. The second killer app is network visualization—that is, the ability to monitor network traffic and tweak application performance.   At ONUG Rich Groves, Principal Architect at Microsoft presented his SDN based approach to network visualization he designed with Big Switch Networks, cPacket, IBM, Arista and other suppliers that everyone is now using.  Why is network visualization an SDN killer app? Because it uses SDN technology, and most importantly, lowers the capital cost significantly from existing network visualization approaches while also delivering an entirely new level of self-server flexibility. Companies, such as Big Switch Networks, Gigamon, Arista, Cisco, NetScout, Ixia/Anue, cPacket and others, are now positioning their network visualization offers within an SDN context and for good reason. In this Lippis Report Research Note, I focus on network visualization as an SDN killer app.

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March 25th, 2013

Open Networking User Group (ONUG) meeting in Boston that we organized with partner Fidelity Investments. ONUG was a first for many reasons, but the biggest contributor to its success was its Board and the fact that the conference was closed to press, vendors and any recording. The ONUG Board, made up of chief network architects of the largest financial and retail concerns, developed ONUG sessions plus invited 10 pre-IPO firms to demonstrate their SDN solutions. The fact that the audience of 180 IT executives was able to openly discuss their open networking challenges, successes and hopes created a special mystique. Jayson Noland, Managing Director, Senior Analyst of Robert W. Baird, described the mystique best:

“There’s talk about standards and consortium, and what was apparent at ONUG is that there are very innovative early adopter IT leaders who will drive the market and determine the speed and success of true network transformation.”

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March 18th, 2013

Pablo Espinosa, Director of Data, Video and Voice Network Infrastructure at GAP Inc plus ONUG founding member shares his hope of what Software-Defined Networking will enable at GAP Inc via video with the IT executives at the first Open Networking User Group or ONUG. Northbound APIs need to unlock automated orchestration, idle server and network capacity needs to be accessed and put to work and network configuration needs automation.

February 13th, 2013

The networking industry at an inflection point driven by IT business leaders taking greater control of their network infrastructure to lower operational cost and increase IT delivery flexibility. Open networking promises to deliver greater control, lower cost and an injection of innovation not seem before in the networking industry. To understand these dynamics, we are conducting a CEO podcast series with industry thought leaders and visionaries all of which are meeting with IT leaders at the Open Networking User Group or ONUG in Boston on Feb 13th. Jeff Gray CEO of Glue Networks joins Nick Lippis for discussion on the state of open networking.

Register to attend the Open Networking User Group here: www.lippisreport.com/onug/register

Duration: 9:50 minutes

Lippis Intro/Analysis @ : 00:10 sec

Question 1 @ 1:35 sec: Jeff why is there so much interest in open networking from a customer point of view?

Question 2 @ 4:42 sec: How do you see open networking evolving over the next three years? What will networks look like?

Question 3 @ 6:10 sec: What are the biggest industry challenges over the next twenty-four months that the open networking community needs to overcome?

Question 4 @ 8:08 sec: How does Glue Networks participate in the open networking ecosystem?

February 12th, 2013

The networking industry at an inflection point driven by IT business leaders taking greater control of their network infrastructure to lower operational cost and increase IT delivery flexibility. Open networking promises to deliver greater control, lower cost and an injection of innovation not seem before in the networking industry. To understand these dynamics, we are conducting a CEO podcast series with industry thought leaders and visionaries all of which are meeting with IT leaders at the Open Networking User Group or ONUG in Boston on Feb 13th. Howard Bubb , President & CEO, Netronome joins Nick Lippis for discussion on the state of open networking.

Register to attend the Open Networking User Group here:

Duration: 12:38 minutes

Lippis Intro/Analysis @ : 00:10 sec

Question 1 @ 1:34 sec: Howard why is there so much interest in open networking from a customer point of view?

Question 2 @ 2:25 sec: What are the biggest industry challenges over the next twenty-four months that the open networking community needs to overcome?

Question 3 @ 3:56 sec: How do you see open networking evolving over the next three years? What will networks look like?

Question 4 @ 7:38 sec: How does Netronome Networks participate in the open networking ecosystem?

February 12th, 2013

The networking industry at an inflection point driven by IT business leaders taking greater control of their network infrastructure to lower operational cost and increase IT delivery flexibility. Open networking promises to deliver greater control, lower cost and an injection of innovation not seem before in the networking industry. To understand these dynamics, we are conducting a CEO podcast series with industry thought leaders and visionaries all of which are meeting with IT leaders at the Open Networking User Group or ONUG in Boston on Feb 13th. Awais Nemat co-founder & CEO PLUMgrid joins Nick Lippis for discussion on the state of open networking.

Register to attend the Open Networking User Group here:

Duration: 12:04 minutes

Lippis Intro/Analysis @ : 00:10 sec

Question 1 @ 1:39 sec: Awais why is there so much interest in open networking from a customer point of view?

Question 2 @ 5:23 sec: What are the biggest industry challenges over the next twenty-four months that the open networking community needs to overcome?

Question 3 @ 9:04 sec: How does PLUMgrid participate in the open networking ecosystem?

February 11th, 2013

The networking industry at an inflection point driven by IT business leaders taking greater control of their network infrastructure to lower operational cost and increase IT delivery flexibility. Open networking promises to deliver greater control, lower cost and an injection of innovation not seem before in the networking industry. To understand these dynamics, we are conducting a CEO podcast series with industry thought leaders and visionaries all of which are meeting with IT leaders at the Open Networking User Group or ONUG in Boston on Feb 13th. Mike Hatfield, President and co-founder of Cyan joins Nick Lippis for discussion on the state of open networking.

Register to attend the Open Networking User Group here

Duration: 11:39 minutes

Lippis Intro/Analysis @ : 00:10 sec

Question 1 @ 1:43 sec: Mike why is there so much interest in open networking from a customer point of view?

Question 2 @ 5:05 sec: What are the biggest industry challenges over the next twenty-four months that the open networking community needs to overcome?

Question 3 @ 7:49 sec: How do you see open networking evolving over the next three years? What will networks look like?

Question 4 @ 9:17 sec: How does Cyan participate in the open networking ecosystem?

February 8th, 2013

The networking industry at an inflection point driven by IT business leaders taking greater control of their network infrastructure to lower operational cost and increase IT delivery flexibility. Open networking promises to deliver greater control, lower cost and an injection of innovation not seem before in the networking industry. To understand these dynamics, we are conducting a CEO podcast series with industry thought leaders and visionaries all of which are meeting with IT leaders at the Open Networking User Group or ONUG in Boston on Feb 13th. Dante Malagrinò President & CEO Embrane joins Nick Lippis for discussion on the state of open networking.

Register to attend the Open Networking User Group here

Duration: 14:44 minutes

Lippis Intro/Analysis @ : 00:10 sec

Question 1 @ 1:39 sec: Dante why is there so much interest in open networking from a customer point of view?

Question 2 @ 5:01 sec: What are the biggest industry challenges over the next 24 months that the open networking community needs to overcome? How to insert and chain virtualized L4-7 services in cloud and SDNs?

Question 3 @ 7:52 sec: How do you see open networking evolving over the next three years? What will networks look like?

Question 4 @ 12:04 sec: How does Embrane participate in the open networking ecosystem?

February 7th, 2013

The networking industry at an inflection point driven by IT business leaders taking greater control of their network infrastructure to lower operational cost and increase IT delivery flexibility. Open networking promises to deliver greater control, lower cost and an injection of innovation not seem before in the networking industry. To understand these dynamics, we are conducting a CEO podcast series with industry thought leaders and visionaries all of which are meeting with IT leaders at the Open Networking User Group or ONUG in Boston on Feb 13th. Craig Elliott co-founder and CEO of Pertino joins Nick Lippis for discussion on the state of open networking.

Register to attend the Open Networking User Group here

Duration: 6:57 minutes

Lippis Intro/Analysis @ : 00:10 sec

Question 1 @ 1:38 sec: Craig why is there so much interest in open networking from a customer point of view?

Question 2 @ 2:30 sec: What are the biggest industry challenges over the next twenty-four months that the open networking community needs to overcome?

Question 3 @ 4:24 sec: How do you see open networking evolving over the next three years? What will networks look like?

Question 4 @ 5:37 sec: How does Pertino participate in the open networking ecosystem?

February 4th, 2013

By Broadcom

Today’s massive scale data centers offer high aggregate network bandwidth for large compute clusters. Fast, fat and flat networks are widely deployed with the more ubiquitous adoption of computer virtualization and the proliferation of clustered applications. Broadcom’s StrataXGS architecture-based Ethernet switches support the SmartSwitch series of technologies to ensure that such network infrastructure design requirements can be implemented comprehensively, cost-effectively and in volume scale. Broadcom’s Smart-Hash technology, part of SmartSwitch, implements several new hashing enhancements that improve network performance and overcome limitations imposed by traditional schemes. This white paper discusses current data center traffic trends, the implications of such and related enhancement featured in Smart-Hash technology.

February 1st, 2013

The networking industry at an inflection point driven by IT business leaders taking greater control of their network infrastructure to lower operational cost and increase IT delivery flexibility. Open networking promises to deliver greater control, lower cost and an injection of innovation not seem before in the networking industry. To understand these dynamics, we are conducting a CEO podcast series with industry thought leaders and visionaries all of which are meeting with IT leaders at the Open Networking User Group or ONUG in Boston on Feb 13th. Gregory Lebovitz, VP Products and Marketing of vArmour joins Nick Lippis for discussion on the state of open networking.

Register to attend the Open Networking User Group here: www.lippisreport.com/onug/register

Duration: 18:02 minutes

Lippis Intro/Analysis @ : 00:09 sec

Question 1 @ 1:34 sec: Gregory why is there so much interest in open networking from a customer point of view?

Question 2 @ 1:34 sec: What are the biggest industry challenges over the next twenty-four months that the open networking community needs to overcome?

Question 3 @ 9:33 sec: How do you see open networking evolving over the next three years? What will networks look like?

Question 4 @ 13:39 sec: How does vArmour participate in the open networking ecosystem?

January 31st, 2013

The networking industry at an inflection point driven by IT business leaders taking greater control of their network infrastructure to lower operational cost and increase IT delivery flexibility. Open networking promises to deliver greater control, lower cost and an injection of innovation not seem before in the networking industry. To understand these dynamics, we are conducting a CEO podcast series with industry thought leaders and visionaries all of which are meeting with IT leaders at the Open Networking User Group or ONUG in Boston on Feb 13th. Jayshree Ullal , President & CEO, Arista Networks joins Nick Lippis for discussion on the state of open networking.

Register to attend the Open Networking User Group here: www.lippisreport.com/onug/register

Duration: 13:08 minutes

Lippis Intro/Analysis @ : 00:10 sec

Question 1 @ 1:38 sec: Jayshree why is there so much interest in open networking from a customer point of view?

Question 2 @ 2:50 sec: What are the biggest industry challenges over the next twenty-four months that the open networking community needs to overcome?

Question 3 @ 7:12 sec: How do you see open networking evolving over the next three years? What will networks look like?

Question 4 @ 9:52 sec: How does Arista Networks participate in the open networking ecosystem?