Open Networking
Open Networking refers to the unbundling or disaggregation of hardware and software in networking equipment, including Customer Premise and Data Centre equipment such as switches, routers and modems. It benefits clients by providing improved flexibility and functionality, at dramatically lower opex and capex than traditional closed or proprietary networking technology provided by name brand equipment vendors.
It uses open source hardware and software that is widely available with high performance compute power, which can be mix-and-matched according to the client’s functionality and budget requirements.
Open Networking allows small businesses to afford enterprise-grade hardware and software that in the past has only been affordable by large enterprises, that is capable of managing the exponential amounts of data being generated as AI workloads become mainstream. In addition, it allows enterprises to save considerably on network opex and capex, reducing the total cost of ownership / TCO.
Open networking has become the standard in Europe and is now emerging in APAC and the Americas, driven by hyper-scalers taking advantage of new hardware and software available.
Traditional telecommunications provider networks and the services they offer are all designed in a similar way using traditional equipment and are stuck in an expensive cycle of needing to wait until hardware is end of life before being able to make significant upgrades to the functionality of this equipment.
The benefits of open networking are well documented, but in summary:
From – Legacy
To – Open Networking
From – Legacy
Expensive integrated hardware and software
To – Open Networking
Low-cost, separate, high performance hardware and flexible software, making upgrades and network expansion affordable
From – Legacy
Slow to update
To – Open Networking
Simple to upgrade and automate
From – Legacy
Scarce computing resources
To – Open Networking
Designed for edge routing
From – Legacy
Unable to adopt new technologies until equipment vendors update
To – Open Networking
Able to innovate quickly to add AI, 5G etc
From – Legacy
Heightened security risks
To – Open Networking
Enhanced security capabilities including;
- Quick software updates and patches
- Choose best-of-breed security tools
- Scalable security independent of hardware
- More precise security controls, access rules, threat detention
- Isolation and separation of controls and data to contain security breaches
- Centralised visibility and management simplifying monitoring and incident response