Virtual cloud computing

The cloud changes the game completely for security as we move to a world where users are mobile and resources virtual the old concept of providing a physical boundary will disappear. We have to abandon the previous idea of security being like a castle with all the applications on the inside and all the users on the outside. Instead we must think about a model that is more like a hotel where a user is given a pass key based on their identity and this gives them access to certain resources within various rooms.

Juniper Networks has developed security solutions that deliver security as a service for a virtual network. This approach is based on identity management, application identification and automated management.  We have developed a series of open platforms that allow third parties to develop specialist applications to further secure the network.

Leading companies face increased hardware and storage costs, but they also have an understandably greater desire to maintain full control of their servers. How would you address these concerns?

This obviously depends on the services being offered by the provider. The technology is available to extend a customer's virtual network into the cloud and right into the datacentre. This means that the resources in the cloud can be part of the customers infrastructure as long as the network can support it. It does become important that the network being used can support the new techniques required to manage the cloud environment and that any potential savings and improvements are not negated by a slow old network.

The greater scale offered by virtual cloud computing is obvious, but how easy is it for an IT manager to support and transfer data across multiple clouds?

Once again this is a network issue and depends on the services being used. If it is pure application as a service then it can be easily accessed by traditional IP networks. However if you are taking any platform services and especially cloud bursting type services then potentially everything will need to be in the same layer 2 domain. Many service providers are now offering virtual LAN or Line services based on VPLS which do allow the extension of an existing customer network across a service provider infrastructure.

What are the greater benefits of the public and private cloud, and how can the hybrid cloud enable greater control without compromising on storage costs and capacity?

The hybrid cloud appears to be the solution that is becoming most popular. The virtualization technologies adopted in the public cloud can have some real benefits in the enterprise network so giving rise to the private cloud. The cost savings of being able to outsource non critical services are very attractive but many organisations are not comfortable in giving away the core of their business. The hybrid cloud offers the best of both worlds but does create some new challenges around management especially with an environment with a multitude of different management systems.

It is important therefore that the management of the network and security is integrated with the management of the applications, storage and servers. This can only be adopted by the adoption of open standards and products with published APIs. It is important as we move into the cloud world that adoption of these types of products become routine.

Biography

Trevor Dearing has been part of the networking and security industry for nearly 30 years. He has been involved in initial implementations of many of the new innovations that have taken place including Ethernet, PCs, IP Telephony and virtualization. He currently works as Director of Enterprise Marketing for EMEA at Juniper and managed the launch of Junipers switching portfolio.