Avaya has announced its Software-Defined Data Center framework, which is designed to deliver productivity, agility and time-to-service enhancements to businesses operating highly virtualised data centres.
The Avaya Software-Defined Data Center framework aims to break down traditional data centre silos that require weeks or months to turn up an application and replace it with a simple five-step process that takes minutes.
The SDDC framework includes an orchestration process that combines, customises and commissions compute, storage and network components. Use of the OpenStack cloud computing platform will allow data centre administrations to deploy virtual machines, assign storage and configure networks through a single graphical user interface.
Avaya Fabric Connect technology is the virtual backbone to interconnect resource pools within and between data centres. An Avaya OpenStack Horizon-based Management Platform delivers orchestration for compute (Nova), storage (Cinder/Swift) and network via Avaya Fabric Connect (Neutron).
Rohit Mehra, vice president, Network Infrastructure, IDC said: "In many ways this is a logical evolution of Avaya’s Data Center networking portfolio. Having executed on its vision of using Fabric Connect (based on enhanced Shortest Path Bridging) as an end-to-end architecture, it only makes sense to wrap it with an orchestration and automation enabler like OpenStack. This is a natural and powerful extension for Avaya, and their present and future customers will surely embrace it."
Businesses can benefit from Avaya SDDC from the reduced time-to-service through cloud services as well as simplified virtual machine mobility and end-point provisioning. Scale-out connectivity will allow more than 16m unique services, up from the limitation of 4000 in traditional Ethernet networks. Improved network flexibility also overcomes current VLAN challenges to deliver a load-balanced, loop-free network where any logical topology can be built, independent of the physical layout.
Avaya’s Software-Defined Data Center framework is the first phase of Avaya’s Software-Defined Networking roadmap. The Avaya Horizon-based Management Platform and open APIs will be generally available next year. Future initiatives include the extension of Fabric Connect and Orchestration to deliver end-to-end service creation and delivery from data centre to desktop.
Marc Randall, senior VP and general manager, Avaya Networking, said: "Avaya continues to innovate the way that networks are designed, built and operated, leveraging the unique capabilities of our Fabric Connect technology. This announcement demonstrates that enterprises can immediately realise the operational benefits of real-time orchestration and automation. While some remain hung-up on definitions of SDN and what it might to deliver in the future, Avaya is delivering tangible business benefits today."
