SDN Needs Just One Good Application

Mike Fratto

Summary Bullets:

• SDN needs new applications to make it relevant to enterprises and spur adoption.
• Enterprises need to think of how a SDN can unlock new business and improve existing processes.

Gaining big benefits often comes with big disruptions, and that is true with SDN as with any other technology. One observation that struck me at both the OpenDaylight Summit and Open Networking Summit is that the potential for SDN is just starting to grow in the application space; and when it starts to pick up steam, the SDN movement will suddenly become very interesting for enterprises. Today, the SDN drivers for the enterprise are still relatively vague, only offering improved network automation and virtual machine movement. Microsoft has also been very aggressive in integrating Lync with traditional and SDN network products, which is also useful. These applications are beneficial, to be sure, but not too exciting. If SDN use cases just stayed at server virtualization support or incrementally better unified communications support, adoption would be slow and accretive. What will make SDN truly exciting are applications that enable new businesses and new capabilities. Two come to mind.

MEAP Leaders Repurpose Middleware as They Seek IoT Opportunity

Charlotte Dunlap

Summary Bullets:

• Mobile application platform providers target Internet of Things with middleware gateways, advanced APIs

• Red Hat leverages JBoss integration, messaging; while Kony taps MBaaS MobileFabric

Mobile app platform providers are quietly assembling IoT strategies and solutions, based on their flagship middleware technology, in hopes of providing an important middle tiered component between devices and data centers. Here’s a quick peek into the early IoT efforts of Red Hat and Kony.

Red Hat refers to that middle tiered component as the control tier or the gateway. These gateways handle the data pre-processing necessary to stream aggregated data sets; and real-time analytics for rapid insight into the data in order to trigger business rules which control the actions at the device. Included in Red Hat’s set of middleware IoT building blocks is its Data Grid in-memory computing technology, its FUSE integration technology, and its A-MQ messaging to support data transport. And though it’s not required, of course Red Hat claims the most optimal experience is achieved when combined with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system. Red Hat’s belief is that gateways provide the mechanism which allow the IoT to scale, solving latency problems between the device and the data center.

Red Hat does not offer a formalized IoT solution, rather it has assembled a set of building blocks based primarily on JBoss technology for enterprise customers building IoT solutions. The company has created a new subscription pricing tier to accompany these efforts, based on one to multiple workloads leveraging its gateways and RHEL. The pilot program is expected to be formalized within a year and I expect Red Hat will partner where necessary to fill technology gaps for issues such as systems level security.

Leading mobile app platform pure play Kony will leverage advanced API technology within its mobile app platform to connect to the slew of wearables hitting the market (think Apple Watch combined with Apple HealthKit). Like Red Hat, Kony sees its role as providing value around improving data streaming between the device and data center (i.e., at the event collection/orchestration level). Specifically, it is evolving its MBaaS technology, MobileFabric, to provide integration and messaging services to enable connection to the sensors used in wearable technology. (Please see Kony Addresses Agility, DevOps Concerns via API Management, Analytics, July 23, 2015).

The Age of Attacktivism: It’s Here, and It’s Only Just Begun

Summary Bullets:

• Recent attacks signal a new ‘attacktivism’ era, in which cyberattackers seek to destroy target businesses.
• To survive an attack, at-risk enterprises must conduct advance cybersecurity, business continuity and disaster recovery planning.

Just a few months ago, the November 2014 cyberattack against Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) seemed like a one-of-a-kind event. This attack was perpetrated by an alleged state-sponsored group that gained unauthorized remote access to SPE’s computer network, obtaining and publicly releasing many terabytes worth of sensitive intellectual property, including executive emails, employee information, salary spreadsheets, sales tallies and even unreleased motion pictures. The attackers also used “wiper” malware to destroy more than 3,000 computers and 800 servers, a crippling move that placed SPE’s survival in jeopardy.

Gonna Carve Me a (Hybrid) Mountain

Steven Hill

Summary Bullets:

• The hybrid cloud could benefit from a strong, open-source model upon which to base future development.
• Projects of this magnitude depend on a clear vision that can be shared across large groups.

For the last few weeks I’ve been deeply involved in research regarding open-source cloud, and in so doing I ran across a quote from Jim Whitehurst of Red Hat that compared the challenges of OpenStack to those faced during the creation of the Interstate-90, way back in 1956. I know many of us weren’t around then, but his point was well taken, it was a massive undertaking that ultimately benefited the entire nation and it led me to considering other projects that could serve as a simile to the creation of an open cloud framework. The Hoover dam came to mind, as did the space program, but just as I was pondering this a TV show came on about the carving of Mount Rushmore. BINGO! GENIUS!