Partner Article

Security vs. agility vs. reliability? Building the ultimate network

Corporate networks are being squeezed to deliver greater mobility and flexibility for their users, while at the same time adapting to the requirements of BYOD and the invasion of wireless devices consuming bandwidth with rich media content, writes Rufus Grig, CTO, Azzurri Communications.

Incumbent networks are being found wanting, as supporting these technologies and trends creates considerable demands around capacity and control.

Do you design your network with a tight security focus but sacrifice agility, or vice-versa? And how does it impact your already under-pressure budget? Fundamentally it is a question of security vs. agility vs. reliability. In reality all three are priorities, so how do you build a network that delivers well on all fronts, ensuring it isn’t a ‘not work’.

Security: New ICT services bring with them new opportunities for exploitation by hackers. A converged IP network faces constantly evolving security threats, so it’s vital to implement and continually update best practice and early warning systems to mitigate and limit potential threats.

Common security and bespoke solutions are available to protect your network access and the security of the core network, but these need to be implemented, managed and kept up-to-date. It is also crucial for these features to be built into the heart of the network, so network security should be provided by your network provider.

Agility: Anyone can build a network with abundant capacity, but unused capacity is wasteful and expensive. Networks need to be smarter, not bigger, in order to scale to the organisation’s demands swiftly and cost-effectively. The best way to build a smarter network is to combine a mix of different technologies from different suppliers (such as XDSL, Ethernet, bonded DSL and fibre) converged into a single, virtual “network of networks”.

With a virtualised infrastructure, new functionality and capacity can be added (or taken away) more easily without jeopardising the integrity and security of the network itself.

Reliability: It goes without saying that organisations rely on their network connections more than ever before. Cloud computing, unified communications, and collaboration are all commonly used tools in modern businesses today. None of these can function without a network connection that is consistent, high quality, and always available. The best way to ensure reliability is through diversification of the network infrastructure and built-in redundancy.

A mix of fixed and wireless connections with redundant capacity will help make your network more reliable.

While security, agility and reliability are all big asks in their own right, it is entirely possible to build a network that delivers on all three fronts. With a virtualised network built around a next generation core infrastructure built from the ground up for the cloud, the Holy Grail of a network that is highly resilient, secure and scalable, is more than achievable.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Azzurri Communications .