Akanda announced its new Mitaka release for open source network orchestration and virtualization.
Akanda is the major contributor to OpenStack Astara, which is a vendor-agnostic solution for open source network orchestration and virtualization. Astara does not require an SDN controller.
DreamHost, which is a web and cloud hosting provider based in Los Angeles, is using Astara to support more than 2,000 customers with thousands of virtual machines (VMs).
New features in OpenStack Astara include:
- Over-the-Top Network Functions – OpenStack operators can bring their own network function to any Layer 2 network.
- Advanced Features for High Network Availability – higher levels of reliability and scalability for Layer 3 services, such as routing, load-balancing, and application performance management.
- Lightweight IPV6 VPNaaS – Astara can now support up to 16 million IPV6 VPNs over VXLAN. IPV6 VPNs are a lightweight alternative to more expensive MPLS-based VPNs, which can’t be decoupled from network hardware without significant vendor support. Many network experts consider IPV6 VPNs to be foundational for hybrid cloud and IOT use cases.
“The Mitaka release of OpenStack Astara introduces web-scale to virtualized network services,” said Henrik Rosendahl, CEO of Akanda. “It’s all about software defined hardware choices; new features that allows cloud operators to scale up and out, and radically simple OpenStack Neutron deployment. We’re also excited about new services such as IPV6 VPNs, which are elemental for hybrid cloud and IOT applications.”