Alcatel-Lucent has added software defined networking (SDN) capabilities to its OmniSwitch Ethernet LAN portfolio including automation and provisioning tools.
OpenFlow support and OpenStack integration are available now on the Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch product via a free software upgrade or at no additional charge when a new system is purchased.
The company said these enhancements support its Application Fluent Network vision to help enterprises build SDN-based solutions in an affordable manner.
“These capabilities ensure that OmniSwitch solutions are open and will work seamlessly with the company’s partner ecosystem and industry SDN leaders’ solutions,” said Stephane Robineau, general manager and vice president, Enterprise Networks business, Alcatel-Lucent.
Alcatel-Lucent cited a number of enterprise-scale SDN use cases:
- Optimizing wireless (Wi-Fi) traffic flows — OpenFlow-enabled Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitches interoperating with Aruba wireless controller can dynamically route traffic for optimal performance improving the user experience with bandwidth intensive, real-time applications on a wireless network.
- Enhanced security for application traffic flows — when an unwanted application or traffic pattern is detected, an automatic security policy is immediately created and enforced at the OmniSwitch level to stop malicious network traffic. This capability leverages RESTful interfaces and Application Fingerprinting that are enabled by Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitches and Radware DefensePro.
- Software Defined Data Center — As storage and data networks converge, the programmable interface of SDN provides a consistent policy across these networks to improve the delivery of applications. IP and fiber channel based storage can be managed on the converged data center network through the programmable interfaces available on Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch enabling a true software defined data center.
