(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — While many companies continue to build cloud infrastructures that focus on virtualizing compute and storage, cloud infrastructure software startup Embrane (www.embrane.com) is of the opinion that the network itself has been long overlooked.
To meet the constantly changing demands of the cloud, data centers must offer rapid provisioning, elasticity to grow and shrink network services on demand and offer customers a pay-for-what-they-use model.
Embrane says it has created the first distributed software platform for powering on-demand elastic network services. The platform is currently in beta and is set to launch later this year.
In an email interview with the WHIR, Embrane CEO Dante Malagrinò makes a case for why an under-the-cloud networking solution that is purpose-built for the cloud is a far superior deployment model than an over-the-cloud approach.
WHIR: How is the Embrane way of thinking about virtual network services different from that of other vendors in the space right now?
Dante Malagrinò: There are two ways to look at this: either by looking at the network itself and how it needs to change in order to adapt to innovations brought about by cloud computing; or by looking specifically at network services. Embrane was founded on the vision that the network needs an infusion of agility in order for cloud service providers and enterprises to completely reap the benefits of the cloud. Layers 2 and 3 of the network – things like switching and routing and the movement of packets from one point in the network to another – is where several new companies and even a few legacy vendors are focused. Embrane instead focuses on layers 4 to 7 – which are about application-enabling technologies and services such as server load balancing, firewalls and VPNs, WAN optimization and Web application firewalls.
In looking at specific network services, traditional hardware appliances allow for high performance and scale and have a laundry list of features, but they are expensive, have lengthy procurement, provisioning and configuration times, and provide no elasticity or scalability to end users. To run in multi-tenant environments, you have to turn off many features in order to maintain a level of dedicated performance. By nature hardware is not elastic so to grow capacity on-demand requires you to buy extra devices just in case you need them. Software solutions in the form of virtual appliances begin to address some of the agility aspects of cloud services, but unfortunately you lose the high performance and scale of hardware devices in exchange for that agility. There is still limited-to-no elasticity with them.
Embrane is essentially bringing the agility of the cloud and the network together with a platform that brings the scale and performance of hardware with much more agility than virtual appliances. Plus, we offer programmability that the above two options can’t, allow for scale out performance, procuring, provisioning and configuring services in minutes, and provide on-demand elasticity to customers as and when they need it. We take the complexity away from end users and offer a much less disruptive approach for deploying network services.
WHIR: Embrane recently secured $18 million in funding; what do you plan on doing with these resources?
DM: We are very fortunate to have three tier 1 investors working with us from Lightspeed, NEA and North Bridge Ventures. We are investing some of the money in R&D for the Embrane platform to deliver even greater agility and multiple network services to run on it. At the same time, we’re at a stage that requires a dramatic increase in mind share and ultimately market share. Therefore we will invest more aggressively in our go-to-market activities, including sales and marketing.
WHIR: Can you talk a bit more about the over-the-cloud versus under-the-cloud approach and what are the main differences between the two?
DM: When you think about why customers – whether internal IT shops or CSPs – look to the cloud it is typically for two reasons: to increase agility and potentially save money. Agility is about rapid procurement and provisioning, ease of configuration, the ability to grow and shrink services on-demand, and programmability. These benefits have been virtually non-existent among network services and, until recently, most CSPs have had to rely on an over-the-cloud model if they wanted to bring network services into their service offering portfolio. Over-the-cloud/under-the-cloud models apply more to CSPs than to enterprises. We call it over-the-cloud mainly because this model isn’t purpose-built for the cloud. It seeks to overcome limitations in current hardware and virtual appliance products, but the CSP essentially bolts some functionality on over their existing cloud infrastructure (compute and storage). In this scenario the only true infrastructure as-a-service offering is a pool of compute capacity, generally implemented as a set of orchestrated virtual machines, which you then let the user figure out what to do with it.
Some CSPs have tried to work around the limitations of the over-the-cloud model by selling pre-provisioned virtual appliances, but that still leaves end users responsible for the configuration. End users also have to deal with independent, individual virtual appliances for each service and learn how to configure and use each one of them. With over-the cloud, a CSP puts the complexity square in the lap of their customer, and the reality is that the only service (i.e. value) that the CSP is adding is the initial installation of the software on the VM. Embrane is focused squarely on the under-the-cloud approach to delivering network services, and we believe that this should be the preferred approach for CSPs as it is optimized for the cloud and IaaS. Under-the-cloud is where the delivery of network services has been redesigned to clearly provide the cloud functionality with all of the agility, dynamic provisioning, elasticity, scale-out performance, multi-tenancy and cost savings the cloud promises.
WHIR: Why do you feel that an under-the-cloud solution is the more effective approach to offering cloud hosting solutions?
DM: Under-the-cloud is much more effective because the CSP takes ownership of the complexity that is handled by the customer in the over-the-cloud model. They deliver the network service inside their infrastructure and what they expose to the customer is not the product, but rather the functionality, which they then deliver to a customer as-a-service. Now, the customer can order a service – for example, load balancing – and have it procured and provisioned in minutes, essentially on demand, without having to worry about the complexity of implementing the service itself. It is all under one roof, or the cloud. With under-the-cloud, CSPs also get back to their value proposition roots, delivering a service to customers that these customers don’t have to worry about. It lets cloud customers focus on providing value to their respective businesses and not deal with the headaches of managing the infrastructure. With an under-the-cloud service offering, CSPs have laid the foundation for true network agility and cost savings that they can pass on to customers. They can now offer more true cloud services; they differentiate their business; and they can reduce customer churn. The bottom line is this. The cloud changes everything. It requires new ways to deliver services and a new mindset for providers of services and users of them.
WHIR: How has the response been so far from service providers using/testing the product?
DM: What I find so exciting about Embrane is the response from service providers as well as early enterprise adopters. If they have felt the pain of trying to deploy network services as part of their cloud IaaS offerings, they really like what we’re doing. I have yet to hear a potential customer say, “We don’t have that problem.” They may be evaluating different approaches or trying to build something on their own, but they all agree that there needs to be a less disruptive way to delivering network services. Those that are using or testing our platform quickly see the value it provides and are excited about the potential it offers their business.
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