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Nuage Networks keeps vendor lock-in out with expanded partnerships and new certification program

Today, in conjunction with the OpenStack Summit in Tokyo, Nuage Networks is announcing the addition of several new ecosystem partners that can be folded into virtual networks orchestrated by our Virtualized Services Platform (VSP). Along with these new security partners, Nuage is announcing a Solution Certification program that will ensure the interoperability of third party appliances and virtual solutions with the Nuage Networks SDN platforms.

The first security partner solutions to be certified are CounterTack SentinelFortinet FortiGate-VM Virtual UTM FirewallsGuardiCore Data Center Security SuitePalo Alto Networks VM-Series and vArmour DSS Distributed Security System. The first application delivery controller (ADC) partner solutions to be certified are Citrix NetScaler VPX and F5 Big-IP LTM.

SDN has always been about open systems and interoperability. In the beginning, OpenFlow was the open protocol that would enable all SDN controllers to manage all network devices. But SDN has evolved in scope and vision over the last few years, and now has to embrace a wider range of protocols, services and datacenter infrastructure. It’s now incumbent on the leading SDN vendors to ensure the interoperability of their solutions, and a richer policy model, with a larger ecosystem that includes security services, application delivery controllers, cloud management systems, and server and storage virtualization platforms.

SDN overlay solutions like Nuage Networks VSP must automate IT across an entire cloud datacenter infrastructure while preserving control, visibility and freedom of choice. Interoperability in an SDN landscape now has to include technologies like service chaining to incorporate security and application delivery services into the virtual networks automatically. Integration with these devices also means taking advantage of the value-added capabilities in each vendor’s solution, and working well with open source cloud management systems like OpenStack. By validating that our solutions work alongside those of our partners, Nuage Networks provides peace of mind as our customers move their business applications to the cloud.

The certification process is essentially a self-service process, and specific requirements will vary depending on the nature of the partner’s solution. Nuage Networks will provide an overview of the certification criteria to each respective partner along with a trial license and software. The partner then tests their solution using our guidelines and submits the results to us via e-mail ([email protected]). Upon receipt, the results are evaluated and a decision will be made by the partnership team to certify the product.

We decided to make the announcement of our certification program and the new ecosystem partners at OpenStack Summit because OpenStack may be the ultimate open-source, multi-vendor community. All of the solutions that we have certified, several of which we are demonstrating at OpenStack Summit, are part of our reference architectures that includes OpenStack. These reference architectures provide further validation that Nuage Networks certified solutions work with each other, as well as in OpenStack distributions from either Red Hat or Canonical.

Nuage Networks is the one SDN/network virtualization vendor that is really embracing open systems and interoperability. A majority of our customers are also looking to deploy open source cloud management systems or open source server virtualization platforms like Linux containers. So, we have to take a strong stance on vendor-neutral solutions and lead the way with interoperability testing and certification in these multi-vendor environments. As an SDN vendor, we aren’t looking to lock customers into specific switching hardware, or a particular server virtualization platform, cloud management system or hybrid cloud approach. Our expanded partner ecosystem and certification program are further proof-points to making that vision a reality.

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