ProgrammableFlow® PF1000 Virtual Switch, now Microsoft certified and integrated with System Center Virtual Machine Manager, goes live

Integrated network and compute orchestration will soon be generally available for all Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V customers using R2, System Center Virtual Machine Manager , and NEC ProgrammableFlow® Networking Suite. We first demonstrated this unified, intelligent, and open virtualization solution at TechEd in June, documented here on NEC Today for our followers. As of Nov. 1, 2013, Microsoft and NEC joint customers will command new levels of IT flexibility and automation with dynamic management and allocation of pooled network resources, as well as their compute and storage pools, all from a central point of control.

Up to now, even as virtual machines and storage have been readily migrated and allocated to applications, the associated networks have presented a bottleneck to delivery of services. The manual processes and complexity of conventional networks have limited the agility of network services. Furthermore, traditional network designs have limited performance and throughput.

Combining both System Center Virtual Machine Manager and ProgrammableFlow Networking delivers real benefits and provides the platform to achieve new levels of agility:

• Add, move or change virtual and physical networks in seconds from Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager, shaving days or even weeks from traditional deployment models
• Control data center traffic flow on a granular level, including dynamic, application-centric security policy for reduced OpEx and CapEx
• Dramatically improve throughput within the server and across the network fabric
• Apply business policy consistently across the network and compute infrastructure, enabling a more cost-effective and flexible network that responds to the needs of the business
• Enable isolated, secure multi-tenant networks for private clouds to meet compliance and Service Level goals
• Scale to thousands of virtual networks, and hundreds of thousands of VMs
• Obtain network visibility and end-to-end QoS for better management of Service Level Agreements and accelerated troubleshooting
• Reduce power and footprint over traditional networks, with savings up to 80%
• Simplify multi-data center deployment

Generally Available Nov. 1: ProgrammableFlow Networking with System Center Virtual Machine Manager

The NEC ProgrammableFlow Network Suite integrates OpenFlow-based Software-Defined Networking (SDN) with Server Virtualization Management (VM), provisioned and orchestrated by System Center Virtual Machine Manager. This integration simplifies additions, deletions and changes to large-scale Hyper-V environments. When administrators create a virtual network in the System Center Virtual Machine Manager workflow, ProgrammableFlow SDN dynamically provisions network services. The virtual and physical network policy is deployed automatically. Because the ProgrammableFlow Networking suite uses the OpenFlow protocol, both the physical switch and Hyper-V extensible vSwitch (together with the PF1000) are dynamically provisioned and controlled, enabling complete integration of network and workload policy. These settings can also be done remotely in the Hyper-V host, enabling lower operational costs by automating network management settings such as VLAN settings for VM.

As depicted here, when a VM is created in System Center Virtual Machine Manager and is connected to a ProgrammableFlow network, the workflow will be automatically mapped to the network – without the administrator knowing ProgrammableFlow-specific operations.

ProgrammableFlow PF1000 OpenFlow virtual switch Windows Server 2012 R2 certified

NEC is also pleased to announce that the ProgrammableFlow PF1000 vSwitch has been certified under the Windows Server 2012 R2 program. This program identifies hardware and software solutions that meet Microsoft standards for compatibility and recommended practices with the respective Windows Server operating systems. NEC’s ProgrammableFlow PF1000 is the first OpenFlow-based vSwitch certified under the Windows Server 2012 program. The ProgrammableFlow PF1000 is available for download free from NEC.

For information on the ProgrammableFlow PF6800 controller, integrated with System Center Virtual Machine Manager, see your Microsoft or NEC reseller, or visit http://www.necam.com/sdn today.