Network Virtualization:
One of the largest issues facing large VMware deployments is the enormous amount of operational time and labor IT organizations spend constructing and modifying network-level connectivity to support virtual devices. This is especially true for companies with very fluid environments where virtual devices are being added or moved regularly between physical locations or network segments. OverDrive provides the answer to this problem by virtualizing the network itself. Using OverDrive, IT network engineers create and define policies that control and manage the underlying network infrastructure services in relation to VMware resources.
 Product Sheet - Virtualization
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Virtualization is sweeping across the IT landscape. The success of VMware™ and its ability to virtualize costly datacenter processing, memory and storage components has proven that significant savings can be achieved by maximizing the efficient use of physical computing components in a virtual world.
The one area where virtualization has gone largely unaddressed is in the underlying network infrastructure. In fact, the static limitations of the underlying network are, in many cases, causing significant issues for companies invested heavily in VMware and other virtualization strategies.
One of the largest issues facing large VMware deployments is the enormous amount of operational time and labor IT organizations spend constructing and modifying network-level connectivity to support virtual devices. This is especially true for companies with very fluid environments where virtual devices are being added or moved regularly between physical locations or network segments.
Customers that have experienced significant savings in capital expenditures by moving to a virtualization technology have given back most of those savings in additional labor costs to support the continuous changes to the underlying communications infrastructure.
OverDrive for the Enterprise™ provides the answer to this problem by virtualizing the network itself. Using OverDrive, IT network engineers create and define policies that control and manage the underlying network infrastructure services in relation to VMware resources - including:
- IP routing
- IPsec tunneling and dynamic VPN connections
- VLAN setup and management based on known users
- Statefull firewall configuration and support
- Application and end-user level access control
OverDrive policies are fully automated and capable of initiating and coordinating all required services dynamically across deployed network devices with no manual, device-level, configuration required. This amazing level of automation significantly reduces the amount of time and costly manual labor required to support the large volume of complex changes in today’s networked environments.
In the case of large VMware deployments, OverDrive policies are constructed that define the underlying logical network routing and connectivity required to provide access to the defined virtual resources for selected users and/or groups of users. These policies then automatically initiate all device-level services across the deployed network infrastructure in real-time. Very key, and unique to OverDrive is that the original policies are always persisted within the OverDrive Policy Server where they will continue to control and manage the network behavior as defined.
As elements of the policy change – such as the IP address of a defined virtual resource – OverDrive automatically updates all the underlying network services and configurations to rebuild all network access and services, as defined by the original policies, to the new virtual resource address with no manual intervention required.
Through the use of these fully automated policies that virtualize the network itself, OverDrive saves significant amounts of time and money for any size IT organization dealing with complex deployed network services. OverDrive is the only system available today that can deliver this level of automation and savings while still providing the control and management required by today’s IT infrastructure managers.
Benefits for the Enterprise:
- Allows infrastructure managers to define and control network behavior through the use of policies that fully automate underlying network services dynamically without any manual device-level configuration required.
- Policies can be modified and initiated that dynamically change the underlying network fabric in real-time. No more emergency sessions on multiple device command lines working to re-construct routes and connectivity as virtual machines are moved between network segments.
- Policies initiate multiple infrastructure services across any number of deployed devices simultaneously without manual intervention, significantly reducing the amount of manual labor and expense needed to support very complex and dynamic IT communication infrastructures.
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