Network virtualization can be described as the ability to combine the functionality of hardware, software, and network into a single virtual network. The primary goal of virtualization is to integrate and support virtual environments, thanks to the growing adoption of virtualization technologies across companies. In addition, it allows for the testing of software during their developmental or simulation stages. But there’s more to it than just managing a virtual environment. So why do IT firms need to virtualize their network? This article details the reasons you might want to apply virtualization to your network.
When properly applied, it helps to create a logical software-based capability of managing your networking and software resources such as routers and switches. It makes it easy for you to deploy and manage your network services and all the resources. Essentially, it helps to synchronize your network so that it can better support and manage your virtualized environments.
Virtualization of the network also boosts the productivity of your IT resources by reducing the cost of acquiring and maintaining both hardware and software, especially for companies with massive workloads. With increased data volumes and increased speeds, companies are able to scale their operations higher and they are able to visualize their network better.
Improved security and recovery times are perhaps one of the primary reasons many firms virtualize their network. Virtualization allows companies to gain control of their traffic and protect themselves against attacks due to security breaches, which remain the greatest challenge for most IT firms.
With virtualization, companies are able to reduce or completely eliminate downtimes due to hardware breakdowns and help improve recovery times. As opposed to traditional network hardware that is majorly a manual and time-consuming process that entails firewall updates and changing of IP address, network virtualization bypasses all these steps, making it a quick and cost-effective process.
With a properly working virtual network setup, network provisioning becomes a fast and automated process. This means the reduced time when making fundamental changes on your network. What’s more, you avoid the risks of failures that are associated with the manual deployment of the network. This is because network virtualization automates the whole process of deployment and reconfiguration. Ideally, you end up reducing the amount of time you spend trying to migrate or scale your network resources and services. This means companies are able to roll out new and captivating products, making them stay relevant in their respective industries.
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