HP Speeds Cloud Application Deployment from Months to Minutes with HP Virtual Application Networks

HP and F5 Networks deliver automated, policy-based configuration from application to network to user

HP recently introduced technology that allows enterprises to deliver policy-based orchestration across applications, networks and users, eliminating manual configuration and enabling application deployment in minutes.

HP is collaborating with F5, a leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN), to offer industry-first solutions that converge application and network orchestration. The new solutions provide single-pane-of-glass management through HP Intelligent Management Center and offer clients the ability to meet the speed and agility requirements of the cloud era.

The new solutions are based on the integration of HP Virtual Application Networks technology, which virtualises networks and automates configuration, and F5 ADN technology, which does the same for application configuration.

“Legacy networks are static, inflexible and require too many manual steps to securely deliver new cloud applications and services to users,” said Joe Skorupa, vice president and distinguished analyst, Gartner. “By moving toward an automated, policy-based management paradigm to ensure the network is optimally configured from the application to network to user, enterprises can speed application deployment considerably while reducing the potential of errors caused by manual configuration.”

Deploying applications in a typical data center takes months of manual, device-by-device configuration across several layers of network infrastructure. Similarly, applications require weeks of configuring details, such as user connection profiles from both company and employee-owned devices. A typical enterprise data-center network may require more than 250,000 manual command line entries for network implementation, and more than 100,000 application configuration steps through manual processes that are time-consuming and error-prone.

As the industry increasingly moves to cloud and other dynamic computing environments, manual command line network and application configuration processes are quickly becoming obsolete.(1)

“IT needs to move at the speed of the organisation but legacy application, network and user configuration practices are barriers to achieving this necessary agility,” said Graham Vorster, General Manager, Networking, HP South Africa. “Through HP Virtual Application Networks and our collaboration with F5, clients will be able to virtualise and automate the entire configuration process—from application to network to user—based on policy-driven management, enabling them to deploy applications to users in minutes, not weeks or months.”

Transforming the industry with HP Virtual Application Networks and F5 ADN
HP Virtual Application Networks provide organisations with a virtualised and comprehensive view of a network, and enable them to transform a rigid physical enterprise network into a programmable, multitenant and application-aware virtual network. Leveraging software-defined networking technologies such as OpenFlow, HP Virtual Application Networks use templates to characterise application-delivery requirements and deliver an automated, policy-driven approach to network configuration.

F5’s portfolio of ADN solutions enables customers to manage the delivery of applications across their entire IT infrastructure. This allows customers to scale and adapt to business needs on demand, and ensures applications stay secure, fast and available. F5 ADN solutions create a dynamic infrastructure that maximises the performance and availability of physical and virtual machines to manage application delivery across multiple devices.
HP and F5 are delivering tested and validated solutions for deploying Microsoft® Exchange 2010, server virtualisation and disaster recovery across the enterprise in minutes, while increasing the performance of virtual machine mobility tenfold.(1) The benefits enable enterprises to:
• Reduce download time for users, decrease spam by 70 percent and increase administrator efficiency up to 33 percent while ensuring security across the network for Microsoft Exchange 2010.(1)
• Free up to 40 percent of server resources and increase virtual machine density by 60 percent, while accelerating application performance up to three times for server virtualisation.(1)
• Reduce the time to move a virtual machine between data centers for disaster recovery from 20 minutes to 38 seconds.(1)

Improving BYOD management across the enterprise
With up to 60 percent of enterprises unsure of the devices being connected to their networks,(2) HP and F5 are simplifying enterprise bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives by delivering solutions that combine user and device authentication and application access control.

The new HP BYOD solution works with F5 ADN technology to unify the on-boarding, provisioning and monitoring of user devices on the corporate network with application access control across the enterprise via a single management platform.

New HP services for speeding and optimising data-center applications
The new HP Network Infrastructure Optimisation Services portfolio enables customers to assess their network traffic and infrastructure to identify potential bottlenecks and ensure a quality user experience.

The HP Technology Services portfolio includes the HP Network Infrastructure Optimisation Assessment, HP Network Application Delivery Controller Services for Microsoft and HP Data Center to Data Center Network Optimisation Services. These offerings span network topology—from the data center to the campus and branch—to eliminate inefficiencies, while optimising the infrastructure to speed application deployment.

HP ServiceONE fuels networking partner revenue
New HP ServiceONE Partner Support for Networking increases revenue opportunities for qualified HP Networking channel partners by enabling them to bolster their portfolios with a combination of HP and partner-branded services. HP ServiceONE Partner Support for Networking enables qualified partners to deliver value-added design, management and support services that leverage knowledge and insights from HP support tools, intellectual capital and training.

HP at Interop Las Vegas 2012
HP will be demonstrating HP Virtual Application Networks as well as its new networking products and services at Interop Las Vegas 2012, May 6-10, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in booth 1327.

Bethany Mayer, senior vice president and general manager, Networking, HP, and Derek Chan, head of global technology operations at DreamWorks Animation, will deliver a joint keynote at 9:15 a.m. PT, on Wednesday, May 9, at Mandalay Bay Ballroom H. The live webcast will be available at www.interop.com/live.

Pricing and availability(3)
• HP FlexNetwork solutions that integrate F5 BIG-IP are available globally and can be delivered by HP Technology Services as well as HP and F5 channel partners.
• The HP BYOD solution modules for HP Intelligent Management Center 5.1 sp1 is expected to be available in June with a U.S. list price starting at $2,739.

More information about HP Networking solutions is available at www.hp.com/go/networking.

HP’s premier client event, HP Discover, takes place June 4-7 in Las Vegas.