As with any ‘X-as-a-Service’, Networks-as-a-Service (NaaS) is the continuation of a trend towards renting rather than owning infrastructure and applications.
A NaaS model enables users to scale up and down their network connections, and therefore rapidly deploy services to meet demand. By replacing a traditional network model with NaaS, businesses are able to shift from capex to opex, and adopt more of a consumption-based model with their bandwidth.
The NaaS model significantly reduces deployment and provisioning times for networking services, and eliminates hardware costs.
Advancements in NaaS has been enabled by the virtualization of various network and infrastructure assets. With NaaS, the focus is on the four 'upper' levels - between the Transport and Application layers - to enable cloud delivery of functions like applications, storage, and computing, according to the Open Systems Interconnection 7 Layer network model (OSI model).
In the past the provisioning of network services took many months on average, therefore networking was planned and budgeted as a fixed capital expenditure that had to be spread out over a long period of time.
As a result, the network remained nearly diametrically opposed to the cloud's potential as a flexible, scalable, on-demand asset. The ability to instantly launch a new Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) instance in a public cloud loses some of its allure if establishing dedicated network connectivity to that asset takes weeks.
However, thanks to advances in Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), network provisioning may now be done on-demand and in real-time using specialist interconnection platforms like PCCW Global's Console Connect.
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Network requirements for security, speed, and agility are increasing as the public cloud becomes the principal host for a growing number of mission critical applications. NaaS helps organisations by providing simple, secure, scalable and flexible connections that are available as and when, and for as long as required by the customer. With a platform such as Console Connect users can provision ethernet connections directly via a customer portal, skipping typical manual service delivery processes and reducing wait times from weeks to minutes.
This provides consumers with complete control over network assets, as well as providing the flexibility to adjust bandwidth requirements in real time. As a result, consumers have more cost control, with the ability to choose per-hour pricing plans, similar to cloud services, or fixed-term contract durations.
Cloud traffic can lag over a corporate WAN, NaaS offers a more efficient solution. WANs require ongoing maintenance and often cause bottlenecks for network traffic. This experience was felt by many during the pandemic as entire workforces started working remotely. Using NaaS means employees use a virtual network maintained by an external provider but provisioned by the company to connect directly to their cloud services.
NaaS benefits extend far beyond removing bottlenecks and include mthe following:
Changes are made to the network using software rather than hardware which means organisations can provision and decommission connections as and when needed.
Rather than needing to buy and plug in additional hardware, enterprise NaaS users are able to increase capacity at the touch of a button on their virtual network.
Organisations can connect with any partner in the cloud ecosystem directly using global interconnection meaning users can access the network irrespective of location without the requirement for a VPN.
The network is owned and maintained by the network provider, who also manages software and hardware changes.
NaaS allows networking and security services such as firewalls to be tightly integrated while also simplifying management.
Buying a service rather than constructing your own services can save money since the organization is not required to buy and maintain hardware. More granular cost control is possible since capacity may be added, lowered, and shifted throughout the network as needed
According to industry analyst IDC, “Businesses are exploring consumption-based models in the network as a means to speed up digital transformation, reduce risk and capital costs, and enhance scalability.”
Just as the cloud has enabled a highly customisable, subscription-based approach to almost everything, “Leveraging experience gained in the IT domain, organizations view the network as the next logical step for a consumption-based approach,” the analyst says.
“Businesses are exploring consumption-based models in the network as a means to speed up digital transformation, reduce risk and capital costs, and enhance scalability.”
- IDC
Enterprise workloads are increasingly moving to the public cloud, thanks to the allure of greater business flexibility and agility through pay-as-you-go pricing and on-demand service consumption. However, closing the connectivity gap between the enterprise network and the cloud is a challenging process for which there is no one solution that works for all situations.
The public internet is undoubtedly a practical and inexpensive means to immediately provide access, but it does not match the increasingly high standards for performance and security. When it comes to the more mission-critical cloud apps, enterprises are increasingly turning to private connectivity solutions like MPLS, VPLS, and dedicated ethernet links to meet these requirements. The disadvantage of these connectivity types, historically speaking, is that their deployment and management procedures are cumbersome and slow, failing to keep up with modern business requirements.
Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), such as that offered by Console Connect, has reached a degree of maturity where it can offer all the advantages of private, dedicated connections along with the adaptability of a cloud architecture that is flexible, scalable, for management and deployment.
Traffic travelling over a direct connection is completely private above and beyond the privacy associated with VPNs which is encrypted, but can still fall foul of attacks on the public internet. Private networks can act as a defence against DDoS attacks. Private connectivity will frequently be required to meet strict regulatory standards, such as those in the financial services industry.
One way to guarantee constantly dependable and high-quality service and application delivery is through private connectivity. Private links can be set up to give particular classes of service priority, ensuring that the needs of applications that are more sensitive to latency are addressed. Low latency is necessary for some applications, such financial transactions, but only advantageous for others. Latency can only be ensured with a dedicated link. Businesses often move workloads back out of the public cloud due to performance issues rather than cost, thus even for non-real-time apps, the unpredictable nature of the internet may force an organisation to rethink its strategy.
Cumbersome private connectivity technologies like ethernet, VPLS, and MPLS become adaptable and scalable using NaaS. Bandwidth can be dialled up or down as needed. Interconnect capacity can be changed in real time, and new ports can be added on the fly. The promise is that unforeseen behaviour or occurrences, such seasonal traffic surges, won't need to be anticipated and may instead be dealt with in close to real-time.
Moving workloads across clouds, both public and private, is common practice, and using a quicker, more secure, more robust private network to do so is considerably more effective than using an unstable network. Additionally, the ‘cloud marketplace’ approach promoted by companies, like Console Connect, provides organisations with a single point of connection to a variety of clouds and services, simplifying the complexity of your network assets.
Dedicated lines can maximise infrastructure ROI when it comes to cloud connectivity. While moving data into the cloud is free, egress fees that can be unpredictable are incurred when transferring data out. Therefore, the price of a dedicated connection might be less unpredictable. Using NaaS, organisations can concentrate on moving mission-critical traffic across premium links with user friendly management tools, while offloading non-critical traffic to the open internet.
Over 50% of all B2B collaboration takes place through APIs in a world that has undergone digital transformation. By bringing typical Layer 2 and Layer 3 network capacity up to Layer 7, NaaS essentially gives enterprises the flexibility to quickly organise connections. Previously, something would have had a cycle of 30 to 60 days.
As part of ongoing digital transformation journeys many organisations have turned to the public internet to enable app migration, and while public cloud and the open internet made this transition achievable, it brought challenges in terms of access speeds. The open internet is best effort, but that is not always direct. Private networks deliver improved speed and latency massively improving the experience of using business critical applications online and collaboration tools.
Organisations today no longer require in-house IT expertise to understand how the technology they rely on functions or even the location from which the service is provided. They need a web browser and a credit card to purchase a cloud product. However, when it comes to regulatory issues, this degree of simplicity presents difficulties. The majority of data protection laws distinguish between the roles of data controller and data processor and impose various requirements in accordance with the distinctions. The development of data privacy laws tends to be linked with national views of IT resources, and specific regulations and laws can also set out data residency requirements. It is one thing to understand local laws and requirements, but quite another to know exactly where all data is across all applications. Console Connect’s CloudRouter® (add link) addresses some of the challenges with multi-cloud connectivity and regulatory compliance by creating a private and secure meshed network for your multi-cloud environment.
An organisations could be using several, to dozens, to hundreds of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products, in addition to a handful of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) hosting services, and Platforms-as-a-Service (PaaS) development tools. Taking a multi-cloud approach can increase the amount of resource and infrastructure needed to support from a redundancy perspective. One advantage of NaaS is that the providers can abstract all of that from the standpoint of the client, producing API endpoints that appear to be quite similar. Console Connect can create an API ecosystem that abstracts the rate of change that happens in these cloud provider API endpoints. Therefore, even though distinct procedures are taking place in the background, organisations see essentially the same API endpoints on Console Connect regardless of whether an organisation is doing a backup into Alibaba, Azure, AWS or anywhere else.
Network perimeters are less distinct than they once were since many employees work remotely and organisations of all kinds depend on numerous public clouds and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) applications. NaaS provides a dedicated or direct interconnect between assets, maximising the security and performance of the network while increasing cost. Businesses can directly connect to the whole ecosystem of SaaS providers, as well as the main cloud platforms using Console Connect, which improves security and dependability.
Different clouds provide different advantages, but the key to maximising the benefits of numerous clouds depends on how well a business can manage a portfolio of increasingly complex applications and infrastructure. Using numerous clouds can help prevent vendor lock-in, lessen reliance on a single provider, and even take advantage of the rivalry between the many cloud environments to lower costs and improve service standards. By offering private Layer 3 connections across cloud providers, Console Connect's CloudRouter® enables the cost- and security-efficient interconnection of numerous cloud providers or regions. Furthermore, compared to competing products from other suppliers, Console Connect's CloudRouterability®'s to function on a mesh network strengthens the possibility for disaster recovery in a multi-cloud scenario.
Buying a service rather than constructing your own services can save money since the organization is not required to buy and maintain hardware. More granular cost control is possible since capacity may be added, lowered, and shifted throughout the network as needed
As part of ongoing digital transformation journeys many organisations have turned to the public internet to enable app migration, and while public cloud and the open internet made this transition achievable, it brought challenges in terms of access speeds. The open internet is best effort, but that is not always direct. Private networks deliver improved speed and latency massively improving the experience of using business critical applications online and collaboration tools.
A new paradigm of orchestration has been developed as a result of the introduction of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV), resulting in a private network system that is quicker and more flexible without compromising security or compliance adherence.
By enabling closed networks to be reconfigured more successfully utilising the flexibility and agility of software, NFV prepares the way for SDN. SDN is able to optimise closed network operations by separating the network control software from the network traffic forwarding function, combining available networking assets and giving organisations with more optimal connectivity alternatives. On-demand network services that are agile and flexible like cloud services are produced by a centrally located, software-defined control function.
The world's top cloud and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers are pre-integrated with Console Connect which enables the provisioning of networks on-demand and in real time. Through a self-service web interface or direct API connections with enterprise applications, Console Connect offers network operators and businesses the choice of securing, accelerating, and complying communication between their users and cloud workloads.
APIs have the potential to serve as the glue that connects otherwise disparate applications like CRMs, ERPs, financial, communication, and sales and marketing platforms. With their ability to orchestrate and automate applications, services, and networks, APIs represent the new frontier for CTOs. The world of API standards is ever-changing. CTOs must closely monitor the lifecycle of their APIs because there is no standardisation for API integration, for instance, when it comes to cloud connectivity.
However, creating an API strategy can appear to be a difficult undertaking. Enterprises need to think about how their private APIs can give their partners and own workers new tools and insights, in addition to how their public APIs may help them engage with customers through consumer-facing applications.
Finding an API partner who can protect them from some of the API dependencies and oversee integration is one approach to achieve this. CTOs must simultaneously oversee the lifespan of their own APIs and ensure that all partner organisations are informed of any changes.
Working with many different partners is necessary to create an API ecosystem. Examining current industry standards is a smart place to start with any API strategy. Industry standards should be on your roadmap if they aren't already. Console Connect's platform predates the MEF's LSO Sonata API standards, but we've now aligned with them to make it easier for businesses to interact with our platform.
Although MPLS has long served as the foundation of the enterprise WAN, it may be expensive, therefore companies frequently under-provision on this front. Organisations are therefore depending more and more on less expensive public internet links as a compromise to close the connectivity gap. But in this situation, the performance sacrificed means that what was gained in price.
As this dynamic has developed, technological innovations in virtualization and Software Defined Networking (SDN) have placed MPLS and the open internet against one another, with the latter eventually encompassing SD-WAN.
However, as is frequently the case, the reality of a deployment is not so straightforward. While there are some notable distinctions between SD-WAN and MPLS, it really comes down to which is best suited for a particular use case. In many real-world situations it comes down to being a mix of the two solutions.
From a very high level, MPLS is a dedicated circuit, giving it characteristics like security, dependability, and performance that you would anticipate from a private link. However, as a result, a user will pay more for each megabit sent and be more dependent on the setup and configuration of specialised physical infrastructure.
While MPLS allows an organisation to use its existing investments, SD-WAN is a virtualized overlay network that is agnostic with regards the underlying infrastructure, meaning organisations can use various connectivity types like the open internet and 3G/4G/5G in addition to their existing MPLS investments.
SD-WAN could be considered to be one big virtual pipe that aggregates all these different connection technologies. On some occasions organisation may substitute an expensive MPLS link to a remote or rural office with a public internet connection and an SD-WAN overlay are where it is being sold "versus" MPLS.
A more accurate perspective would be to see MPLS and SD-WAN as complementing approaches, with SD-WAN providing a high-bandwidth, low-cost public internet service to complement an expensive, high-quality MPLS connection. Then, classic MPLS or its NaaS variant enter the picture when reliable performance is required and the investment makes sense.
In both situations, NaaS is the game-changer. Traditional MPLS is a sluggish competitor for new deployments, with installations frequently taking several months to complete. Deploying it in isolated, rural, or low-traffic areas can also be prohibitively expensive because it is an expensive mode of transportation that necessitates physical infrastructure.
Deployments and adjustments for dedicated links based on MPLS can occur almost instantly with NaaS platforms like Console Connect (as long as the pre-existing physical infrastructure is capable of handling the required bandwidth).
Enterprises can further improve their agility by expanding their branch sites more quickly and controlling their WAN more flexibly and in real-time when used in conjunction with SD-WAN, which is essentially another form of connection offered as NaaS. There is also the potential to achieve considerable cost savings by using the internet as the primary transit.
In order to ensure standards of availability, uptime, and response for resolving network issues, service level agreements (SLAs) are made with network providers. Businesses may end up having a patchwork of SLAs from several suppliers that cover various areas of their WAN.
By taking a NaaS approach, businesses can combine the number of providers and, as a result, the differentiation between SLAs, with the potential to expand the network as the organisation grows. One technique to guarantee consistently reliable and high-quality service and application delivery is through the private connections established via NaaS. Private links can be set up to give particular classes of service priority, ensuring that the needs of applications that are more sensitive to latency are addressed.
The NaaS model transfers ownership of the network infrastructure as well as responsibility for all hardware and software maintenance and monitoring to the provider. By doing this, the organisation is freed from the burden of technical debt and the requirement for in-house expertise.
A continuous monitoring service that makes risks readily prevented and assures notifications so big concerns can be discovered and remedied is also made easier for the provider by the advantages of Software Defined Interconnection and virtualization technology.
Service providers can give finer-grained control to safeguard sensitive data, applications, and resources via NaaS. Data doesn't cross the public internet since direct, private links are made via a NaaS like Console Connect, and the network can act as a defence against DDoS attacks.
Cost savings provided by cloud services can be hard to definitively prove, but it is clear that network infrastructure benefits are gained by shifting infrastructure maintenance costs to the service provider.
This all boils down to changing the existing capex paradigm of in-house hardware, software, and expertise requirements into an opex one equivalent to a "membership" to the network without ownership or the associated restrictions.
