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3 Ways Docker Improves Network Management

by | May 18, 2020 | DevOps, Out of Band Management, Virtualization

Docker is the best way to deploy applications. There are several ways Docker improves network management. From being compatible with almost any programming language and machine, to its ability to run multiple containers in the same infrastructure, Docker has a lot to offer when it comes to automation and out-of-band management (OOB). But before we dive into the benefits of implementing it into your strategy, let’s take a closer look at what Docker is.

 

 

 

 

What is Docker?

Virtualization using virtual machines (VMs) was a game changer when first introduced. It allowed businesses to take full advantage of their network resources by giving them the ability to efficiently run multiple OSs and apps on the same host. When deploying new hardware, VMs significantly cut down the time it took to set up devices, allowing teams to configure resources in minutes instead of days.

But VMs have limitations. Aside from having to boot up an OS, each new addition requires virtual resources to be allocated (such as RAM), which can quickly strain your system when running multiple VMs. When porting, VMs typically cause compatibility issues, too, and they can’t share data volumes.

Docker is equally as revolutionary as VMs, and has been rapidly adopted by organizations since its initial release in 2013.

Docker takes virtualization in a different route, using something called containerization. Docker containers are lightweight and automate deployment of applications so they can work in different environments (i.e. on different machines). Each container is essentially its own software package that contains the dependencies to run an application, such as code, configuration files, processes, networking info, and sometimes even pieces of an OS.

So instead of running separate desktop environments, as with resource-hungry VMs, Docker containers run on a single system kernel and allow you to maintain isolated applications that work properly — regardless of what machine they’re running on.

How Docker Improves Network Management

Modern OOB networks employ an array of sophisticated tools, like those that support monitoring, management, and automation. Using Docker containers means that you can deploy applications and know that they’ll work on any resource, because Docker works on the client side. Docker can also act as a service and be deployed onto any server. And because all application dependencies are contained directly on the image, management is easier as well.

On a high level, using Docker containers brings these advantages to OOB:

  • You save on resource allocation, because containers require only a small amount of server space.
  • You can gather info and monitor your system by easily deploying lightweight apps.
  • Because containers are highly portable, you can use them for diagnostics, even when devices go offline.
  • Adding to the previous point, you can use containers for quick deployments, as well as for maintenance and backup.
  • With regards to things that require safeguarding, such as temporary configuration data or emergency recovery data, containers allow you to add them quickly on-demand.

On top of all these advantages, Docker improves network management by giving you three major benefits.

Docker Simplifies Virtualization

VMs allow you to run any platform — along with its unique configuration — on your infrastructure. However, VMs come with drawbacks because they require significant resources in order to work properly. Essentially, running a VM means running a separate, virtual desktop environment on your hardware. And with each VM you run, your device must allocate RAM and other resources, which can be expensive and lead to unstable performance.

Docker containers are much more lightweight, and you can run multiple containers using only a single OS kernel. Containers use less memory than VMs, they boot faster (because they don’t have to spool up an OS), and they can share and reuse data volumes. In a nutshell, containers make virtualization simple, highly efficient, and easy to configure, which significantly reduces the overhead associated with virtualization when compared to using VMs.

Docker Makes Deployment Fast

Before VMs, setting up new hardware took days because of the tedious, manual configuration that was required. With VMs, devices could be configured in minutes (and remotely), but IT teams still lost time due to the need to boot up an OS for each VM.

Using Docker containers, fresh resources can be configured in seconds because there’s no need to boot up an OS. Multiple containers running on the same hardware can run isolated applications, such as those containing configuration data and automation scripts, to help you rapidly deploy resources to your network. Simply create a container for the appropriate job.

Docker Helps With Disaster Recovery

When it comes to business continuity, traditional approaches call for assigning a single purpose site to disaster recovery efforts. This means that resources sit idle at this site, because most of the time your organization is not focused on recovering from disaster. In essence, a traditional approach leaves disaster recovery as an afterthought, which means that managing and maintaining its infrastructure is costly and complex.

However, by using Docker containers, you can transform disaster recovery to be just another stage in the integration and development pipeline. This means that your recovery infrastructure is expanded from a single site to an entire region (or your entire organization), because containers allow you to utilize more resources more frequently. And should disaster strike, containers offer accurate automation for fast and reproducible deployments, so you can recover quickly and continue with your business continuity efforts.

Remember that a robust OOB solution takes advantage of the latest tools to give you more visibility & control of your network. Docker is one of those tools. It allows you to automate and take full advantage of your network resources, and you can focus on running only your necessary applications (not entire VMs). It introduces more efficiency with highly portable containers that work across platforms, and saves your system from the strain of deploying many resource-hungry VMs.

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Use These Best Practices to Set up Your Out-Of-Band Network

by | May 13, 2020 | Out of Band Management

If you’ve read our previous post about out-of-band management 101, you know how important it is to have an out-of-band network. To recap, there are two methods you can use when managing your network: in-band and out-of-band.

In-band management involves connecting to devices and systems using your main production network. The major drawback to using this method is that your ability to manage depends entirely on the availability of your production network, and any changes you implement (such as installing patches) can slow down your network.

Out-of-band (OOB) management involves a completely separate connection, meaning your management efforts do not depend on the availability of your production network. So when you need to adjust traffic settings, install software updates, or troubleshoot issues, your OOB solution makes it possible even if your production network is down or unavailable.

In this post, you’ll discover two critical best practices to follow when setting up your out-of-band network. But first, let’s look at OOB design and review a few key characteristics to keep in mind.

Out-Of-Band Network Design

OOB has been around for decades, and has traditionally been designed around serial connections to dial-up links. Using this design, you typically need to connect a modem and phone line to every device that you want to be part of your OOB network. Modern out-of-band networks, however, use ethernet links and other digital connections, and even 5G wireless, which provide much faster speeds than traditional setups.

Regardless of design, you should be concerned with:

  • Security: your out-of-band network should only allow access for authorized personnel.
  • Accessibility: your OOB solution should be accessible even during outages or disasters.
  • Availability: your OOB network should be always on and always ready.

To help you address these concerns, here are best practices to use.

Use These Best Practices When Setting up Your Out-Of-Band Network

If your OOB network is not secure, accessible, or available, your entire organization can suffer from major setbacks due to data leaks and downtime. That’s why it’s important to follow these best practices when setting up your out-of-band network:

  • Make sure it’s (completely) isolated
  • Make sure it works (and works properly)

Isolate Your Out-Of-Band Network

The strongest foundation for OOB begins with isolating the network from production networks. You need to make sure you set up a completely separate and exclusive management path, which will help ensure optimal security, accessibility, and availability.

To do so, you need to set up hardware and critical infrastructure dedicated solely to OOB management. Make sure to set static IP addresses, isolate access controls, and create distinct, well-protected management accounts for authorized users. All of these measures help to keep your OOB network secure and reliable.

Test Your Out-Of-Band Network

After you set up your dedicated management path, it’s critical to ensure that it works properly. This involves following through with comprehensive security checks such as penetration testing. Overall, the goal of performing tests should verify that:

  • There is no access between production and OOB networks.
  • Admin credentials are secure and enforced.
  • All sensitive information handled by storage and retrieval tools is adequately protected.

Nodegrid offers access for OOB and production infrastructure

Once you properly set up and test your out-of-band network, you can begin to benefit from having a secure management path. And if you implement a modern solution, such as ZPE Systems’ Nodegrid, you get more robust and flexible capabilities. These include features like fast broadband connections with reliable 4G/LTE backup, cloud-based security & management, and one consistent tool to manage every appliance, regardless of vendor.

Read the full tech brief to discover more about the logic behind these best practices, and how Nodegrid supports business continuity with innovative OOB.

Download the Tech Brief

 

Maintain Uptime With a Reliable Data Center and Business Continuity

by | May 11, 2020 | Data Center Resilience, Minimize Impact of Disruptions, Videos

The data center and business continuity — these go hand-in-hand, as one relies so heavily on the other. Because your data centers are mission critical, an outage can bring down your network and your business. But taking control of your data centers can be more than a hassle, especially if you use traditional out-of-band management (OOB) solutions.

In this article, you’ll explore some major shortcomings of common OOB, how they interfere with business continuity, and what ZPE Systems’ Nodegrid does to restore your peace of mind.

Challenges Involving the Data Center and Business Continuity

You Need to Stay Close.

For network maintenance and management, traditional out-of-band solutions force you to keep staff close to the data center. Not only is this because you need to perform routine tasks, such as monitoring power or opening shells for customers, but also because you need a reliable response in the event that your network faces major disruption. Otherwise, issues can result in you spending sums of time and money to put staff on-site, sometimes requiring late night wakeup calls and expensive round-trip airfare.

You Need Many Devices.

Rack space and energy consumption are at a premium when it comes to data center computing. But by nature, data centers require many appliances just to handle all necessary functions. Introducing OOB management typically involves adding even more devices, which steals more rack space, power, and money from your business. And with traditional OOB solutions, you usually end up with a rigid and complicated system that makes your job that much more difficult. Resolving most issues involves a lengthy administration protocol due to your enormous stack.

You Need Lots of Time.

When scaling and managing via traditional OOB solutions, time isn’t on your side. To deploy a new location, you need to risk shipping preconfigured devices that contain sensitive configuration data. Once you pass this first hurdle, you then need to put staff on-site to manually set up these devices, which can take weeks. Finally, your ongoing management of data center infrastructure involves juggling many vendor-specific consoles and interfaces. If you need to make quick adjustments or pinpoint a failed device, you’re forced to invest more time navigating a complex stack.

Nodegrid Improves Management of the Data Center and Business Continuity

Restore Uptime From Anywhere.

Nodegrid lets you untether staff from the data center’s physical location, and instead gives them the freedom to perform tasks 100% remotely. When you need to adapt to sudden work-from-home guidelines, or restore connectivity after a 3am outage, Nodegrid lets you thanks to flexible out-of-band management. It uses broadband links and 4G/LTE cellular to provide you with more speed than traditional OOB solutions, and you can even take control fo power management. No more midnight flights just to reboot devices — cycle power remotely and rest easy.

Save space and power

Nodegrid’s consolidated devices address the data center’s need for less — less occupied rack space, and less consumed energy. The all-in-one appliances handle network, compute, storage, and power functions, and also feature a blazing fast x86 64-bit architecture that supports direct third-party application hosting. For out-of-band management, you can connect via many common serial or digital interfaces, and even get a reliable cellular connection for backup. Nodegrid’s efficient devices free up rack space, consume less energy, and help you resolve issues faster.

Scale and manage fast

Nodegrid makes scaling quick and easy. With patented, all-in-one devices, cloud-based flexibility via ZPE Cloud, and Nodegrid Manager software, you can deploy and manage in minutes. Instead of shipping sensitive devices to your new location, you just need to send a bare-metal Nodegrid appliance. Once it’s safely at your new data center, simply plug it in and watch it work. ZPE Cloud delivers zero touch provisioning that’s secure, automatic, and consistent. For ongoing management, use this cloud connectivity coupled with Nodegrid Manager to get a full, in-depth view of your network infrastructure. Alerts and notifications pinpoint potential issues, and you can employ automation tools via Ansible, Puppet, Chef, and others for self-healing and repair.

Nodegrid keeps you secure with two-factor authentication and single sign-on. For added convenience and improved management, Nodegrid also comes with a screen- and session-sharing feature that lets you collaborate with others in real time. You can team up with your experts to find and fix issues fast.

If you want to see Nodegrid’s next gen out-of-band solution for the data center, schedule a demo now.

Data Center Continuity with Out-of-Band Management

by | May 10, 2020 | Explainers & How-To’s

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Explainers & How-to’s

GO TO Explainers & how-to's

Data Center Continuity with Out-of-Band Management

Don’t let data center outages disrupt your organization. Get comprehensive out-of-band management that maintains business continuity — and your peace of mind.

ZPE Systems’ Nodegrid features patented technology that gives you total control of your data center.

From third-party application hosting, to remote power management, zero touch provisioning, and real time collaboration tools, Nodegrid helps you protect your infrastructure to keep business running.

Explore the innovative data center solution that’s redefining out-of-band management. Learn about Nodegrid today!

ZPE Systems delivers innovative solutions to simplify infrastructure managment at the datacenter, branch, and edge.

Learn how our Zero Pain Ecosystem can solve your biggest network orchestration pain points.

Watch a Demo Contact Us

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How One Unified Platform Gives You More Control Over Branch Networking,

by | May 5, 2020 | Monitoring & Reporting, SD-Branch, Vendor Neutral Platform, Videos

Branch networking comes with its own set of challenges that can get in the way of normal operations. As a network engineer, you’re tasked with preventing business disruptions while simultaneously scaling, troubleshooting, and managing network connections. This can be a daunting challenge that may lead to slow deployments, inevitable downtime, and unoptimized connectivity.

The good news is, Nodegrid was built from the ground up to address these major concerns with branch networking. Read on to see how our branch-in-a-box solution helps you scale, troubleshoot, and manage with one innovative system.

 

Make Branch Networking Easy to Secure and Scale

Consider the common challenges of scaling and adding branch locations to your enterprise network. You’re typically left to ship preconfigured devices to each site, which not only adds more time and cost, but more risk as well. What if these preconfigured devices get lost or end up in the wrong hands? Because they contain user accounts, passwords, and other sensitive information, having these devices get lost or stolen puts your network at greater risk of attack.

Once your devices successfully reach their destination, the real work begins. You need to manually set up all appliances at the location, which involves logging into each individually and making appropriate configurations. This takes even more of your time and money, and leaves you open to potential setbacks that can occur due to human error. What if your compliance documentation contains a mistake, or your IT personnel unknowingly repeat an error while deploying 10, 20, or even 50 new sites?

Nodegrid was made to address these concerns of security and scalability. Nodegrid appliances consolidate network functions, sport Linux OS for third-party application hosting, and feature ZPE Cloud connectivity.

When adding a new branch location, you don’t need to ship anything preconfigured. Ship bare-metal Nodegrid devices, which eliminates the threat of having your data lost or stolen, and simply plug them in. Zero touch provisioning means all configuration data can be automatically downloaded from ZPE Cloud, only when your devices are safely at their destination. This capability is even extended to devices that you connect to Nodegrid appliances.

Suddenly, backdoor security threats are no longer an issue, and neither is costly human error, since all your branch locations can be deployed consistently via the cloud.

Pinpoint Problems for Better Troubleshooting

Face it — troubleshooting issues could be a much more intuitive undertaking. But it’s difficult, mostly because of the sheer number of devices you deploy at each location. When something goes wrong, you probably refer to your spreadsheet that shows specific device information for each branch. From there, you might run through troubleshooting protocols to narrow the list of potentially problematic devices and what the issue might be, and then you can finally work toward a solution.

Nodegrid does away with all the hassle, because it uses consolidated devices and Nodegrid Manager software that pinpoints problems for you.

Nodegrid devices are powerful, featuring x86 64-bit architecture that accommodates third-party application hosting for cyber security, SD-WAN, firewalls, and more. For switching, routing, and computing, you need only a single Nodegrid device. This reduces potential points of failure so you can solve issues easier. On top of this, Nodegrid Manager is software that gives you a complete view of all your network-connected devices. It features alerts and notifications that let you know of problems before they occur. Together, Nodegrid’s hardware and software make it simple to pinpoint issues and prevent downtime.

Manage Using one Intuitive Platform

With many devices at each branch location, it’s likely that your hardware stack includes multiple vendors. This is part of achieving a right-fit solution for your enterprise, which can serve you well when looking at the bigger business picture.

But when you get down to the details of managing branch networking, this mishmash of vendors can be a nightmare. Each device has its own OS and interface, which can exhaust your staff. You need to spend time and money training them to become proficient with each. Still, even your best experts can become quickly fatigued when they’re forced to transition from device to device, interface to interface, protocol to protocol, and so on.

One of the best parts about Nodegrid is that it answers the question, “What if it could all be done using one tool?” That tool is Nodegrid Manager.

Nodegrid Manager shows you every device connected to your Nodegrid appliances, and features Guest OS that gives you total out-of-band control regardless of vendor. With one intuitive interface, you can control your entire infrastructure, get deeper visibility and insight into your network, and even extend features to bridge gaps between devices. It can all be done remotely as well, so you can manage and optimize your branch networking no matter where you are.

If you want a first hand look at all these benefits and more, schedule your Nodegrid demo today!