How To Ensure Network Scalability, Reliability, and Security With a Single Platform

Virtual networking, also known as network function virtualization (NFV), separates network services and logic—e.g., routing, load balancing, and observability—from the underlying physical hardware and makes them available as software. Administrators can use centralized hypervisors or software-defined networking controllers to program, control, and monitor many virtual networking devices from a single location.

Software-defined networking, or SDN, abstracts network logic and management workflows to a separate control plane that overlays the physical and virtual infrastructure. This facilitates the use of a single centralized software solution to control the networking for many devices and locations. In addition, SDN configurations are written as software scripts and stored in a central repository with version control. This gives administrators the ability to automatically deploy or roll back device configurations across the entire network with the click of a button.

NFV makes networks more scalable because additional network functions can be spun up without needing to purchase or install new hardware every time. SDN further streamlines the scaling process by giving administrators a single, centralized software solution from which to create, deploy, and manage new virtual network resources.

NFV and SDN facilitate network automation because they promote the use of software scripts to automatically execute tasks such as resource provisioning. Network automation makes it possible to spin up new resources very quickly and with a reduced risk of human error. That means organizations can scale their infrastructure efficiently without accidentally breaking existing functionality or introducing unintended security vulnerabilities due to configuration mistakes.

In addition, automation makes it easier for IT teams to manage rapidly-scaling infrastructures, especially with network orchestration platforms. With an orchestration platform, administrators gain the ability to create, deploy, and track automated workflows across growing network architectures from one centralized interface.

A vendor-neutral (a.k.a. vendor agnostic) solution is one that supports other vendors’ hardware and software. A vendor-agnostic network management solution is extensible, which means you can add on extra functionality via API integrations or by installing additional applications directly on the management hardware. A vendor-neutral platform can also manage other vendors’ devices and software solutions. For example, a vendor-neutral serial console supports classic serial, Cisco Straight, and Cisco Rolled pinouts so it can manage legacy and mixed infrastructure.

Essentially, vendor-neutral solutions grow with you as you scale. You can add new devices and software from whichever providers you want, whenever you want, without needing to buy a new management platform. In addition, the extensibility of a vendor-agnostic platform allows you to take advantage of new and emerging technologies, like AIOps and low code network automation, so your organization’s technical capabilities can continue to evolve.

The old perimeter-based approach to network security involves keeping (and trusting) all users, devices, data, and applications within a single network that’s surrounded by a large perimeter of security policies and controls. This approach is no longer effective for a number of reasons. 

First, it’s nearly impossible to account for every potential security vulnerability in a single bloated perimeter. Second, modern enterprise networks are highly distributed and often include remote sites and work-from-home employees, making it difficult to enclose the entire architecture within a single perimeter. Third, if a cybercriminal compromises a vulnerable account or device and makes it inside the perimeter, they can freely move around the network and access sensitive resources using those trusted permissions.

Zero trust security uses an entirely different approach to ensuring network security. Following the principle of “never trust, always verify” means that all users, devices, and applications must be verified every time they connect, even if they’re logging in from within the enterprise LAN. Each account’s permissions are also limited using role-based access control (RBAC), which limits the blast radius of a single hacked account or device. Zero trust networks are also micro-segmented with small micro-perimeters of highly granular security policies and controls to address the individual vulnerabilities of specific resources.

Enterprise networks are getting more and more distributed to include branch offices, remote industrial sites, edge data centers, IoT sensors, and other resources outside of the central data center. Securing each of these sites and systems according to the zero trust model can be a challenge—do you install expensive security appliances in each location, or create network bottlenecks by backhauling all that remote traffic through the main firewall in the central data center?

Security Service Edge, or SSE, addresses this challenge by rolling up an entire stack of security technologies into a single, cloud-based solution. Network traffic from remote and edge locations is routed through the SSE stack which applies zero trust security policies and controls using solutions like Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) and cloud access security brokers (CASBs). 

This reduces the need for additional on-premises security solutions at the edge and also reduces the load on the primary network firewall. At the same time, SSE ensures that remote networks are just as secure as the on-premises enterprise network.

The most effective way to route remote and edge traffic through the SSE stack is with SD-WAN’s intelligent and application-aware routing technology. When an SD-WAN solution is integrated with an SSE platform, it creates what’s known as Secure Access Service Edge, or SASE.

The final piece of the network security puzzle is the physical hardware that comprises a network infrastructure. Zero trust security and SSE protect devices once they’re connected to the network, but what happens if the device is intercepted in transit to a branch office, or stolen from a remote edge data center? Secure hardware ensures network security by preventing malicious actors from gaining access to the BIOS settings and operating system of stolen devices.

Some of the hardware security features to look for include:

• BIOS protection: Requires a password to unlock the BIOS settings of a machine
• UEFI Secure Boot: Prevents a machine from booting up an unauthorized operating system
• Geofencing: Creates a virtual boundary around an area and uses GPS to track when a device leaves the fence
• Disk encryption: Requires a separate key to unlock access to data on the hard drive or solid-state drive
• TPM 2.0: Generates, stores, and limits the use of cryptographic keys for device encryption

So far, we’ve discussed how to ensure network scalability, reliability, and security using a variety of solutions and features. However, it can be difficult to efficiently manage such a complex environment with so many moving parts, which means you may not get the most out of your tools. The best way to improve the scalability, reliability, and security of your network is to unify all these solutions with a single, vendor-neutral platform, like Nodegrid.