Hardware virtualization, also referred to as server virtualization or simply virtualization, refers to the creation of a virtual machine (VM) instance on a host machine that looks and behaves like an independent computer system, with an operating system (OS) and software.

The software on the VM is abstracted from the host machine’s resources, running its own “guest” computer. Hardware virtualization is being rapidly embraced by information technology (IT) teams, as it enables the dynamic allocation of hardware resources to VMs when needed and enables complete utilization of computing resources.

While there are numerous benefits of network virtualization, several serious challenges are posed as well. In this guide, we will explore these challenges and detail their solutions.

Also see: Best Network Virtualization Software & Products 

Why Network Virtualization is Challenging

When organizations implement network virtualization inside their IT infrastructure, no doubt they can benefit from enhanced security, scalability, flexibility, and performance. However, organizations must overcome both technical and non-technical network virtualization challenges to get it right.

For example, IT staff, operational technology (OT) staff, and system administrators (sysadmins) must know their IT infrastructure inside out. They must know exactly what their IT infrastructure is doing, what they want it to do, and how it is poised for future expansion.

Essentially, they need to ascertain that the current, physical IT infrastructure is ready for a virtualization outlay and has enough availability to operate more efficiently. This is one of the many challenges organizations must face.

Also see: Best Network Management Solutions 

Network Virtualization Challenges and Their Solutions

Here are the top network virtualization challenges and how to solve them.

Extreme changes to network architecture

Naturally, the first major hurdle is successfully migrating from a physically-intensive network architecture that is heavily reliant on firewalls, switches, routers, etc. to a virtualization architecture. 

While virtualized network services are advantageous, as they are pooled and can be shifted about and scaled up or down at will, the process of migration to a virtualized platform demands careful consideration and is far from straightforward. It is imperative that architects carefully plan the migration and fully understand what the organization needs from its network.

A complete audit of existing services and applications is crucial. Planning includes proper calculation of resources that will be consumed by virtualized network services, determining the best manner to integrate security services and network resiliency, and determining virtualized network service rollout to ensure business continuity.

IT staff must acquire new skills

IT staff may undergo a steep learning curve during and after migration. IT teams must fully understand the intricacies of the deployment and operational maintenance of a virtualized platform.

Network operations (NetOps) staff must be fully versed with the basic and complex tasks pertaining to network virtualization services (virtual LAN creation, access control, scaling out services, etc.). Additionally, they must develop skills in network security tool virtualization. Having these staff work with trained, third-party professionals is the preferred approach.

In-house sysadmins must work with NetOps staff in close quarters to help them better understand the virtual network configuration.

Also see: Top Managed Service Providers

Losing network visibility

Data center and legacy network monitoring tools may lose visibility into the many abstracted, logical technology layers that are created as a result of network virtualization. In some cases, while visibility may be achieved, these tools are unable to properly display information. This makes it difficult for network operations to make sense of the information.

The best solution is to employ modern network visibility tools. These tools can greatly enhance the typically manual process of improving network visibility. 

Knowledge and skill silos

Eliminating the knowledge and skill silos that may emerge upon migrating to a virtualized network is paramount. Traditionally, IT teams focus on a single discipline, be it server management, cybersecurity, or networking. These fields now overlap and co-exist in several areas, and cross-training staff and opening lines of communication are important.

Consolidating the management of these siloed teams may open up lines of communication and help everyone be on the same page.

Automation and artificial intelligence (AI)

With network virtualization comes an increase in self-service processes, AI, and automation. These tasks reduce management overhead and significantly speed-up network changes. That said, they require a new set of processes and standards to be documented and put into place.

As each task can now be managed from a centralized control plane, it is best to move IT teams away from automated network tasks. Their new role is to ensure the alignment of underlying automation processes and AI and the fulfillment of automated tasks.

Also see: Top Software Defined Networking Solutions

Future Trends in Network Virtualization

Here are a few future trends in network virtualization:

Better management tools will hit the market

A virtualized network offers several benefits but may falter due to poor oversight and control. Vendors are realizing the need for robust management tools and are rushing to the market. As better management tools hit the market, the number of adopters will increase.

Network virtualization will get easier

With time, virtualization will get easier to plan, deploy, and maintain. As the knowledge base grows and the technology matures, market-savvy vendors and products will hit the market, the technology will become less intimidating, and users will find virtualized networks easier to manage.

Going green

Network virtualization promotes green IT, owing to the significantly less number of physical servers necessary to power a virtualized network. This reduces energy costs and will clearly lead to greater adoption in the future.

Impacting Other Markets

Network virtualization will help accelerate enterprise digital transformation, drive hybrid multicloud growth, and lead to greater network security and optimization.

The post How to Solve Network Virtualization Problems appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

This capacity to get closer to the source of data creation is growing in importance. Businesses and consumers will generate 463 exabytes of data daily by 2025. In response, organizations are gathering as much data as legally possible to analyze and extract meaningful insights.

The analysis of consumer data at the edge, for example, reveals trends, associations, and patterns that may aid in business growth, such as bettering existing products or exploring a new market theme.

While oceans of data are available to collect and analyze, traditional cloud computing is not the full answer to handling current data computation requirements. Therefore, edge computing is forecast to see remarkable growth in the years ahead. 

Also see: Cloud vs. Edge: What’s the Difference? 

Benefits of Edge Computing

Edge computing addresses the shortcomings of traditional cloud computing while also working in tandem with cloud. By bringing computation to the edge network (an edge server, a user’s computer, or an Internet of Things device), edge computing minimizes the long-distance transmission of client data to the cloud or a centralized data center. 

Instead of transmitting all raw client data to a central data processing unit, only the result of computation at the edge network is transmitted. This includes equipment maintenance predictions, real-time business insights, and other actionable answers. 

Hence, edge computing helps mitigate issues the traditional computing paradigm faces, such as unpredictable network disruptions, latency issues, bandwidth limitations, and high costs. This net benefits include lower cost, greater reliability, and a faster pace of data mining. 

Also see: Best Cloud Services Providers

Edge Computing Use Cases and Examples

Edge computing use cases include:

• Manufacturing: Using edge computing to monitor manufacturing can help manufacturers make quicker, more accurate business decisions regarding manufacturing operations and factory facilities, resulting in better overall product quality.
• Retail businesses: Retail businesses produce vast data volumes from sales data, stock trading, and trend monitoring. Edge computing can help analyze this data and identify potential business opportunities, such as sales predictions and vendor ordering optimization. 
• Transportation: Autonomous vehicles gather information about traffic conditions, road conditions, vehicle condition, speed, location, and other vehicles. This data must be aggregated and analyzed while the vehicle is in motion and requires substantial onboard computational power. Hence, each vehicle becomes an edge.
• Healthcare industry: Enormous volumes of patient data are collected from sensors, devices, and other medical equipment. Edge computing helps identify potential problem data that medical experts can use to take immediate, potentially life-saving action.
• Workplace safety: Data from employee safety devices, on-site cameras, and other sensors can be processed at the edge to help organizations oversee employee activity and workplace conditions. This application will find particular use in enforcing personal safety and monitoring employees working in remote/dangerous environments.
• Network optimization: Edge computing can be used to determine the most dependable, low-latency network path for each user’s Internet traffic. 

Trends in Edge Computing

Here are the edge computing trends to look out for in the years ahead:

• IoT: IoT is the quickest growing sector of edge computing devices. IoT devices include printers, gaming systems, wearables, smartphones, and smart appliances. The rise of IoT devices is expected to fuel edge computing and revolutionize industries such as education and healthcare.
• Customer experience: Using the reduced latency of edge computing, organizations can provide optimal customer experience. Reduced latency helps organizations process customer data in near real-time and build more personal and interactive experiences, such as offline interactions and advanced chatbots.
• Cybersecurity: Technologies such as 5G and IoT are useful in dealing with emerging cybersecurity threats. Traditional cloud computing and storage provide hackers a singular attack hub. In contrast, edge computing devices help diversify this network, hence providing greater protection. 
• Working with other technologies: Integrating edge computing with technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, and IoT will add greater value to business outcomes. In particular, this combination of emerging technologies – relying heavily on edge – is expected to drive gains in healthcare, workplace safety, consumer monitoring and business data collection. 

Also see: IoT Use Cases

The post What is Edge Computing? appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

A wireless local area network (LAN) comprises a group of devices such as desktops, laptops, mobile phones and printers that are connected using high-frequency radio waves instead of cables within a confined area. Users that are connected to a wireless network can freely move within the confined area.

The most popular type of wireless LAN is a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network. The area of coverage of a wireless LAN can simply be broadened by harnessing additional wired or wireless access points (APs). Wireless LAN technology has refined high-speed Internet consumption.

In today’s digital age, wireless LAN technology is popping up everywhere, including office buildings, factories, educational institutions, and households. Wireless networks enable work to happen from anywhere, thereby providing great convenience and increasing employee productivity.

While physical networks are more secure than wireless networks, by using security measures like encryption, a wireless network can be safeguarded from external malice. Clearly, the benefits of wireless networks far exceed their detriments. The advantages of employing an enterprise wireless LAN include:

• Extended reach
• Device flexibility
• Simple installation and management
• Scalability
• Virtual network management

The disadvantages of enterprise wireless LANs, compared to wired LANs, include:

• Quality of service is typically lower
• Connected devices consume more power
• Frequency regulation measures may be employed
• Radio transmission interference is possible

Choosing a Wireless LAN Solution

Within our remote-first working world, employing a robust wireless network solution is a necessity. Wireless LAN solutions provide a more cost-effective and feature-rich alternative to legacy wired LAN solutions. 

While wired LAN solutions are innately more secure than wireless networks, wireless solutions like Fortinet and SonicWall are security-driven and offer far more benefits than wired solutions. As you research wireless LAN solutions, make sure to check for the following: 

• Do the wireless interfaces on your current system support your potential choice?
• Does the wireless LAN network support as many users simultaneously as you need?
• Does the company’s product roadmap support growth that will be a good match with your current expected growth? This is a conversation to have with a sales rep – it won’t be in the product brochure.

To help you decide, here are the key facts about the wireless LAN solutions Fortinet and SonicWall offer. 

Fortinet Wireless LAN

Fortinet Secure Wireless LAN is a security-driven networking solution that provides safe wireless access for the enterprise LAN edge. Fortinet APs (FortiAPs) are Fortinet Security Fabric enabled and protect the valuable data and assets of organizations by providing automated protection, broad visibility, and integrated threat intelligence.

Key Differentiators 

• Fortinet provides a variety of WLAN APs to meet diverse WLAN architecture needs.
• These APs can be configured and controlled with Fortinet FortiGate Network Security Platform or Fortinet FortiLAN Cloud.
• FortiAPs come with a limited lifetime warranty period. The terms of this warranty can be found here.
• Fortinet wireless APs enhance network security at the access layer by providing an automated response to devices that are compromised, thereby eradicating the necessity for human intervention.
• Enjoy fast and simple zero-touch deployment.
• Easily scale from 1-10,000 FortiAPs.
• Inclusive of wireless presence analytics.

Pricing: Fill out a simple form to request a free product demo. Reach out to a Fortinet sales expert to determine the needs of your organization and for pricing details.

SonicWall Wireless LAN

SonicWave Wireless Access Points by SonicWall delivers the reliability, range, and performance of 802.11ac Wave 2 technology. SonicWall’s wireless APs provide advanced and secure wireless features for an enhanced user experience (UX).

Key Differentiators 

• Leverage simplicity of deployment and management in a cost-effective manner. The SonicWiFi application powers zero-touch deployment.
• With flexible deployment options, the product can switch between firewall and cloud management.
• Wireless security features include content filtering services and Capture ATP.
• SonicWave’s wireless APs provide superior UX with auto channel selection, fast roaming, and 802.11ac Wave 2 technology support.
• With rich wireless analytics, you can gain deep insights.
• With SSL/TLS decryption and inspection, you can prevent encrypted threats.
• SonicWave 400 Series Access Points provide high-density enterprise performance. They offer centralized management, comprehensive threat protection and high overall performance and range. 
• SonicWave 400 Series Access Points are available in indoor and outdoor models.

Pricing: Fill out a short form to witness a live demo of SonicWave 400 Series Access Points. Speak to a SonicWave sales representative for pricing information.

The post Fortinet vs. SonicWall: Enterprise Wireless LAN Comparison appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

Zero trust security refers to a tightly controlled approach to providing access to IT infrastructure – no employee is provided access to any IT resources by default, and complete authentication is needed at every stage. 

The working principle of the zero trust framework is based on the culmination of several technologies, including cloud security, authorized access, user validation, device authentication and endpoint security. While zero trust security as a concept has been around for many years, it is finally gaining traction as a technology product. 

The growth of remote and hybrid workforces and the increased threat of unfiltered access to IT infrastructure has led enterprises to look at zero trust platforms with keen interest. The benefits of purchasing an enterprise zero trust platform include:

• Elimination of organizational risks.
• Superior access management over cloud environments.
• Elimination of data breach threats.

Read on to learn about the main features and differences between Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks.

Also see: Zero Trust Networking Solutions 

How to choose a Zero Trust platform

Zero trust is an emerging approach to providing security to enterprise IT infrastructures, and as such its deployment varies considerably from vendor to vendor. The very idea of zero trust is defined somewhat differently by competing vendors. 

To be sure, a solid zero trust platform ensures your IT resources are only accessible by authorized entities. But given that foundation, research the following: 

• How is the multi-factor authentication deployed? Does it seem well-designed?
• What is the nature of the user interface? Zero Trust already provides challenges to users, and you want to minimize these for your staff as much as possible.
• A particularly important concern: what is the company’s ZT roadmap? Clearly, zero trust will evolve quickly in the years ahead. Will your potential vendor keep up?

We urge you to dive deeper into the features of Fortinet and Palo Alto, compare pricing packages and purchase a zero trust solution that most accurately represents your organizational necessities. And be sure to quiz those sales reps at length, don’t just read the product brochures. 

Fortinet

Fortinet Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a feature set within Zero Trust Access (ZTA)  that enhances secure access to networks from anywhere. The zero trust platform extends the ideals of ZTA to verify devices and users prior to every application session.

Key Differentiators 

• With flexible deployment capabilities, Fortinet ZTNA enables policies to be enforced for both on-premises and remote workers.
• Granular access control ensures access to a particular application only for that session.
• Verifies device identity, device posture, user identity and the user’s right to access an application prior to granting access to the application, with the help of multi-factor authentication (MFA).
• A client-initiated model offers more control and visibility of an endpoint for the IT team while offering the user a simpler and quicker experience.
• Fortinet ZTNA is a free feature in FortiClient and FortiOS. Hence, you require no additional licenses to procure the zero trust platform.
• Automatically encrypted tunnels ensure traffic is hidden from probing eyes.

 Palo Alto Networks

Developed by Palo Alto Networks, Palo Alto Prisma Access is a cloud-delivered ZTNA product that provides least-privileged secure remote access to services and applications. Prisma Access delivers threat detection, policy management, authentication and encrypted application access in a single solution.  

Key Differentiators

• Provides identity-based access control to services and applications, with the help of MFA.
• Continuous post-connection trust and threat monitoring ensure services and applications are not exposed to threats.
• Simplified policy management makes it easy to control and manage the services and applications that on-premises, remote and mobile users are accessing.
• The zero trust platform offers consistent security while elevating productivity for an optimal user experience (UX) at scale.
• Other use cases include Cloud-based Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Next-Generation Cloud Access Security Broker (NG CASB), Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) and Autonomous Digital Experience Management (ADEM).
• Extend your enterprise security by acquiring the IoT Security and Enterprise DLP packages as add-ons.

Also see: 6 Enterprise Networking Security Trends

The post Fortinet vs. Palo Alto Networks: Zero Trust Platform Comparison appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

This software-based network management model differs from traditional models. Legacy models utilize hardware devices such as switches and routers to manage network traffic. Software defined networks can manage traditional hardware or a virtual network via software. They enable the rapid programming, management, and provisioning of networks.

In this guide, we explore leading SDN providers that are helping to shape this new and growing market. Clearly, software defined networking trends are changing with remarkable speed as this emerging sector finds adoption. 

• What are the Benefits of SDN?
• Choosing an SDN Provider
• Cisco DNA Center
• Cloud-Native Contrail Networking
• Cradlepoint NetCloud Service
• VMware NSX
• Tempered Airwall

Also see: Top Networking Companies

What are the Benefits of SDN?

SDN is an architecture designed to make a network easier and more flexible to manage. The benefits of SDN include their ability to: 

• Minimize complexity by decoupling the data and control planes, while making automation highly scalable and secure.
• Leverage open APIs to deploy services and applications quickly.
• Eradicate manual configuration, and manage and provision wide-area networks (WANs), campuses, and data centers.
• Centralize cloud automation, service delivery, monitoring, control, management, and configuration.

Also see: Top Managed Service Providers

Choosing an SDN Provider

SDN technology allows organizations to quickly and efficiently reconfigure and manage network resource usage by utilizing policy-based management and automated provisioning. Before selecting an SDN vendor, considerable homework is required – this is a highly complex product area and it’s very difficult to stay current with how quickly the technology is changing. 

Visit SDN vendors’ respective websites, go through product catalogs, compare features and pricing plans, and scrutinize peer-to-peer reviews. Perhaps most important in understanding which SDN solution best meets your organizational needs, speak with each sales rep at length. Get a sense of: 

• Does this SDN solution interoperate with your current legacy network? Or will it be a full replace?
• What is the vendor’s product road map? Are they expected to keep pace with change in the SDN market?
• What is the vendor’s strategy in relation to the cloud? After all, some or many of the various software elements you’ll be using will be cloud-based.

Also see: Developing a Cloud Modernization Strategy

Top Software Defined Networking Solutions

Cisco DNA Center

Cisco DNA Center is a robust management dashboard and network controller that ensures you spend less time managing your network and helps improve network performance. With Cisco DNA Center, your information technology team can quickly and intelligently respond to network changes and challenges.

SDN Differentiators

• A consolidated dashboard for every fundamental management task simplifies the running of your network.
• Heat maps driven by artificial intelligence (AI) display a variety of data in addition to network coverage.
• Obtain insights into application experience, interference, and performance.
• For on-demand statistics, it uses packet capture.
• Offers guided remediation on the basis of AI-baselining.
• Classifies, authorizes, and identifies new endpoints and users.
• Group-based policies follow endpoints and users.
• With AI policy analytics, facilitate and demystify complex segmentation.

Cloud-Native Contrail Networking

Cloud-Native Contrail Networking (CN2) by Juniper Networks is a Kubernetes-native SDN solution that automates and secures numerous containerized application clusters and virtualized Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) into an integrated network. 

SDN Differentiators

• CN2 delivers hybrid-SDN for a consistent infrastructure-as-code and network operations (NetOps) model that is secure, simple, and open, permitting organizations to move to cloud-native in their own time.
• With CN2, you can extend Kubernetes to simplify development and operations (DevOps) and orchestrate containerized microservices with APIs and intent-based declarative provisioning.
• By adding automation for management and security through CN2, you can focus on delivering and developing technology services and products to customers rapidly.
• The cloud-native SDN solution automates the management and creation of virtualized networks to secure, isolate, and connect cloud services and workloads seamlessly across public and private clouds.
• CN2 delivers hybrid SDN orchestration for load balancing, Network Address Translation (NAT), security, routing, and virtualized switching.
• The cloud-native SDN solution upholds investments in existing orchestration platforms, processes, skills, and licenses.

Cradlepoint NetCloud Service

Cradlepoint NetCloud Service centralizes network management for lean IT. Features include management and orchestration, 5G and long-term evolution (LTE) connection management, wireless area network (WAN) edge routing and security services, Internet of Things (IoT) services, extensibility software development kit (SDK), and analytics and insights.

SDN Differentiators

• Cradlepoint NetCloud Service is a subscription-based platform delivered through Cradlepoint 5G and LTE wireless edge routers and adapters to enable the seamless transition to a wireless WAN.
• Configure networks that can route traffic based on cellular data usage, application content, bandwidth usage, or preferred link to maximize uptime and availability.
• Ensure maximal application availability and quality with integrated software-defined WAN (SD-WAN), deployed at scale with the least disruption.
• The SDN solution eases network management by making it simple to understand and apply licenses, connect with customers, amass educational tools, upgrade software feature sets, and identify and push out software updates.
• Obtain insights into security data, network health, and applications through rich analytics.
• Available in simple dashboards and through actionable alerts, these analytics give you a complete picture of your network usage, applications, and wireless WAN. 
• Access the feature-set from a mobile phone or tablet with the Cradlepoint NetCloud Service mobile application.

VMware NSX

VMware NSX is a network virtualization and security platform that enables you to manage your entire network as a solitary entity from a single pane of glass. With VMware NSX, you can obtain network speed, agility, and security.

SDN Differentiators

• VMware NSX reproduces your network model in software, so you can provision and create any network topology instantly and deliver critical applications and services simpler and quicker.
• Connect and protect applications across your container, data center, and multi-cloud infrastructure.
• The SDN vendor enables agility through automation. Run a complete L2-L7 stack in software with automated provisioning.
• Access powerful scale and flexibility.
• Deliver granular protection with micro-segmentation to the individual workload and network segmentation.
• Leverage intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) and create context-aware security policies to defend against lateral threats.
• Manage consistent security and networking policies across public and private clouds from a single pane of glass.
• By consolidating security and networking functions on a solitary platform, the platform can enable low capital expenditure (CapEx) and operational expenditure (OpEx). 

Also see: 9 Ways AI Can Help Improve Cloud Management

Tempered Airwall

Tempered Airwall is purpose-built to safeguard critical infrastructure using an identity-based, zero trust protocol. Features include end-to-end encryption, identity-based policies, operational technology (OT) visibility, software-defined orchestration, and secure, anywhere connectivity.

SDN Differentiators

• Tempered Airwall is based on Host Identity Protocol (HIP), a standard developed to fix the security flaws and lack of mobility of transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP).
• Creates private overlay networks based on trusted cryptographic identities and encrypted tunnels to secure.
• The SDN vendor provides complete control over communications.
• Extensible, scalable, and simple policy management is available from a single pane of glass.
• Combine policy enforcement and secure communication with threat detection, correlation, and traffic visibility.
• Simple to deploy over any IP network for cloud applications and remote access.

The post Top Software Defined Networking Solutions appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

IoT device management is a foundational offering of any successful IoT platform. It enables IoT platforms to speedily and securely maintain, monitor, control, configure, authenticate, and provision IoT devices effectively at scale.

• AWS IoT Core
• Azure IoT Hub
• Google Cloud IoT Core
• IBM Watson IoT Platform
• Oracle IoT Service Monitoring for Connected Assets
• How to Choose an IoT Platform
• What is an IoT Platform?
• How Do IoT Platforms Work?

Top IoT Device Management Platforms

AWS IoT Core

AWS IoT Core by Amazon is an IoT management platform that allows you to simply and safely connect billions of IoT devices and route trillions of messages to the AWS Cloud without having to manage infrastructure.

Key Differentiators

• Connect, monitor, manage, and scale devices simply and dependably without managing or provisioning servers.
• Select your preferred communication protocol, including LoRaWAN, MQTT over WSS, HTTPS, and MQTT.
• Safeguard data and device connections with end-to-end encryption and mutual authentication.
• Safely transmit messages to and from your IoT application and devices with high throughput and low latency.
• Act upon, filter, and transform device data while in motion, on the basis of defined business rules.
• Store the most recent state of a connected device with Device Shadow, so it can be set or read at any time.
• Convey audio messages between devices by using secure AWS IoT-reserved MQTT topics.

Pricing: The one-year AWS Free Tier allows users to enjoy 500,000 messages and 2.25 million connection minutes per month. Contact the AWS sales team for AWS IoT Core pricing details.

Also read: Best Cloud Service Providers

Azure IoT Hub

Azure IoT Hub by Microsoft is an IoT device management tool that enables you to connect, monitor, manage, and scale billions of IoT devices from the cloud to the edge.

Key Differentiators

• Azure IoT Hub provides a secure and reliable communication channel for sending and receiving data from connected IoT devices.
• Device Update for IoT Hub permits over-the-air deployment of updates to quickly deploy features to meet business goals and respond to security threats cost-effectively.
• Integration can be completed with Serverless Compute, and Azure Event Grid simplifies IoT application development.
• Compatibility with Azure IoT Edge aids in hybrid IoT application development.
• Individual credentials and identities can be set up to authenticate every connected device for enhanced security.
• Device registration and provisioning can be automated to accelerate IoT deployment.
• IoT Edge modules can be easily created and deployed to extend the capabilities of the cloud to edge devices.
• Azure Defender for IoT offers threat monitoring as well as remediation and security posture management.

Pricing: The free tier of Azure IoT Hub is available for one year and comes with a $200 Azure credit that is available for one month. Contact the Azure sales team through live chat or call to request a pricing quote.

Google Cloud IoT Core

Cloud IoT Core by Google is an IoT monitoring platform that permits you to simply and safely connect, manage, and absorb data from globally distributed devices.

Key Differentiators

• Device Manager enables individual devices to be managed and configured safely in a coarse-grained manner.
• Cloud IoT Core enables end-to-end security.
• All gateways and devices can be connected to Google Cloud over industry-standard protocols like HTTP and MQTT.
• Users can integrate with Google Big Data Analytics and ML services like Google Data Studio, BigQuery, Cloud Dataflow, and Cloud Bigtable to obtain out-of-box data insights.
• The IoT platform is fully managed and scalable, and it does not demand up-front software installation.
• User access to data and devices can be controlled by applying identity and access management (IAM) roles to device registries.
• REST APIs can be used to automatically manage the operation, deployment, and registration of devices at scale.
• Users can send configuration or command directives to all connected devices.

Pricing: You can try Google Cloud IoT Core for one year, free of cost. The free trial includes a $300 credit, which can be used during the first three months of the trial. Use the Google Cloud Pricing Calculator to determine the cost of using Cloud IoT Core. You can also reach out to a Google Cloud sales specialist to determine product pricing information.

Also read: Edge AI vs. Cloud AI 

IBM Watson IoT Platform

IBM Watson IoT Platform is an IoT device management platform that allows you to set up, monitor, and manage connected devices.

Key Differentiators

• A powerful web dashboard enables you to simply add and manage devices, monitor usage, and control access to your IoT application.
• Using the device management service, you can perform bulk device addition or removal, receive device metadata and diagnostics, and update or reboot firmware.
• The IoT platform uses the MQTT protocol to connect your IoT application and devices.
• Data can be safely received from devices and commands can be sent to devices by using MQTT with TLS.
• Secure REST and real-time APIs can be used to connect your IoT application with the data coming from devices.
• Data lifecycle management permits access to real-time and historical data for devices.
• IBM Watson IoT Platform offers useful review documentation, such as Watson IoT Recipes, Watson IoT Docs, and Watson IoT Answers.

Pricing: Reach out to the IBM team for Watson IoT Platform pricing details.

Oracle IoT Service Monitoring for Connected Assets

 With this Oracle-powered IoT platform, you can monitor IoT devices and subcomponents (assets) through your customer service center. You can also track the utilization, health, and real-time location of assets, reducing overall maintenance expenditure.

Key Differentiators

• Any asset can be connected over any network, allowing you to deliver insights to your customer service center.
• The IoT platform automatically detects abnormalities and faults, so you can arrange necessary service resources and keep the asset functioning.
• The business value of your customer service center can be enhanced by leveraging built-in key performance indicators (KPIs) for workers, incidents, and projects.
• Incidents are automatically created from connected asset data using Oracle Service, based on your predefined conditions and thresholds.
• Oracle Service automatically resolves high-risk and known issues by directly sending commands to assets.
• Users can monitor assets and push events remotely from the customer service center.
• Advanced machine learning-enhanced analytics allows users to predict asset behavior and detect complex patterns in incident data.

Pricing: Contact an Oracle sales specialist for product pricing information.

How to Choose an IoT Platform

The IoT platform market is still growing – rapidly – with dominant players yet to take over. Given the numerous IoT applications across industries, there are a variety of IoT platforms on the market that address different needs.

Therefore, when choosing an IoT device management platform, it is important to consider your business use case. Compare features, flexibility, scalability, and pricing models to narrow down your choices, and choose a solution that best meets your business requirements. In particular: 

• To what extent does the IoT platform integrate with your cloud deployment?
• What is the security focus? Clearly, IoT is full of security challenges. How does the vendor address this?
• Is the platform scalable? By its very nature, an IoT platform should scale to a highly advanced form factor.
• Realize that the IoT market is still very nascent. Will the vendor work with your company as you grow?

What is an IoT Platform?

IoT platforms are a crucial component of the IoT sphere and a rapidly-growing market. According to research, the global IoT platform market will be worth over $21 billion in 2030.

When it comes to building IoT systems, IoT platforms provide built-in tools and capabilities to make IoT simpler and more cost-effective for organizations, developers, and users. IoT platforms provide immense value to organizations, enabling them to streamline processes, accelerate launch, and lower development costs.

How Do IoT Platforms Work?

IoT platforms help facilitate the functionality, device management, data flow, and communication of applications. Essentially, IoT platforms help:

• Connect hardware, such as devices and sensors.
• Handle varying software and hardware communication protocols.
• Provide authentication and security for users and devices.
• Gather, visualize, and analyze data the devices and sensors collect.
• Integrate each of the above with current business processes and other web services.

The post Best IoT Platforms for Device Management appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

Given today’s increasingly remote and hybrid workforce, adopting a zero-trust framework helps enterprises provide employees secure access to IT resources, regardless of their location. The cybersecurity model works on the principle that no employee should be permitted access to IT resources by default.

Therefore, companies that employ a zero-trust platform can establish trust based on several parameters, including authentication, authorization, and identification. Sturdy zero-trust platforms provide better defense against cyber threats, a more straightforward network landscape, and improved user experience (UX).

Also read: Auth0 vs Okta: Zero Trust Platform Comparison

What is Okta?

Okta is an identity and access management (IAM) platform that provides two zero-trust security solutions: Workforce Identity and Customer Identity.

Workforce Identity provides identity access for your work ecosystem and helps protect and authorize your partners, employees, and contractors. Comparatively, Customer Identity provides secure and seamless access for your customers and helps create frictionless registration and login for your applications.

Key Differentiators

• Provides 7,000+ pre-designed integrations, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Slack, DocuSign, Box, HelloSign, Workday, Confluence, Zendesk, and Cerner.
• With the help of integrations, you can safely embrace cloud-based single sign-on (SSO) to cloud applications.
• Adaptive multi-factor authentication (MFA) allows you to protect applications and accounts from potential fraud and credential theft.
• With centralized access management, you can incorporate adaptive MFA and cloud-based SSO to on-premises applications.
• Secure and seamless customer experiences can be created with authentication as a service.
• Customer data can be accumulated and managed to design unique customer experiences.
• With lifecycle management capabilities, you can manage provisioning with automation.
• Identity processes can be automated at scale with Okta Workflows.

Pricing: You can try Workforce Identity and Customer Identity for free. For pricing information, contact the Okta sales team.

Also read: Cloudflare vs Akamai: Zero Trust Platform Comparison

What is Duo?

Duo is a modern access security platform designed to secure your applications, devices, and users. The zero-trust platform is user-friendly and ideal for organizations of all sizes that require sensitive data protection.

Key Differentiators

• The risk of credential threat can be reduced by permitting users to securely access applications with SSO.
• With MFA, user trust can be verified at every access attempt and at regular intervals.
• Users can obtain a consolidated view of each device used to access applications and continually verify security posture and device health.
• Adaptive policies can be enforced, thereby limiting exposure of sensitive data to as few devices and users as possible.
• Necessary permissions can be provided for each user accessing any application from anywhere with Duo’s remote access capabilities.
• Duo provides comprehensive, 24/7 customer support via chat, telephone, and email.

Pricing: Duo is available in four packages: Duo Free, Duo MFA, Duo Access, and Duo Beyond. Duo Access is the most popular choice and is available for $6 per user per month. Those interested can take advantage of a 30-day free trial.

How to Choose a Zero-Trust Platform

Modern security requirements necessitate the employment of a zero-trust platform to ensure the right people have access to the right IT resources.

While both Okta and Duo have their own strengths and benefits, it is important that you thoroughly understand each solution and determine which one best meets the needs of your enterprise.

Read next: Top Zero Trust Networking Solutions for 2022

The post Okta vs. Duo: Zero-Trust Platform Comparison appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

Zero trust is a holistic approach to securing modern businesses wherein the security policy is applied on the basis of context established through strict user authentication and least-privileged access. A sturdy zero trust framework leads to improved cyber threat defense, a better user experience and simpler network infrastructure. 

Read on to learn about the zero trust security models that Auth0 and Okta offer.

Also read: Cloudflare vs Akamai: Zero Trust Platform Comparison

What is Auth0 Zero Trust?

Auth0 is a simple-to-use zero trust platform that offers numerous features, such as single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), universal login, passwordless authentication, Actions, secure machine-to-machine communication, and a breached password protection and prevention mechanism.

Key Differentiators 

• Offers user management, access management, security, extensibility and authentication platforms.
• Universal login orchestrates SSO between numerous applications.
• SSO via enterprise federation, social networks, password authentication or traditional username enables users to log in a single time and access all authorized applications.
• Step-Up MFA permits you to restrict access to more confidential resources. 
• Actions, Auth0’s next-generation extensibility platform, provides developers with more tooling and a better overall experience. 
• You can simply handle authentication and authorization for non-interactive applications, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), trusted subsystem interactions, and daemons. 
• Auth0 alerts you and your users when their login credentials have been leaked by a third-party breach and blocks such accounts until they change their password and set up MFA.
• Passwordless authentication enables a frictionless and secure experience for all parties. 

Pricing: Auth0 offers a Free Plan for up to 7,000 active users and unlimited logins. The zero trust platform offers several B2B, B2C and B2E plans as well. Talk with an Auth0 expert for further details. 

What is Okta Zero Trust?

Okta offers two solutions for zero trust security: Customer Identity, a customer identity and access management platform; and Workforce Identity, a platform that secures and enables your employees, partners and contractors.

Key Differentiators 

• Provides more than 7,000 pre-built integrations, including Slack, Workday, Zendesk, Confluence, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cerner, DocuSign, Box and HelloSign.
• These pre-built integrations help you securely adopt and deploy cloud-based SSO to your cloud applications.
• Adaptive MFA enables you to safeguard accounts and applications from fraud and credential theft. 
• Centralized access management helps you extend cloud-based SSO and adaptive MFA to on-premises applications. 
• Authentication-as-a-Service creates seamless and secure customer experiences.
• Gather, store and manage customer data to craft personalized customer experiences.
• Lifecycle management capabilities enable you to manage provisioning with automation.
• Okta Workflows makes it simple to automate identity processes at scale.

Pricing: You can try both platforms for free. Contact the Okta sales team by phone, email or live chat for product pricing details. 

Auth0 vs Okta: What are the Differences?

We compared the zero trust security models of Auth0 and Okta:

Choosing Zero Trust Platforms

A zero trust architecture follows the principle of ‘never trust, always verify’—no attempts are made to construct a trusted network. Instead, the very concept of trust is eliminated. Purchasing a zero trust solution is a necessity in today’s world of digital transformation. Before making a purchase decision, you should explore Okta and Auth0 in-depth. Go through the brochures of the products, compare pricing plans and scrutinize peer-to-peer (P2P) reviews—purchase a zero trust platform accordingly. 

Read next: Steps to Building a Zero Trust Network

The post Auth0 vs Okta: Zero Trust Platform Comparison appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

It is a holistic approach to securing modern organizations, based on least-privileged access and the principle that no application or user should be blindly trusted. In this guide, we will compare the zero trust security models that Cloudflare and Akamai provide.

Also read: Steps to Building a Zero Trust Network

What is Cloudflare Zero Trust?

The Cloudflare Zero Trust platform creates secure boundaries around applications and prevents phishing, malware and data loss. When applications are protected with Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), users are permitted to access them after verifying the policy adherence, context and identity of every request.

Key Differentiators 

• Enforces consistent access controls across Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud, and on-premises applications.
• Integrates with multiple existing identity providers.
• Safeguards applications with context-driven, posture, and identity rules.
• Audits the activity of employees within SaaS applications.
• Blocks malware and phishing before they strike and create havoc.
• Isolates browsing activity from enterprise endpoints.
• A single dashboard unifies the following security capabilities: browser isolation, firewall-as-a-service (FaaS), cloud access security broker, virtual private network (VPN), zero trust network access, DNS filtering, and secure web gateway. 

Pricing: Cloudflare offers a Free Plan, a Standard Plan, and an Enterprise Plan for the Zero Trust platform. The Free Plan comes with limited functionality. The Standard Plan costs $7 per user, per month and is ideal for teams with no more than 50 employees. Reach out to the Cloudflare sales team to request a quote for the Enterprise Plan.

What is Akamai Zero Trust?

Akamai’s Enterprise Application Access (EAA) platform provides your employees quick and secure access to data and applications. The zero trust platform runs on Akamai’s global edge platform and enables you to adapt to sudden workforce changes, make smart access decisions and reduce risk, complexity, and cost. 

Key Differentiators 

• Scales to meet your business needs and is powered by the reliability, scalability, high availability and load balancing of the Akamai Intelligent Edge platform. 
• Provides secure application access without the need for network access to reduce the risk of compromise from mobile users, employees, partners and third-party contractors, regardless of their location.
• Enhanced visibility and a granular understanding of users on the basis of security signals, such as endpoint compromise, threat intelligence and device posture aid in making better-informed decisions.   
• Eliminates the risk and cost involved in patching and maintaining VPNs.
• Using application access over the internet as transport and retiring Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) enables high performance at a low cost in a branch environment.
• A single, secure portal for access to applications across Google Cloud, Azure, and Amazon Web Services, as well as SaaS and web applications enables you to leverage the power of numerous clouds. 

Pricing: You can commence a free trial today. Contact an Akamai sales executive for pricing information.

Choosing Zero Trust Platforms

Zero trust is an information technology (IT) security approach that ensures each network transaction is authenticated before it can transpire. Cloudflare Zero Trust and Akamai’s EAA are among the best zero trust platforms on the market today.

While we have scrutinized Cloudflare and Akamai’s zero trust offerings in this guide, we urge you to perform due diligence before purchasing either solution. Visit their respective websites, compare features and pricing plans and thoroughly examine customer reviews before purchasing a product.

Read next: Top Zero Trust Networking Solutions

The post Cloudflare vs Akamai: Zero Trust Platform Comparison appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

What is a CDN (Content Delivery Network)?

A content delivery network (CDN) is a set of geographically distributed servers that work in tandem to provide fast, efficient and secure delivery of internet content. A CDN enables the rapid transfer of assets needed for loading internet content, such as videos, images, stylesheets, javascript files, and HTML pages. 

Today, the majority of internet traffic is delivered through CDNs, including traffic from major internet entities (media companies and e-commerce vendors) such as Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix. A CDN that is properly configured may also protect websites from the wrath of cybersecurity threats, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

While a CDN does not host content, it utilizes caching to prevent service interruptions and improve website security. 

Do You Need a CDN Provider?

The benefits of using a CDN vary depending on the needs and size of an internet entity. A CDN provider may enable internet entities to deliver content to their end users while providing a reliable, secure, and fast online experience. The benefits of a CDN provider include:

• Improved website load times
• Reduced bandwidth costs
• Increased content availability
• Improved website security

We have made the procedure of choosing a CDN provider much easier for you. Here are the top five content delivery network providers.

Also read: 7 Trends in Network Management APIs

Top Content Delivery Network Providers 

Cloudflare CDN

Cloudflare CDN provides quick delivery of static and dynamic content over the Cloudflare global edge network. The CDN provider enables you to take advantage of DDoS protection, reduce bandwidth costs, and exercise control over how your content is cached.

Key Differentiators

• The Cloudflare global network of data centers cache static content closer to end users and deliver dynamic data over the most reliable and quickest private backbone links.
• Caching content on the Cloudflare global network increases savings, as the need to source content from the origin point is reduced. 
• The Cloudflare global network is API-first. This allows you to simply automate workflows with highly granular control over how content is purged and cached.  
• You can simply personalize caching based on your application needs with Cloudflare Workers.
• With Cloudflare CDN, you can obtain actionable insights into your cache for an improved cache-hit ratio. This will help you further reduce your bandwidth costs.
• The CDN provider offers abundant security and performance services that are specially tuned for video content. 
• Cloudflare CDN provides support for HTTP/3 and Bring your own IP (BYOIP). 

Pricing: Reach out to the Cloudflare sales team for product pricing information. 

Akamai CDN – Content Delivery Network Solutions

Akamai provides two content delivery solutions: APP & API Performance and Media Delivery. The scale and agility of the Akamai Intelligent Edge will help you deliver the digital experiences you create with minimal delay. Here are the main APP & API performance features:

Key Differentiators

• You can enhance API availability and performance while optimizing user experiences.
• With CloudTest, you can stress test your websites and applications with robust load testing in real time.
• DataStream provides a granular view of CDN performance with log data at scale.
• Intelligent load balancing helps you optimize application performance and avoid outages.
• With Image & Video Manager, you can simply enhance and optimize visual media for every end user, on any device.
• Ion delivers adaptive acceleration, script management, and intelligent routing.
• With mPulse, you can capture user experience data, measure ROI, and optimize website performance. 
• Media Delivery features include NetStorage, live media services, media analytics, download delivery (for example, large files), high-performance edge delivery and Cloud Wrapper. 

Pricing: Reach out to the Akamai sales team for product pricing details.

Azure Content Delivery Network

Azure Content Delivery Network ensures secure and reliable global content delivery. The CDN provider helps improve responsiveness and save bandwidth when encoding or distributing Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints, firmware updates, and gaming software. It also helps reduce load times for streaming media, mobile applications, and websites.

Key Differentiators

• End users can download large files rapidly and stream media with enhanced delivery.
• Content is served directly from edge servers. This sends less traffic to the origin point and delivers optimized online experiences.  
• Azure CDN is a scalable solution that can handle instantaneous high loads and worldwide traffic spikes.
• You can integrate effortlessly with your Azure services.
• Azure APIs and developer tools enable you to automate workflows and processes.
• With custom domain HTTPS, web application firewall (WAF) and DDoS protection, you can protect content.  
• You can set advanced rules to validate end users or block requests. 
• Geo-filtering enables you to ensure content is delivered to specific regions only.

Pricing: Visit the product pricing webpage and apply filters to customize pricing options to meet your needs.

Fastly’s Fully Configurable CDN

Fastly’s fully configurable CDN enables you to simply finetune your configuration settings through an API and roll back changes as necessary. Key features include rapid content changes, API-friendly control, safe rollbacks, and real-time visibility. 

Key Differentiators

• Fastly’s edge cloud network is completely configurable with flexible APIs and allows for state-of-the-art caching configurability.
• You can create custom caching rules, upload them to Fastly’s Points of Presence (PoPs) and activate/deactivate them at will.
• You can clear cache, reset Time-to-Live for content and instantly purge stale content through an API call.
• Fastly provides stress-free rollbacks and version control.
• Real-time logs provide instant visibility into threats, potential problems, performance, and traffic trends. 
• You can integrate a logging provider of your choice and instantly stream your log files to the logging provider to diagnose issues and better understand customer engagement.
• Fastly’s CDN provides support for agile development and operations (DevOps).

Pricing: You can try Fastly’s CDN for free. Reach out to a sales expert for a custom quote. 

Also read: 

Amazon CloudFront

Amazon CloudFront is a CDN service built for security, high performance and developer convenience. The CDN provider enables you to securely deliver content to end users with high transfer speeds and low latency.

Key Differentiators

• A global network of over 300 PoPs enables high throughput, low latency, and reliable network connectivity. 
• In terms of security, Amazon CloudFront protects against network and application layer attacks, access control, HTTPS and SSL/TLS encryptions and compliance.
• Origin Shield increases cache-hit ratios and helps enhance the availability of your applications.  
• Amazon CloudFront provides secure edge and programmable CDN computing capabilities through AWS Lambda@Edge and CloudFront Functions. 
• The CDN provider offers real-time logging and metrics. 
• Amazon CloudFront is DevOps friendly.
• Overall, the solution is cost-effective. 

Pricing: Use the AWS Pricing Calculator to create a custom estimate today. 

Choosing a CDN provider

As an internet entity, there are four main reasons why you should integrate a CDN into your technology stack: improved performance, enhanced reliability, cost savings, and resilience against cybersecurity threats. 

Conduct due diligence before purchasing a CDN. Navigate to the websites of the CDN providers, scrutinize their features, determine a pricing plan that fits your budget and go through earnest peer-to-peer (P2P) reviews—purchase a solution accordingly.

Read next: Best Network Management Software & Tools 2022

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