The technology world moves quickly and seems to develop new vocabulary even faster. One of the news catchphrases out there is “network virtualization.” But what, exactly, does “NV” stand for, and how can it benefit your business?
In a nutshell, “network virtualization” refers to using software resources to duplicate services that once upon a time were provided by hardware—specifically, servers. Once upon a time, the “server room” was populated by individual components that each had a function—an email server, a backup server, a database server, etc. With network virtualization, all those functions are now provided via software connections, relying on a back-end of physical hardware that is no longer function-specific.
This provides quite a few benefits to your business. First and foremost, it streamlines software operations. You will no longer deal with one old, overloaded server clogging up the works with its dedicated functions. Instead, tasks can be virtually divided up amongst the available processing units to make use of lull time in usage.
Also, this scalability means that no one component is overtaxing itself. This reduces the risk of breakdown of your components, And, in the event one hardware component does fail and needs to be repaired or replaced, the rest of the virtual network can seamlessly pick up the slack, without the end users noticing any impact on performance.
Lastly, there is a huge threat to our operations currently via hackers and other bad actors. Network virtualization reduces these risks by not keeping all our processing eggs in the same basket. If specific pieces of hardware are disabled, for example by a distributed denial-of services attack, the load can be shifted to portions of the network that are not on the same hardware, or even in the same physical location.
NSC Information Technology Group specializes in helping clients implement and leverage the benefits of network virtualization. Contact NSC today for more information on utilizing network virtualization services within your enterprise.