Riverbed and VMware Partners for Software-Defined Networks

Riverbed Technology announced an extension of its partnership with VMware with the introduction of a performance management solution for software-defined networks (SDN) and the ability to provision wide area network (WAN) optimization for virtual data centers (VDC).

The planned Riverbed solutions will ensure the operational viability and performance of VMware-based SDNs and VDCs.

In addition, Riverbed Steelhead Cloud Edition will be further integrated with VMware vCloud Director to simplify deployment, configuration, and management of wide area network (WAN) optimization-as-a-service for the VDC.

Riverbed also announced that it intends to release additional Cascade products in virtual editions with the introduction of Cascade Profiler Virtual Edition and Cascade Gateway Virtual Edition.

"This latest collaboration with Riverbed brings the needed visibility and performance to address the challenges associated with the next evolution of virtualization, and enables customers to embrace SDNs," said Allwyn Sequeira, vice president and CTO, networking and security, at VMware.

Riverbed and VMware are collaborating in the development of a new VXLAN-aware Internet Protocol Flow Information Export (IPFIX) format. This functionality would enable network and application performance monitoring, troubleshooting, and reporting, allowing organizations to embrace SDNs without sacrificing operational control.

"Riverbed and VMware are taking a collaborative and integrated approach to solving the next wave of challenges associated with network performance management in a fully virtualized or cloud environment by delivering comprehensive monitoring and troubleshooting for SDNs," said Bob Laliberte, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group.