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Yahoo Japan deploys intent-based network with Apstra AOS
Yahoo Japan deploys an Apstra intent-based network to oversee multiple vendors. Cisco touts Los Angeles Hospital, as well as the benefits it's getting from its DNA strategy.
Yahoo Japan Corp. said it has deployed software from Apstra to underpin an intent-based network design. The internet service provider, or ISP, is using Apstra's AOS to manage a Clos leaf-spine network in its data center.
Yahoo Japan's network consists of networking components from a number of vendors, including Cisco, Arista, Cumulus and other Open Compute project suppliers. Apstra's AOS allows users to troubleshoot and configure components from multiple vendors as they roll out intent-based network designs.
Yahoo Japan relies on big data and Hadoop clusters to support the services it offers. The network connects 90 racks of servers and thousands of nodes, and the ISP needed to find ways to apply policies to the various components required to handle huge increases in east-west traffic, according to Apstra.
Since the intent-based network design went live in late 2017, Apstra said Yahoo Japan was able to reduce Opex and increase network performance, although the vendor didn't provide any specifics.
Yahoo Japan said it intended to use Apstra AOS to extend intent to older switches via a virtual LAN extensible overlay.
Apstra most recently released an upgrade to its operating system, adding an analytics engine that can spot potential problems and then report those issues to network managers.
L.A. hospital cites cuts in provisioning costs as part of Cisco DNA deployment
Children's Hospital Los Angeles recorded a 67% drop in device provisioning costs and cut system resolution costs by 80% since going into production with Cisco's Digital Network Architecture (DNA), according to Muninder Singh Sambi, senior director of product management and enterprise switching at Cisco, in an analyst briefing about enterprise switching.
Sambi said the hospital is using DNA, in combination with the vendor's Catalyst 9000 campus switches, to automate how it troubleshoots and configures its networking devices. The hospital currently has some 30,000 devices across its network, but it's envisioning having as many as 100,000 in five years, according to Marty Miller, a technology strategist, in a YouTube video.
Cisco is touting DNA and the switches as the foundation for its intent-based networking strategy, which, among other goals, aims to reduce the 95% of network configuration changes that are still handled manually, according to Sambi. DNA also includes tools for policy creation, enforcement and verification.
"Continuous verification is the ability to make sure that the policy is being applied correctly across entire network," Sambi said. "[In the past,] IT departments spent months testing. [Cisco] actually simplified this capability -- [helping to] roll out new endpoints, devices and capabilities."
Cisco said more than 3,100 customers have deployed the Catalyst 9000 switches, which were introduced last June.
Nyansa and Paessler beef up network monitoring for healthcare
Network monitoring and analytics vendors Nyansa and Paessler upgraded their products with enhancements geared toward healthcare providers.
Nyansa announced integration support for wireless monitoring and telemetry, along with Wi-Fi-only voice data systems, through its Voyance user performance management platform. The company said all waveform telemetry data will be automatically analyzed and correlated, and analysis will go beyond traditional Wi-Fi performance issues, like signal-to-noise ratio, Layer 2 retries or signal strength.
Paessler, meantime, said it is adding support for Health Level Seven International protocols within its PRTG Network Monitor software.
"Having visibility over your traditional IT infrastructure is no longer enough," said Johannes Liegert, senior developer at Paessler, in a statement. "You must also be able to monitor the connected hardware and software used throughout clinical settings for everything from MRIs to appointment setting and billing.
The upgrades were prompted by the growing challenge faced by hospitals as they manage new internet-of-things devices that include medical sensors and monitors.
