Cloud-managed Networking

Cloud-managed Networking is a network management and system architecture methodology that hosts its management and control services in a public networked cloud environment.

What Is Cloud-managed Networking?

 

Cloud-managed or cloud-enabled networks leverage unified monitoring, reporting, and troubleshooting systems hosted in the cloud to provide the scale needed to run today's increasingly complex and distributed network workloads. New compute-intensive services across critical areas, such as AIOps and ZTNA, can be consistently unlocked while minimizing on-site outages.

 

Today's highly mobile users and applications are creating new benchmarks for performance, security, scale, and connectivity from anywhere.

Cloud-managed networks also offer IT benefits such as unified lifecycle management, efficient workflows, and clustering at scale. They are optimal for schools, everyday businesses, public locations, and remote and branch offices.

 

Cloud-managed network services and infrastructures can include:

 

-Local access points.

-Switches.

-Certain device-specific software features.

-Cloud-based virtual gateways or group-level software features.

 

Enterprise ⇔ Network Cloud ⇔ Cloud Vendor's Infrastructure

Why Cloud-managed Networking?

 

Modern cloud infrastructures provide increased agility to the network, enabling many functions impossible for traditional local models. For many businesses and organizations, the benefits of a simplified architecture reduced physical footprint and the redirection of IT resources to more critical mission priorities are explicit.

 

Here are the advantages of cloud-managed networks:

 

-Updates and application of new software and feature updates are faster, with fewer on-site network devices.

 

-The network management lifecycle is more straightforward, with network configuration, deployment, and subsequent network monitoring, reporting, and troubleshooting more efficient.

 

-Relying on industry-leading and standards-based cloud hosting infrastructures such as AWS, Azure, and others to build a cloud management system.

 

-Network redundancy failover and replacement can be more flexibly utilized in the network and for scaling.

How Does Cloud-managed Networking Help Innovation?

 

The proliferation of cloud computing has broken down siloed local infrastructure and software limitations. Collecting data from various sources is now easier, supporting larger audiences without adding physical resources and creating vast data lakes to provide more granular, insightful analysis. Cloud-managed networks are also prominent in this trend.

 

-All managed network infrastructures can aggregate telemetry data into a centralized data lake, facilitating deeper analysis.

 

-Artificial intelligence and machine learning services can identify anomalous patterns to help troubleshoot more effectively.

 

-Cross-site AI analytics can provide organizations with guided recommendations for optimizing network performance.

 

-New IoT devices information can be shared more efficiently, increasing network security

 

Cloud-managed Networking vs. Cloud Networking vs. Cloud-based Networking

 

A cloud-managed or cloud-enabled network is an architectural approach to hosting the management and control plane in a public cloud environment (e.g., AWS, Azure) while retaining the local network infrastructure, devices, and certain software functions. This type of network management system is often referred to as a cloud-based network management system.

 

A cloud network or cloud-based architecture enables connectivity between users and these resources through resources in a public cloud, private cloud, or edge network. The architecture includes network management systems, SD-WAN routers, gateways, switches, firewalls, and other network devices. These components are supported by compute and storage resources maintained by a public or private cloud hosting provider.

 

In enterprises and other locations where end-users need to be served, local network devices such as access points, switches, and gateways act as intelligent interconnection points to connect cloud-based networks and users when cellular services are unstable or unavailable.

Benefits of Cloud-managed Networking

 

Cloud-managed networking offers several advantages over traditional on-premises networking. In terms of scale, on-premises solutions depend on hardware purchases, rack space, cooling, and power. At the same time, cloud-managed networking only requires licensing for on-premises access points (APs), switches, and gateways. Regarding microservices flexibility, on-premises setups often follow legacy software principles, necessitating downloads of updates and fixes and adherence to fixed release cycles. In contrast, cloud-based software updates and feature additions occur as needed without disrupting other services or release cycles.

 

Data lake usability is another area where cloud-managed networking excels. On-premises networks are limited by the size and storage capacity of deployed appliances. In contrast, cloud-based solutions benefit from the vendor's extensive install base, allowing for greater data volume and variety. For AIOps and troubleshooting, on-premises networks are restricted by the size of their usable data, limiting their ability to troubleshoot effectively. Cloud-managed solutions, however, provide comprehensive troubleshooting insights across Wi-Fi, wired, WAN, security, and end-user experience. These insights are continuously updated with new data, enabling quicker issue resolution.

 

AIOps and optimization are also more effective in cloud-managed environments. On-premises solutions can only utilize data from a single customer's data lake, limiting their optimization capabilities. Cloud-managed networks, however, leverage data from multiple sites, both from the customer and similar anonymous sites, to proactively identify and address underperformance. Regarding security, while on-premises and cloud-managed networks require outside access, cloud providers maintain strict security practices and implement software patches as needed. The cloud data lake also supports new client profiling and behavior analytics services.

Finally, IT resources and skills benefit significantly from cloud-managed networking. On-premises solutions require ongoing maintenance and training, which can be a constant challenge. In contrast, cloud-managed networking allows IT teams to focus on delivering new services rather than managing and maintaining the network infrastructure.