Security Featured Article

Vyatta announced that AnswerFirst Communications has selected its routing and security software to virtualize critical components in their network. Vyatta (News - Alert) specializes in open networking and network virtualization.

 

Florida-based Answer-First is a call center answering service and it required an integrated networking solution which can operate securely in a VMware environment. Vyatta was selected for its ability to deliver advanced routing and security without depending a lot on hardware.

 

AnswerFirst offers several telephony-based services to its customers like voice mail, appointment scheduling, client care, catalog order entry, e-commerce solutions, fulfillment, technical support, and virtual offices. These services were delivered via its call center but growth in business led the company to look for an integrated routing and security solution or a solution which can work in virtual environments.

 

“It was the ability to virtualize our routers through VMware that really sold me on Vyatta. With Vyatta software, we can do everything we did with our Cisco (News - Alert) routers, but suddenly we have none of the limitations associated with proprietary hardware. Instead, we have much more flexibility to add functionality and we get the management and cost benefits of a virtualized network,” said James Cass, director of information technology, AnswerFirst.

 

Vyatta uses standard x86 hardware and can be virtualized with hypervisors like VMware and Xen. This offers an optimum network solution in a virtualized environment. The solution can be deployed on separate physical systems or it can also be deployed virtually.

 

Virtualized networking has been included in Vyatta’s latest software release which integrates both VMtools and Xen Paravirtualization. This ensures optimum performance of the virtual network by allowing customers to virtualize either horizontally with multiple Vyatta instances using the same hardware system or vertically with Vyatta sharing the system with Linux and Windows applications

 

Kelly Herrell, CEO of Vyatta said, “Once freed from the limitations of physical hardware, Vyatta’s virtualized networking delivers clear economic and management benefits that the proprietary vendors just can’t match.”

 

Vyatta provides efficient features, performance, and support required by customers along with flexibility. The company builds commercially supported, open-source networking solutions including Linux-based routers, firewall and VPN software.