TMCnews Featured Article
June 06, 2011
Ixia: Making Testing a Priority in a Cloud-Based World
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
Testing the network before it goes live has not always been a primary priority for the enterprise. In fact, heavy reliance on the specifications offered by the hardware manufacturers was common. While this may have worked in the networks of yesterday, the cloud and virtualization has changed the game and testing is now vital.
To learn more about testing solutions available in the market today, TMCnet’s Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) sat down with Tara Van Unen, senior manager of New Market Development at Ixia. Their conversation, which took place at Interop 2011, was captured in this video.
Testing has evolved over the years for the enterprise in particular, according to Van Unen. The typical enterprise operator wasn’t concerned about testing in the pre-deployment phase. Now, with cloud and virtualization, there is a need for more due diligence before flipping the switch.
The tools available today are easier to use and easier to access. With the enterprise, it is all about making it as simple and easy to do the testing that they need. Ixia (News 
- Alert) now offers point and click solutions that are simple to deploy and use. It is all about making it more productive.
“Think about server virtualization and before, you had a single server and one application serving hundreds of users,” said Van Unen. “Now, you have 12-15 applications and 10,000 users accessing that server, so there is a natural increase in the traffic going across that server.”
Van Unen also highlighted that 40GB is on the way and Ixia is doing a test in the fall with manufacturers and partner companies that are bringing all of their 10GB and 40 GB switches for testing. Ixia is modeling a cloud scenario to test the switch to appeal to customers in the market that are looking for energy efficiency, high capacity, ultra low latency and a reliable, repeatable way to benchmark one switch against another.
As for what’s next for Ixia, Van Unen shared, “The vision for Ixia is to provide test solutions all the way from the wireless edge and access all the way to the network core and data centers and servers, to cover all aspects of that end-to-end environment.”
Want to know more? Check out this video in full.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
SUBSCRIPTIONS
TMCnet LOGIN
WEBINARS
