Designing Networks and Services for the Cloud : Delivering Business-Grade Cloud Applications and Services

Designing Networks and Services for the Cloud

Delivering business-grade cloud applications and services

A rapid, easy-to-understand approach to delivering a secure, resilient, easy-to-manage, SLA-driven cloud experience

Designing Networks and Services for the Cloud helps you understand the design and architecture of networks and network services that enable the delivery of business-grade cloud services.  Drawing on more than 40 years of experience in network and cloud design, validation, and deployment, the authors demonstrate how networks spanning from the Enterprise branch/HQ and the service provider Next-Generation Networks (NGN) to the data center fabric play a key role in addressing the primary inhibitors to cloud adoption–security, performance, and management complexity.

The authors first review how virtualized infrastructure lays the foundation for the delivery of cloud services before delving into a primer on clouds, including the management of cloud services. Next, they explore key factors that inhibit enterprises from moving their core workloads to the cloud, and how advanced networks and network services can help businesses migrate to the cloud with confidence.

You’ll find an in-depth look at data center networks, including virtualization-aware networks, virtual network services, and service overlays. The elements of security in this virtual, fluid environment are discussed, along with techniques for optimizing and accelerating the service delivery. The book dives deeply into cloud-aware service provider NGNs and their role in flexibly connecting distributed cloud resources, ensuring the security of provider and tenant resources, and enabling the optimal placement of cloud services.

The role of Enterprise networks as a critical control point for securely and cost-effectively connecting to high-performance cloud services is explored in detail before various parts of the network finally come together in the definition and delivery of end-to-end cloud SLAs. At the end of the journey, you preview the exciting future of clouds and network services, along with the major upcoming trends.

If you are a technical professional or manager who must design, implement, or operate cloud or NGN solutions in enterprise or service-provider environments, this guide will be an indispensable resource.

*  Understand how virtualized data-center infrastructure lays the groundwork for cloud-based services

*  Move from distributed virtualization to “IT-as-a-service” via automated self-service portals

*  Classify cloud services and deployment models, and understand the actors in the cloud ecosystem

*  Review the elements, requirements, challenges, and opportunities associated with network services in the cloud

*  Optimize data centers via network segmentation, virtualization-aware networks, virtual network services, and service overlays

*  Systematically secure cloud services

*  Optimize service and application performance

*  Plan and implement NGN infrastructure to support and accelerate cloud services

*  Successfully connect enterprises to the cloud

*  Define and deliver on end-to-end cloud SLAs

*  Preview the future of cloud and network services

Huseni Saboowala is engaged at Cisco as a senior technical leader in the areas of Software Defined Networking, Cloud, and Unified Communications. He currently focuses on evangelizing the role of the network and network services in accelerating the adoption of cloud services by enterprises. His proposals have won Cisco-wide recognition and awards, and he continues to cultivate business-driven innovations that further enrich application-network interactions. Within Cisco SRG, he leads the architecture and deployment of a custom private cloud, driving his concept to reality across several groups. He has filed patents and spoken on Cloud and UC to large audiences on several occasions. Before joining Cisco, Huseni held several positions, including at Nortel, TTI (acquired by Sonus Networks), and dynamicsoft (acquired by Cisco). Over the past 18 years, his activities have ranged from solution architecture, design, validation, and deployment to leadership of global teams, innovation coaching, and developing technology strategies. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Bombay, and a Master’s degree in Software Engineering from Kansas State University.

Muhammad Abid is an innovator who is currently working as a senior product manager in the Services and Routing Group at Cisco. He is engaged in developing the next generation of platforms and innovative technologies that will support data center interconnect and software defined network (SDN) frameworks and play a key role in enabling cloud-based services and applications. Prior to this, he was focused on architecting solutions and driving technology roadmaps across multiple business units for unified communications, collaboration, and threat defense. Before joining Cisco, Muhammad held several positions, including at T-Systems, Padcom, Telcordia, and Latham & Watkins. Over the past 18 years, he has been involved in building innovative products and designing and architecting networks for service providers and enterprises. He has also validated mobility solutions for enterprises and performed technical audits on service provider equipment and networks. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the City University of New York and an Executive Master in Technology Management degree from the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.

Sudhir Modali is a thinker and innovator currently putting his creative mind to work as a product manager at Cisco, working on products that fuel data center and cloud architectures. He currently focuses on the evolving application requirements and the corresponding network architectures that enable some of the biggest cloud services in the world. His expertise comes from multiple positions he has held at Cisco over the past 13 years, including customer support (TAC); QA lead; technical marketing in areas such as service provider, enterprise, and data center networks; and technologies such as data, voice, and video. He has developed and is a major contributor to several certification courses for data center and cloud fields within Cisco. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Electronics from Shivaji University (Solapur, India).