Ethernet networks have evolved dramatically in capabilities and scale over the past decade. Networks have now become enablers of business-critical applications rather than simply communications infrastructure. Companies are demanding things of their networks that Ethernet was never conceived to provide. Systems are demanding predictable performance in highly complex environments to provide service quality.

Critical applications and communications are reliant on the network, demanding service-provider levels of capability in the enterprise. And the network is being called on to provide support for emerging technologies such as fabric convergence and virtualisation across computing, storage and security.

At the edge of the network, wireless access is becoming an expected feature. Initially driven by the uptake of notebooks, wireless was tolerated as patchy, slow and unreliable. Increasing usage has driven user expectations ever upwards. New generations of smart mobile devices are being adopted that are only able to connect wirelessly. They are being used to access critical applications and communications systems and need to be catered for and secured. This blended wireless edge needs to be managed and secured in an equivalent or even more capable manner as the traditional wired access network.

The network edge also has to support increasingly distributed networks and systems, with branch offices having a combination of local systems and also needing access to centralised services. Being able to effectively monitor service quality will be vital, as will optimising traffic between locations to reduce costs and allow more applications and users to be supported without having to re-invent connectivity or continuously add network bandwidth.

In the datacentre, networking has become a complex, multi-protocol and multi-tier beast. Managing all these adds additional complexity and overheads, increasing both the capital costs to acquire the networking equipment, and vastly increasing the operating costs of managing the network. Getting the beast under control will require more than improvements in management integration, although this will be a valuable improvement and will be more easily implemented than a wholesale rethink of the network.

But a rethink is exactly what is needed to prepare for future requirements that will be placed on networking. Virtualisation is emerging from lab rat to production tool, encompassing computing, storage, networking and security. Moving from a topology and technology-based architecture to a unified and virtualised one is key. Today, the management of secure network connectivity in dynamic virtual infrastructures poses many challenges, some of which are holding back the deployment of more sophisticated solutions offering improved business value.