Why Virtualize Networking Functionality?

As virtualization spreads throughout data centers, a single server can now represent dozens of virtual servers which can create complex infrastructures within a virtual environment. When accessing virtual machines within that virtual server, traffic does not leave that server to be inspected by traditional router, firewall and IPS devices located on the physical network. Virtual networks become a necessary tool to facilitate and secure communications between virtual machines and within virtual servers. While hypervisors can offer basic layer2 switching functionality, they do nothing to provide the additional layer of security and traffic management (vFirewall, vRouter) that is required to properly manage and protect a virtual infrastructure.

 

What is Vyatta?

Vyatta is a software-based network operating system that is designed to remove the hardware dependencies of proprietary networking systems. As a software-based solution, Vyatta has been architected to run in virtual environments to manage traffic and enforce policies in the same way that a physical router, firewall, VPN or intrusion prevention device does in a physical infrastructure. Where popular hypervisors include only a simple layer 2 vSwitch, Vyatta completes the network virtualization picture with vFirewall&trade and vRouter&trade functionality.

 

What are some common applications for Vyatta vRouter and vFirewall functionality?

Consolidation - Inter-VM Security
Adding Vyatta vRouter and vFirewall functions can help maintain security policies that were designed for physical networks and provide the same security and traffic management for communications between virtual machines.

Consolidation - Hypervisor / Platform Protection
Including Vyatta vFirewall, vRouter and virtual VPN on virtual servers offers administrators a powerful tool to control and manage local and remotes access to the management console of the hypervisor or virtualization platform.

Live Migration - Redundancy, Failover & Testing
Using live migration functionality such as VMotion and XenMotion, users migrating networking functionality to virtual environments can easily migrate a fully configured virtual appliance from one system to another

Application Density - Multiple vRouter and vFirewalls
By virtualizing Vyatta, you can use a single hardware system with multiple virtual machines, each running a separate Vyatta instance. Each Vyatta instance is distinct and can be configured separately and differently from others sharing the same hardware.

Consolidation - SMB/Branch Resource Maximization
Collapsing many software-based applications into a single hardware device minimizes space and power requirements, maximizes hardware usage, and offers simplified management. Vyatta's integrated routing and security software serves as solid foundation for building customized edge devices and service platforms.

Consolidation - Datacenter Resource Maximization
As businesses consolidate data center resources internally or in collocation environments Vyatta allows for further reduction in space requirements and optimal server utilization.

Cloud Security - Datacenter to Cloud VPN
Vyatta allows users to create a complete end-to-end network from your corporate datacenter, running on virtual servers, through the VPN to the network in the cloud. All servers and hosts communicate securely over SSL VPN and provide an extra layer of security for traffic traversing the intra-cloud network.

Cloud Security - Cloud to Cloud VPN & Routing
Using Vyatta Amazon Machine Image (AMI coming soon) for a site-to-site SSL VPN connection between Amazon EC2 based clouds to create a secure network between the two for the transfer of data

For more detail and network diagrams see Solutions >>
 

How is Vyatta optimized for virtual environments?

Vyatta includes VMware open-vm-tools, XenServer Tools and Xen paravirtualization to simplify management and drive the highest possible performance from your virtual environment and the hardware that it runs on.

Open Virtual Machine Tools or (open-vm-tools) is the open source implementation of VMware Tools (link) designed to deliver a set of guest operating system virtualization components that enhance performance and user experience of virtual machines. They provide several useful functions like:

• File transfer between a host and guest
• Improved memory management and network performance under virtualization
• General mechanisms and protocols for communication between host and guests and from guest to guest

More information on Open Virtual Machine Tools >>

XenServer Tools provides full XenServer management system compatibility and optimal performance and functionality
More information on XenServer Tools >>

Xen Paravirtualization is technology from the creators of the Xen hypervisor project that allows virtual servers and hypervisor to co-operate to achieve very high performance for I/O, CPU, and memory virtualization.
More information on Xen paravirtualization >>

 

What features does Vyatta include?

Vyatta has a competitive set of advanced routing and security features. The major features include: IPv4 routing with RIPv2, OSPFv3, and BGP4 dynamic routing protocols; DHCP server/client; 802.1Q VLANs; LAN connectivity support to 10GbE, WAN link load balancing, VoIP QoS, stateful inspection firewall, site-to-site IPsec VPN, SSL-based OpenVPN, Intrusion Prevention, Anti-virus, NAT, RADIUS authentication, VRRP, syslog, SNMP, configuration via CLI and web GUI, telnet and ssh.
 
For a complete detailed list of features, see Vyatta Network Virtualization Software Datasheet

 

How is Vyatta Community Edition different from Vyatta Subscription Edition?

The Vyatta business model is based on providing subscription services and professional services for the commercial "Subscription Edition" of the Vyatta open networking software. Vyatta subscriptions are available for stand-alone software packages installed on your choice of hardware or virtual environment. In contrast, the Vyatta Community Edition software is not supported, contains experimental features and is only released as binaries every sixth months with no priority bug fixes or patches.

 

What does a Vyatta Subscription include?

Vyatta subscription services include the latest QA tested stable code, security updates & patches, priority bug fixes, basic Vyatta University Training package, access to technical support 7x24 if needed and access to the Vyatta technical knowledgebase. Subscription services are available at three levels. All levels include the current stable and QA tested Vyatta Subscription Edition software and subsequent updates , upgrades, patches and alerts. Subscription services vary based on the technical support and response time requirements of the user.

Premium Edition Subscription

The Vyatta Premium Subscription is ideal for mission-critical installations where telephone support and 7x24 response time are essential. Premium Edition Support includes all the benefits of Enterprise and Professional Edition support.

Enterprise Edition Subscription

For customers who need a high level of support, Vyatta offers Enterprise Edition, Including phone support, severity-based SLAs, as well as all the benefits of Professional Edition support

Professional Edition Subscription

For businesses that only require web-based ticketing, Vyatta's Enterprise Edition is the way to go; it includes access to all software releases, updates, and patches as well as online case management, and access to the Vyatta online knowledge base.

See Vyatta.com Subscriptions Information for more detail

Does Vyatta have a monthly pricing model?

Yes. The Vyatta Service Provider Partner Licensing Program (VSPL) offers our partners the ability to integrate Vyatta routing and security into customer-facing solutions. The VSPL presents ISPs, MSPs, hosting businesses and cloud providers with a low-cost, monthly, subscription-based model for delivering Vyatta router, firewall, VPN software and services to their customers.
The VSPL program is designed as a self-managed partnership with a limited number of requirements. Our goal is to create a mutually beneficial business arrangement that addresses your need to deliver simple, powerful and profitable services to your customers.

See Vyatta VSPL Program for more detail