eweekchat

A3: It will give customers more connectivity options and future networks will have to seamlessly accommodate different modes of connectivity so that the user doesn't know which network they are on.

@larry_lunetta To what extent will there be security concerns?

A3: beside speed, it's ultra-low latency, better coverage and determinism

A3: but it's more about what use cases this will bring about like : Smart Cities with M2M connectivity for autonomous vehicles, crowd mgmt ; industrial IoT for RPA using 5G in manufacturing, warehouse, distribution centers etc

A3: and also wireless backhaul and wireless / cellular WAN for primary and backup connectivity

The industry is starting to tackle "cross network" security concerns with standards such as Passpoint. Identity-based access control is the key to a strong network foundation for Zero Trust and SASE.

A3: those use cases such as video surveillance, IoT, wi-fi hotspots, etc. all require location flexibility that gbps 5G and Wi-Fi 6E bring as an advantage over fiber.

Agree! We are entering a world of multiple Radio Access Networks that will include a wide range of technologies. 6E is particularly exciting because it opens up a massive amount of Wi Fi spectrum.

@roweldionicio We just introduced our first 6E access point to leverage that. https://news.arubanetworks.com/news-release-detail...

Saw the demo on #NFD25. Looking forward to 6E!

More spectrum is the Wi Fi equivalent of Moore's Law.

the opening of 6 GHz for fixed wireless access in the U.S. will be a land-grab and a great opportunity for wireless service providers to compete directly with cable and fiber operators with gbps speeds

@brucecollins1 Who will win the land grab?

Service providers that can quickly deliver service wirelessly with better support will win vs. cable and fiber. Key to this is being able to identify and market to those customers you know you can reach with wireless. Planning tools are key to this..

Key word there for SPs: support

Q6: VPN is still the most reliable and convenient technology to help secure remote access but as cloud-based access control becomes more popular you will see more "direct to cloud" solutions.

(edited)

@larry_lunetta Does that mean that someday the VPN will be relegated to the dustbin of history?

A6: for secure remote access to corp controlled data/resouces, VPN with MFA provides a good level of security. As @larry_lunetta mentions, as the world moves to more and more SaaS, cloud-based access control will get more prominent

Useful and effective technologies like VPN will have a long shelf life.

I'll be the one to mention that many orgs will begin to move away from VPN because of licensing costs. They'll have their users connect directly to cloud apps.

@rowelldionicio I'm sensing most staff won't miss the VPN :)

A7: Identify the all the requirements. Get feedback from others who have gone through the same path, and be willing to change on the fly. Document everything. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Q7: For IT resources, the trend is to move workload to the cloud. For connectivity, start with a secure connection like VPN but look for a solution that extends your security policies and management visibility all the way to the end point. Manage it from the cloud

A7: Evaluate and deploy a strong secure remote access solution + cloud based access control solution with MFA, VPN and zero trust in mind. And getting visibility from the client browser / endpoint to cloud is an icing on the cake to provide that SLA!

A7: leverage a cloud-based management system that gives you visibility all the way to the client so you can auto-provision, isolate troubles and plan for the future based on data coming from the actual data usage on the network

(edited)

Oops, make that IBN!

It's natural that your fingers would auto-type that :)

heheh

IBN is also about action and enabling the networking team to directly map business requirements to network configuration and management without resorting to CLI.

Agree..IBN can help providing visibility and monitor the network for issues (like wi-fi onboarding, IoT devices, policies) and provide insights back to the NetOps / ITOps team

A9. We haven't talked about new forms of acquiring networking such as "as a Service" models that deliver much more flexibility and efficiency than traditional capex models. This will be a key part of the next generation.

A9: Wi-Fi 6 and 6E a significant change to Wi-Fi in several years. We can leave legacy protocols & devices behind to focus on the efficiency & available spectrum ahead of us. We’ll be looking for higher throughput & performance. @packet6_ will be publishing a report next week

NaaS has plenty of growth in its future, to be sure.

A9: Exciting times for networking since hybrid work and hybrid mulit-cloud era have made networks even more critical than ever before. It'll be critical for networking vendors to provide simplicity, security, and flexbility (incl consumption models like as-a-service

@prashanthshenoy Good point -- so true.

Very good point @prashanthshenoy. It will be interesting to see more solutions catered to the "enterprise" home.

Fixed wireless broadband delivering Gbps+ as an alternative to fiber opens up new applications, use cases and service models. 5G NR, mmWave Terragraph and Wi-Fi 6E are all aligned as we move in that direction

A8: I don’t think @ruckusnetworks gets as much credit as they do. Compared to upcoming networking startups, they’ve been able to focus on high performing APs. I highlight the performance from an AP bake-off in a report publishing next week on https://packet6.com/blog

A8: Take a look at @celonaio and how they’re removing the complexity of deploying private enterprise 5G. It’s a consideration for mission critical applications requiring low-latency, large coverage areas, and no interference.

A8: When it comes to networking tools for wired and wireless, @netally is making good moves. They have great multi-function tools from troubleshooting Wi-Fi, testing Ethernet cables, and more. Headaches around subscription licensing of tools is a thing of the past with NetAlly.

A8: Analytics and automation are the new network "stars" and while there are startups that claim to have AI, it takes scale and experience to deliver AI solutions that deliver useful results.

Absolutely true. I hear that again and again across the industry.

A8: Startups or any vendor that are obsessively focused on simplifying network ops - whether it for multi-cloud networking, SASE - and breaking silos between NetOps, SecOps, DevOps and AppDev will be the ones to watch out. Alkira, Aviatrix are interesting to watch

A4: SD-WAN is the linch-pin between the intelligent edge and the cloud. The best SD-WAN solutions start with business intent as the management platform and include SASE-based security and AI optimization for traffic between the LAN and the WAN.

(edited)

A4: because of the power of cloud :) .. because of more SaaS usage, DIA (direct internet access) and work-from-home nature, the need for SASE (which is network + security + observability cloud-delivered) has become critical for most orgs

Can a modern network fully succeed without intent-based?

I believe so, maybe not with incredible speed.

Intent-based implies better tools so it is absolutely necessary.

@larry_lunetta Do business see a clear enough ROI at this point for big investment in it?

@JamesMaguire It will come naturally as part of a modern network.