Maximizing ROI With Integrated SDN

Partner Content Organizations considering VMware alternatives may also want to look at their network to see if they can extend their infrastructure savings by replacing both simultaneously.

Software-defined networking (SDN) has long promised reduced dependence on proprietary hardware. Still, SDN adoption remains slower than expected because traditional solutions come with significant cost, complexity, and performance overhead barriers. Many IT teams - especially in small to mid-sized datacenters - cannot justify SDN's benefits against these financial and operational hurdles.

Traditional SDN deployments often introduce multiple cost and complexity challenges that erode their value. High licensing fees are a major issue, with enterprise SDN software usually requiring expensive add-on licenses. VMware NSX, for instance, is not included with the base hypervisor and must be purchased separately. These licenses are sometimes charged per CPU socket or core, which can quickly add up in dense virtualized environments.

Complex implementation is another challenge. Setting up SDN typically demands specialized networking expertise and significant effort. NSX, for example, runs in separate controller virtual machines that require special consideration for CPU resource planning, high availability, and failover. This added complexity increases operational overhead and delays time-to-value. These additional infrastructure components also strain resources – those controller VMs consume CPU and memory that could otherwise be running business workloads.

Eliminating SDN licensing costs

Standalone SDN solutions burden organizations with multiple layers of cost, from per-core licensing fees to specialized hardware and personnel needs. The equation changes entirely when SDN is integrated directly into the infrastructure software as a built-in feature. In an integrated model, the hypervisor platform replaces VMware while providing advanced SDN capabilities with no separate licensing required. VergeFabric, for example, is delivered as a core part of VergeOS rather than a paid add-on, eliminating the high costs associated with acquiring and licensing a separate product like NSX.

With SDN baked into the virtualization stack, the extra expenses disappear and efficiency improves. There are no separate SDN software licenses to buy - no pricey per-core or per-processor fees to track or renew. There is also no need to deploy dedicated SDN controller VMs on cluster hosts, since the networking intelligence is handled within the platform. Under NSX, those controller VMs incur license costs, consume host resources, and require special HA planning as noted earlier.

Integrating SDN into the hypervisor entirely avoids that overhead. Freed from maintaining separate networking appliances or controllers, IT teams can redirect valuable CPU and memory resources toward running business-critical workloads instead of supporting SDN management software. Integrated SDN also means organizations can leverage commodity network switches and break free from costly proprietary hardware lock-in, since the networking operating system is abstracted into the core hypervisor code rather than tied to special-purpose devices.

Increasing operational ROI with integrated SDN

Beyond cost savings, an integrated SDN approach delivers significant operational efficiencies. Industry experts often cite simplified operations as a key benefit of SDN when it's done right. Instead of managing networking through a separate set of consoles and appliances, administrators can configure and control virtual networks from the same unified interface they use for compute and storage. This consolidation streamlines many aspects of datacenter management. With a single pane of glass, networking is managed alongside virtual machines and storage in one place, eliminating the need to toggle between different tools or dashboards. This unified control plane reduces complexity and potential points of failure, making administrators more productive.

Another advantage is faster deployment. With SDN functionality already baked into the platform, there is no additional software to install, no external controllers to configure, and no special interoperability concerns to work out. Each node in the environment simply has the SDN capability enabled by default.

Changes or new virtual networks can be rolled out quickly through the existing hypervisor management workflow, since the networking features are immediately usable out-of-the-box. In short, an integrated SDN simplifies both deployment and ongoing management. IT teams spend less time wrangling separate networking systems and less effort coordinating between siloed teams, because the networking configuration is now part of the unified infrastructure operations. This also means less dependence on niche specialists - when storage, virtualization, and networking are integrated, the need for having separate experts in each area is reduced. Administrators can easily manage the entire infrastructure, allowing IT staff to focus on higher-value tasks rather than routine network provisioning.

Reducing infrastructure costs beyond just the hypervisor

When IT leaders evaluate alternatives to VMware, they often focus on cutting hypervisor licensing costs. However, networking expenses can be just as significant - and are sometimes overlooked. The reason is simple: if you switch to a cheaper virtualization platform but continue to use proprietary networking hardware, your overall savings could evaporate.

By choosing a VMware alternative that includes SDN capabilities in the box, businesses can extend their cost savings beyond virtualization to storage and into networking by eliminating dedicated network appliances and using commodity network switches.

This flexibility means the "VMware tax" is reduced not only on the hypervisor licensing line but also on the network and storage. The result is a much lower total cost of ownership for the entire infrastructure. Industry observers have noted that now is an ideal time to revisit network design as organizations move away from VMware, precisely so that costly add-ons like NSX or proprietary networking hardware can be left behind.

SDN should no longer be an afterthought for any IT team evaluating a VMware alternative. It offers undeniable benefits - improved network automation and agility, enhanced security, and scalability. VergeFabric is a real-world example demonstrating that advanced SDN functionality doesn't need a high price tag or excessive complexity. It enables organizations to realize the full promise of SDN - greater efficiency, agility, and security - while actually lowering costs.

To learn more about how integrated SDN can reduce networking costs and simplify operations, download our in-depth Revisiting SDN whitepaper and watch our on-demand Rethinking VMware Networking demonstration.

Contributed by VergeIO.