Virtualization: The Networking Option That Could Save Federal Systems

The infrastructures of federal networks in many ways resemble a gated community — and Stepford, while familiar and perhaps comfortable, was built decades ago. It doesn’t stand a chance against the modern world.

Like holes in fences and broken locks on doors, manual processes of configuration in legacy networks make them vulnerable. By accessing any yard, hackers can infiltrate an entire subdivision.

Streams of communication themselves are also bottlenecking when agencies inevitably must expand the number of devices on a network. Networks clog, problems occur, and agencies often default to an infinite maintenance loop on their traditional systems — like trying to repave a pothole-ridden road backed up with everything from Smart cars to monster trucks.

This traps agencies, but network virtualization can free them.

Take federal aircraft carriers as an example. They typically have no less than five separate networks per ship, Avaya Federal Consulting Sales Engineer Richard Eskelund says. Through virtualized networking, the carrier could run five separate networks on one physical apparatus, saving bandwidth as well as physical burden.

But how? Virtualized networking revamps networks in an end-to-end proposition. Instead of riding on a dilapidated, one-lane roadway, network functions can travel from point A to point B on a stronger path in lanes designated specifically for them. In an automated data-transfer process, data can move directly without stopping at every physical switch along the way to input its information.

Virtualizing a network also ensures that those with access can only touch the areas essential to their work. In the event that credentials become compromised, a hacker would be isolated to one house, incapable of damaging the rest of the community.

With clear benefits for efficiency and security, virtualized networking solves some of federal agencies’ biggest tech problems. But for agencies still reliant on legacy systems, Avaya makes it possible for them to stand up certain virtualized “roads” alongside their current infrastructure.

“You can take certain materials, like voice or video, off that legacy network,” he says. “The new road still runs alongside your network, but you’re moving closer to a world where everything runs in its own lane.”

But Avaya also makes it possible for agencies further along to virtualize their networks in an end-to-end transaction. This spreads the solution from the data center at the network’s core to phones and mobile devices on the edge.  

This doesn’t just plug security holes in the data center. It removes them completely.

In terms of proven success, video surveillance is an especially apt example of virtualization working for private organizations in a similar way that it could work for government.

“Everybody is looking at surveillance,” Eskelund says. “It’s critical to have a good video system running.” But with that comes a great deal of devices that hinge on constant operation — a moment’s glitch could mean catastrophe.

When the cameras can take to their own virtualized lanes, they avoid the risk of a dated network being unable to process the large amount of data they produce.

Adding to an already complex network of student devices, Holland Hall School in Tulsa, Okla. used a network virtualization solution to increase safety with a video surveillance network. And Black Oak Casino in Tuolumne, Calif. virtualized networks with Avaya to remove a massive surveillance system from a network that simply couldn’t handle its breadth. In doing so, the owners protected tribal assets of the Me-Wuk Indians, increased operational efficiency and ensured the casino’s compliance with regulations.

The needs of federal networks don’t differ from these examples: ensuring safety and staying up to code keep agencies in business. And by getting on board with network virtualization, federal leaders are taking the right steps toward expediting their services and keeping every “neighborhood” safe.

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