Remember when Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) was all the rage? That’s the concept of workers being able to bring their own mobile phones and tablets into the workplace and use them for business-related functions.
That quickly evolved into bring your own applications, where workers or lines of business would go get their own apps via the cloud.
So, what else can non-technical people go get on their own? How about a network? That may seem a bit farfetched, as I’ve never seen an application developer bring a router into the office. But that’s exactly what Tempered Networks is enabling with the introduction of Bring Your Own Network (BYON).
Earlier this year, Tempered Network introduced the concept of an Identity-Defined Network, which uses the HIP protocol to simplify the process of connecting devices that were previously un-connectable. BYON is actually based on a new release of the company’s IDN software that enables private workgroups to create their own overlay networks. This ideal for groups like DevOps that need infrastructure agility to do their jobs. DevOps professionals are successful when they can move with speed. Having to wait for network operations to configure network services can sometimes take days or even weeks, which gets in the way of DevOps being able to be agile.
The new release from Tempered Networks automates a software-based HIPclient that makes it simple to instantly create secure overlay networks so different workgroups can connect to data, workloads or other resources. The product is designed to be used by anyone, and no networking knowledge is required. Through a GUI, anyone can create a secure connection between two points in just a few steps. This makes it ideal for someone like an app developer who needs something fast but doesn’t want to go through the formal process of requesting it through network operations.
HIP Cloud Connector gives DevOps greater control of the network in a public or hybrid cloud
As part of the launch, Tempered Networks is also introducing its HIP Cloud Connector, which eliminates the tight coupling of networks within public cloud networks by operating as an overlay. This lets DevOps have greater control of the network in a public or hybrid cloud.
For example, a developer could span, connect or peer instances with any private or public cloud or created segmented network zones to keep development, test, staging and production traffic separated. This can be used for security, but also to prevent the production networks from accidentally being updated or altered. Because the Cloud Connector runs as software, DevOps is able to create repeatable templates to quickly spin up and tear down networks or orchestrate those processes.
Tempered Networks HIPswitch 250 gateway connect IoT devices
Tempered Networks also announced its new HIPswitch 250, a gateway that connects Internet of Things (IoT) devices quickly and securely. This can be used for the operational technology (OT) group to provision their own networks. The HIPswitch 250 uses HIPrelay for identity-defined routing (IDR), which eliminates the need for access point names (APNs) and to configure legacy routing protocols.
Tempered NetworksTempered Networks’ HIPswitch 250
Like the HIP Cloud Connector and HIPclient, this device is meant to be fast and easy to deploy. Tempered Networks claims OT can set up industrial networks in about 15 minutes. The product includes Fast Ethernet ports and dual cell modems, so carriers can be swapped on demand, providing an enhanced level of resiliency.
The HIPswitch 250 also includes power over Ethernet, so no edge switch is required. One feature that will be particularly useful in industrial environments is the serial-over-IP ports to connect and secure legacy IoT endpoints with more modern networks. Historically, this would need to be done with a gateway, making it invisible to the network. Tempered Networks has made this easy to purchase with a pay-as-you-go model that includes the ability to burst with no charge.
Digital businesses require an agile IT foundation, but that works only if everything has been modernized. There has been tremendous innovation in improving agility at the application layer through the introduction of containers, cloud and virtualization, but the network still needs to evolve.
Software-defined networks (SDNs) hold promise, but we are early in the adoption cycle and deploying an SDN into a legacy network can be complicated. The HIPclient, HIP Cloud Connector and HIPswitch 250 make it easy for non-networking individuals such as DevOps and OT pros to bring their own network without disrupting the current environment.