The rise of cloud computing has been a mixed bag for the bottom line of traditional network hardware manufacturers. Yes, there is business to be had by supplying the burgeoning cloud service providers with new hardware; however, as companies move their applications into the cloud, the elaborate WAN networks of yesteryear are slowly being phased out. The result is a decrease in sales of routers and switches, a dagger in the heart of the very growth engine that gave rise to the likes of Cisco, Juniper, and Adtran.
From a business perspective, we are pleasantly surprised to see an uptick in demand in the latter half of 2017 for bandwidth shapers. We expect this to continue on into 2018 and beyond.
Why are bandwidth shapers seeing an uptick in interest?
Prior to the rise of cloud computing , companies required large internal LAN network pipes, with relatively small connections to the Internet. As services move to the Cloud, the data that formerly traversed the local LAN is now being funneled out of the building through the pipe leading to the Internet. For the most part, companies realize this extra burden on their Internet connection and take action by buying more bandwidth. Purchasing bandwidth makes sense in markets where bandwidth is cheap, but is not always possible.
Companies are realizing they cannot afford to have gridlock into their Cloud. Network administrators understand that at any time an unanticipated spike in bandwidth demand could overwhelm their cloud connection. The ramifications of clogged cloud connections could be catastrophic to their business, especially as more business is performed online. Hence, we are getting preemptive inquiries about ensuring their cloud service will prioritize critical services across their Internet connection with a smart bandwidth shaper.
We are also getting inquiries from businesses that have fallen behind and are unable to upgrade their Internet pipe fast enough to keep up with Cloud demand. This cyclical pattern of upgrading/running out of bandwidth can be tempered by using a bandwidth shaper. As your network peaks, your bandwidth shaper can ensure that available resources are shared optimally, until you upgrade and have more bandwidth available.
Although moving to the Cloud seems to introduce a new paradigm, from the world of network optimization, the challenges are the same. Over the years we have always recommended a two-prong approach to optimization: 1) adequate bandwidth, and 2) bandwidth shaping. The reason for our recommendation continues to be the same. With bandwidth shaping, you are ensuring that you are best-positioned to handle peak traffic on your network. And now, more than ever, as business goes “online” and into the Cloud, and both your employees and your customers are on your network, bandwidth shaping is a prudent insurance policy to providing a great experience on your network.
Bandwidth Shaping Shake Up, Your Packet Shaper May be Obsolete?
July 25, 2016 — netequalizerIf you went to sleep in 2005 and woke up 10 years later you would likely be surprised by some dramatic changes in technology.
What happened to layer 7 and Packet Shaping?
In the early 2000’s all the rave in traffic classification was the ability to put different types of bandwidth traffic into labeled buckets and assign a priority to them. Akin to rating your food choices on a tapas menu ,network administrators enjoyed an extensive list of various traffic. Youtube, Citrix, news feeds, the list was only limited by the price and quality of the bandwidth shaper. The more expensive the traffic shaper , the more choices you had.
Starting in 2005 and continuing to this day, several forces started to work against the layer 7 paradigm.
So where does this leave the bandwidth shaping market?
There is still some demand for layer 7 type shapers, particular in countries like China, where they attempt to control everything. However in Europe and in the US , the trend is to more basic controls that do not violate the FCC rule, cost less, and use some form intelligent based fairness rules such as:
Will Shaping be around in 10 years?
Yes, consumers and businesses will always find ways to use all their bandwidth and more.
Will price points for bandwidth continue to drop ?
I am going to go against the grain here, and say bandwidth prices will flatten out in the near future. Prices over the last decade slid for several reasons which are no longer in play.
The biggest driver in price drops was the wide acceptance of wave division muliplexing on carrier lines in the 2005- present time frame. There was already a good bit of fiber in the ground but the WDM innovation caused a huge jump in capacity, with very little additional cost to providers.
The other factor was a major world-wide recession, where businesses where demand was slack.
Lastly there are no new large carriers coming on line. Competition and price wars will ease up as suppliers try to increase profits.
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