Enterprises' ability to realize every last dollar from their network investments by adding new services the moment they are needed is now a reality with a new network virtualization solution from Nortel.

Nortel's virtualization solution makes it possible for the many previously separated elements within enterprise networks to be linked together, harnessing the power of each to work together as one, eliminating the need for costly re-engineering when new services are needed. The pooling of network resources - and even separate networks - through virtualization can deliver sophisticated capabilities such as turning up bandwidth in just one part of the network when videoconference use is high or increased security for only users of highly confidential information. Virtualization simplifies data center design and management of networks to lower operational expenses while also capping the cost of expanding available services and dramatically reducing energy consumption.

"Nortel's network virtualization solution enables enterprises and service providers to simplify their communications infrastructure by allowing resources to be made available in a collective manner and to be allocated as needed," said Cindy Borovick, research vice president, Data Center Networks, IDC. "This maximizes the capabilities of their network, decreasing wasted resources. It also limits the equipment that needs to be deployed, delivering savings over the life of the solution. The integration with a server virtualization solution gives new options for end-to-end virtualization deployments."

"Our data center and service provider customers are eager for the rapid deployment of network services and the ability to drive more capacity from their existing network. We have deployed Nortel's virtualization solution to maximize our data center customers' business. Nortel has crafted a network virtualization solution that provides speed, flexibility, eliminates wasted resources and opens the existing network to deliver more capabilities," said Yukio Yamazaki, senior vice president, NEC Networks & System Integration Corporation, a systems integrator in Japan. "Using less equipment and minimizing the complexity with virtualization technology drives next-generation business for our data center and service provider customers."

"Creating a virtual network increases the speed and simplicity of commerce. It reduces the time to deploy new services and applications, add new networking elements and allows what are essentially different networks to be operated as a single entity," said Joel Hackney, president, Enterprise Solutions, Nortel. "It also speeds the time and ability for enterprises to take advantage of important new technologies like unified communications which can mitigate the complexity of business communications by linking them directly to business process. Our customers also now have the ability to introduce their own revenue-generating services quickly."

Enterprises can serve different classes of users with virtual networks that ensure the different data streams remain separate. This also serves carriers which host enterprise services that can ensure their customers' traffic remains private by keeping it independent, this enables service providers to offer a wide-range of value-add services, which will attract new business, increase customer satisfaction and improve profit margins.

Nortel's end-to-end network virtualization solution features the Ethernet Routing Switch (ERS) 8600 5.0 coupled with the Virtual Services Switch 5000, a new platform that consolidates network elements and provides flexible and dynamic network services on-the-fly, with proven integration with server virtualization solutions. The ERS 8600's 10G high port density, resiliency, Layer 3 routing virtualization and simplified virtual private network provisioning over the existing IP backbone, simplifies network design and increases cost-effectiveness and reliability. Its resiliency serves multiple customers, departments or user groups within the LAN and across the campus/metro network.

The VSS 5000 consolidates and virtualizes multiple functions onto a single device. It orchestrates and provisions services instantaneously. This innovative new product combines network services such as firewalls, application switching and SSL acceleration onto a single platform. The result is an end-to-end solution that lowers capital expenses while maximizing network resources.

"For Toranet, the ability to consolidate network functions into a more attractive cost structure while still allowing services and applications to be delivered faster makes virtualization a very attractive option," said Lee Hiscott, president, Toranet, a U.K.-based computer reseller focused on security and intelligent content networking. "We anticipate that Nortel's virtualization solution will allow us to maximize the flexibility of networks by launching next-generation services when needed and meet the specific needs of different user groups, all without expensive network re-engineering. Just as virtualization on the server side has created much greater cost and productivity efficiencies, so too will virtualization of the network."

To reduce the number of servers they were operating, PCL, a construction leader in buildings, civil and heavy industrial markets based in Edmonton, Alberta, deployed a server virtualization solution from VMware along with iSCSI SAN storage. Nortel's solution enabled them to control their data center virtualization with a resilient, stackable solution based on the Ethernet Routing Switch 5500 integrated with their ERS 8600 Switch Cluster.

"Throughout our data center, Nortel's resilient stacking solution provides the connectivity and data transmission performance necessary to support our array of servers, both physical and virtual, together with our iSCSI SAN storage system in order to meet the application and processing needs of our organization," said Shane Crawford, manager of Infrastructure, PCL.

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