Archive - Aug 2013

For providing secure remote access to on-premises data and applications, there’s no question that DirectAccess is the best solution. If you’ve deployed DirectAccess using Windows Server 2012 behind a Network Address Translation (NAT) device, it’s a good idea to disable any unused IPv6 transition protocols. For more information, click here.

In the networking field there’s been a lot of talk over the last few years about “Software-Defined Networking”.  What exactly is Software-Defined Networking (SDN)? What are the benefits of SDN? Does it require the purchase of new networking gear to support it? Are there any interoperability issues? In this post I’ll speak to each of these areas.

It’s an exciting time to be working with Microsoft private cloud technologies like Hyper-V. With the release of the Windows Server 2012 operating system, many new and compelling features have been included to enable private and hybrid cloud computing scenarios. One of the newest features is Hyper-V network virtualization (HNV). HNV is Microsoft’s vision for Software-Defined Networking (SDN). HNV is implemented using a network overlay, with configuration managed and maintained with System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2012 SP1. HNV enables important new private cloud deployment models, however, there are some serious limitations with this technology.

As many of you know, back in March we changed our name from nAppliance Networks, to Iron Networks.  The reason for this change was that as we shifted our focus away from traditional network edge security and access products towards building up products focused on cloud-based infrastructures, so the nAppliance moniker no longer fit…it no longer represented what we were trying to accomplish.