Author: Bikash Koley, Chief Technical Officer, Juniper Networks
Co-Author: Raja Mukhopadhyay, Vice President, Nutanix
At Juniper Networks, we fundamentally believe that the move to cloud will bring most enterprise IT infrastructures into a multicloud world. And when we talk about multicloud, as a networking company, we frequently talk about how we securely connect users and clouds, applications and data, and how we allow for automated operations and end-to-end visibility in such an environment.
But, of course, multicloud is more than a networking proposition. It requires other pools of supporting infrastructure that span the compute and storage arenas. This means that the path to multicloud will leverage an ecosystem of likeminded suppliers committed to advancing the whole of enterprise IT forward.
Nutanix as a leader in multicloud
For most enterprises, the journey to multicloud requires a mix of on-premises and in-the-cloud workloads. While it is sometimes in fashion to think about cloud as an either-or proposition, it simply isn’t the case, especially where enterprises have existing applications or a need for control that goes beyond what the public cloud can provide.
For these enterprises, having a well-controlled, on-premises cloud is critical. And ensuring that it co-exists alongside the public cloud is necessary.
By offering easy-to-deploy and simple-to-manage cloud infrastructure, Nutanix is democratizing the cloud. It shouldn’t require hyperscaler talent pools and supporting budgets to make cloud a reality. And by handling the integration and packaging the operations, Nutanix is making these types of deployments common across enterprises of all shapes and sizes.
Their focus on driving adoption of multicloud is a big part of why Juniper is thrilled to partner with Nutanix.
Juniper and Nutanix
Built around Nutanix Enterprise Cloud, integration of Juniper QFX line of switches and Contrail Enterprise Multicloud will provide network visibility and analytics for virtualized workloads. In simplifying and automating network connectivity and management, we have delivered a scalable fabric for distributed enterprise cloud architectures.
Enterprise data center with Juniper and Nutanix
Additionally, integration of Juniper’s Contrail Enterprise Multicloud solution with Nutanix Prism and AHV will enable enterprises to not only build their own private cloud, but also freely move workloads between multiple public clouds and their private cloud.
The key to making multicloud a viable solution for enterprises is in allowing this diversity of workload placement to occur while maintaining uniformity of operations. It simply cannot be the case that enterprises have to introduce different operating models for different hosting environments. The resulting complexity would be crippling and it would critically dampen the benefits of cloud. Using Nutanix Prism and Contrail Enterprise Multicloud means that enterprises can operate in diverse on-premises and public cloud environments as a single, cohesive set of resources, applying end-to-end policy from a single point of management regardless of the underlying infrastructure supporting the workloads.
Finally, no cloud deployment is complete if it is not secure. Juniper and Nutanix have collaborated to integrate Juniper’s vSRX virtual firewall into the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud running AHV. The vSRX secures the hyper converged infrastructure with advanced security, automated threat remediation and microsegmentation between on-premises and cloud workloads.
Unified Cybersecurity for Nutanix Enterprise Cloud enabled by Juniper vSRX and Security Director
More than a solution
We are excited to partner with Nutanix to enable secure and automated multicloud deployments for our enterprise customers. But our collaboration is about more than offering turnkey solutions for enterprises.
Ultimately, cloud and multicloud are more about operational change than merely supporting infrastructure. Multicloud represents a different way of conceptualizing the role of infrastructure and it requires a fundamentally different way of interacting with it. Both Nutanix and Juniper have been committed to simplifying operations, abstracting complexity and automating the workflows required to realize the promise of multicloud.
This partnership, in many ways, represents a changing of the guard. It simply will not be the case that the same set of legacy suppliers will lead the industry forward, especially if doing so requires actively promoting an operational model that weakens their incumbent positions. If we are to collectively—as an industry—make the changes required to modernize IT, it’s going to come on the back of leadership from companies whose business models do not rely on antiquated modes of operations.
Nutanix and Juniper are delivering joint solutions. But more than that, we are taking up the mantle for change.
