As the program manager for the AllianceONE networking specialization, I'm pleased to introduce a guest post from one of our earliest alliance partners: Peter Phaal from InMon Corp.
As part of that research we identified packet sampling as a critical technology for creating scalable measurement systems. HP Labs demonstrated a prototype measurement system based on packet sampling at the Telecom 91 show in Geneva, and we transferred the technology to HP’s networking division in Roseville, California. The implementation of packet sampling that we developed was included in HP’s Ethertwist product line as HP Embedded Advanced Sampling Technology (HP EASE) and in the NetMetrix line of probes.
Managing traffic
In 1999, HP approached us to see if we would be interested in developing tools that could be used to manage traffic on their internal network. This was during the height of the Internet boom, and managing the dramatic increases in network traffic was a significant challenge. The demand for bandwidth was also driving a period of innovation in network technology, resulting in the widespread adoption of Gigabit Ethernet switching.
We found that most large organizations were facing the same challenges as HP, and we started InMon in 1999 to develop software to manage traffic on high-speed, switched networks. We realized that the only way to gain visibility into network traffic was to partner with switch vendors in order to embed instrumentation. What was needed was a technology that was simple enough to implement in the switch hardware while providing the detailed, network-wide visibility needed for effective management.
InMon, drawing on the earlier experience in HP Labs, developed an innovative combination of sampling technologies that addressed the unique challenges posed by Gigabit switching. The measurement technology was quickly embraced by hardware vendors and the first products supporting sFlow® were released in 2000 by Foundry Networks and HP. Our commitment to multi-vendor standards led us to open source the sFlow standard and we jointly founded the sFlow.org industry consortium with our partners in order to develop and promote the sFlow standard.
As part of its commitment to open standards, HP joined sFlow.org as a founding member having implementing sFlow across the full range of HP networking products. The sFlow standard has continued to evolve and adapt to changes in networking technologies. In 2007, HP and InMon co-authored extensions to sFlow to address the requirements for performance management in wireless networks.
Today, networking technology is undergoing another period of rapid change in order to address the requirements of data center consolidation, virtualization and cloud computing. As data center networking converges around a high-speed switched fabric, the sFlow standard simplifies management by providing unified visibility into network and storage performance.
To complete the picture, InMon is working with HP and other industry partners to extend sFlow monitoring into servers; providing visibility into the performance of virtual switches as well as physical and virtual servers. By unifying network, storage and server performance monitoring, sFlow dramatically simplifies data center operations, breaking down management silos and laying the foundation for automation and optimization.
sFlow and HP FlexFabric
Andy Bryant, who works for HP Networking, spoke to Dan Montesanto recently about how FlexFabric fits in HP's data center networking vision. His post describes the essential role that FlexFabric plays in HP’s Converged Infrastructure Architecture. The integrated, edge-to-core sFlow monitoring built into the components of a FlexFabric network provide the information needed to effectively target controls and optimize resource allocation within the converged infrastructure.
InMon and HP work closely together to deliver best-in-class solutions based around the sFlow standard. InMon is an HP AllianceONE parter. My recent blog, "Maintaining network visibility in a converged infrastructure", describes how InMon’s Traffic Sentinel delivers network visibility and control in HP Converged Infrastructure environments.
To find out more about sFlow, see sFlow.org and read the sFlow blog for the latest news and developments. And to read more about other ways HP is innovating to deliver HP Converged Infrastructure, see "The story of IT innovation behind HP Converged Infrastructure".
