Ruckus’ virtual data plane to help operators separate traffic

• New vSZ-D software works with Ruckus’ Virtual SmartZone controllers
• Improves flexibility, cost and performance for large WiFi networks

 
RUCKUS Wireless Inc said it has begun shipping a new virtual data plane for WiFi that segregates data traffic from control traffic on large wireless networks.
 
Carriers and enterprises will now have maximum flexibility in network deployments, installing multiple data flow managers across a distributed network to help optimise cost and performance based on user demands, it said in a statement.
 
The new software – called Virtual SmartZone Data Plane (vSZ-D) – works with Ruckus’ Virtual SmartZone controllers, which provide a software-based system for managing wireless networks.
 
Virtual SmartZone has more than 700 customers in production networks, managing more than 200,000 access points, Ruckus said in its statement.
 
Virtual SmartZone was a result of the industry’s network functions virtualisation (NFV) movement, which encapsulates key network functions in software that can run on industry-standard hardware.
 
“Ruckus is … making it easier for carriers and enterprises to virtualise and optimise their networks,” Ruckus product management vice president Greg Beach.
 
“Separating control and data traffic delivers significant flexibility, cost and performance advantages for networks that support thousands of devices and access points,” he added.
 
Virtual SmartZone Data Plane provides a flexible, cost-effective approach to aggregate and tunnel end-user data for specific application or security policy needs.
 
Tunnelling traditionally drives up cost and lowers performance, requiring expensive physical controllers to be replicated at each site, while increasing hardware and labour costs as the network grows.
 
By contrast, vSZ-D distributes the workload across multiple, inexpensive systems, requiring only a single controller instance along with vSZ-D deployments at remote sites, Ruckus said.
 
Data also moves faster because it can bypass the controller with only incremental impact on each site.
 
vSZ-D is immediately available as an extension to Ruckus’ existing Virtual SmartZone controllers – offered in a ‘high scale’ version (vSZ-H) for carriers and large enterprises, and an ‘essentials’ version (vSZ-E) for large and mid-size enterprises.
 
Customers will need to upgrade their vSZ-H or vSZ-E controllers to version 3.2 in order to use the vSZ-D software.
 
Virtual SmartZone pricing starts at US$995 per instance, plus US$100 per access point licence. vSZ-D pricing starts at US$995 per instance.
 
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