We've mentioned this concept now of middle mile optimization and in the
previous skill
we actually talked about this without calling it this, but we've now approached
it from
two different perspectives.
So the first time we talked about it in the previous skill was the idea or at
least within
the context of those multi-region fabrics.
And so the idea being that we build SD WANs in one region, we build SD WAN
edges and
in another region and then we build this core to our SD WAN environment that
has its own
edges within specific regions.
And now we can form full meshes from an IPsec perspective this way and then
connect in or
connect our routers together in the core.
And so the idea here was that we leverage this very high quality network in the
middle
rather than relying on some random service providers best circuits, which may
or may
not be good at all, I can now leverage this infrastructure in the middle.
And so we just saw this basically repeated in the same concept by leveraging
our on-ramp
for multi-cloud and specifically by leveraging the architecture that was for
site to site.
So our site to site architecture leverages now a cloud service provider.
The main difference between these is what we're using in the middle.
For on-ramp for multi-cloud, we're truly using the cloud service provider's
network
as the core of our network.
And it's kind of funny because it feels like we're doing it without their
permission.
Now in the end, we're using their network in the way we want to use their
network.
It's not like we're breaking any terms of service.
It's just that from their perspective, they're providing us networking, we're
paying them
for the networking, and then we're using it to build out a core so that we can
leverage
middle mile optimization.
Meanwhile with multi-region fabrics, we can use cloud service providers.
We just demonstrated that using the on-ramp for multi-cloud solution here.
But we can also leverage a provider known as an SDCI which stands for a
software-defined
cloud interconnect.
Kind of interesting.
Now these are two very different types of organization.
Cloud service providers are focused on their cloud services.
And as a result, they create the networking that we're going to leverage.
SDCI is all about the network.
It's almost like it's a cloud service provider except they're only providing
networking.
They're not providing any of the software as a service.
Infrastructure as a service, especially infrastructure as a service types of
capabilities.
Pretty interesting.
In fact, the reason why they have the word cloud in there for cloud inter
connect is because
they're trying to become the cloud edge.
What they want to do is enable high throughput, high bandwidth, and low latency
communications
with cloud providers.
The idea being when we look at an SDCI that I now connect into, so here's my
corporate
network down here, I connect into an SDCI using the best connection that I have
.
Then they have these super highways to all of the other CSPs.
I'm just listing out, for example, Amazon and Azure and Google, the three that
Cisco
currently supports, but they're going to have very high connection options or
high throughput
options to all of these other clouds.
Meanwhile, if I were to use my normal internet, maybe I do have a really good
connection to
Google, but maybe less so to Azure and maybe even less so to AWS.
It's a little bit of a role of the dice in today's world with what I get out of
an internet
circuit.
So this concept of middle mile optimization, I just want to make sure that we
understand
that concept as we talk about the next solution because it's all about middle
mile optimization,
but it's done so in a way that also provides a little bit of infrastructure.
So that's exactly what on ramp for co-location is about.
And as I mentioned, the concept of co-location, the concept of on ramp for co-
location, just
because of the word co-location here, it just feels a little bit like I might
expect something
that's not actually the result of this or what it actually is.
So what exactly is co-low?
Well, co-low is sort of like infrastructure as a service, except now I need to
provide
my own hardware.
So well, the whole point of infrastructure as a service was I didn't have to
provide
hardware and that's true, except now I can rent somebody else's data center
because I
might need some sophisticated hardware.
I might want to build my own servers and control the performance that I have,
but I don't necessarily
want to go into my headquarters building and carve out a big chunk of space to
be my data
center.
Instead, I would say, okay, I'm going to go to a co-location facility and they
have a data
center and they have lots of racks of equipment and then these racks are lots
of customers.
So I am going to be a customer that consumes, let's just say, these three racks
.
So now I can take my hardware, plug it into their racks and one of the great
parts about
a co-location and a data center is sort of like an SDCI here, a lot of data
centers will
bring in very strong connections.
In fact, sometimes this is referred to as a carrier hotel concept, but the idea
is that
usually data centers are not hurting for fiber connectivity and so they're
placed along a
highway.
They've got lots of fiber, they have lots of carriers present and so they can
provide
very high throughputs in order for us to connect back to our corporate networks
.
So this is traditional colo.
So when Cisco says on-ramp for colo, what they're saying is not that we're
going to
connect us to our colo because you and I at this point, we could probably look
at that
and say, cool, I'll just deploy an SD-WAN edge here and I'll connect in.
And yeah, that's all we'd have to do.
We can connect to the colo ourselves.
That's not what on-ramp for colo is.
On-ramp for colo is going to take advantage of the fact that, hey, we have rack
space,
two things here, we have rack space and we have some of that networking that we
care
so much about.
Now in this case, it's not so much a cloud service provider and it's probably
not necessarily
an SD-CI although certainly they could be there representing as one of the
carriers.
But we are going to take advantage of probably some fiber network, low latency,
high bandwidth.
So we'll just call this some kind of carrier.
But the fact that we have rack space and the network allows us to do something
kind of
cool.
First of all, it does still allow us to do the middle mile management or middle
mile optimization
rather.
And then oh, usually that in the video game world means more massively
multiplayer online.
But I'm just, yeah, I see that acronym and that's what I think of.
But this is middle mile optimization and so I can do that because I have the
networking.
Cool.
You know what else I can do?
I can build out an infrastructure because I have rack space.
This is what on rant for colo is Cisco recognizing that we have an opportunity
to build something
kind of nifty that yeah, again, I can build my own virtual edge and I can
connect into
my own colo space fine.
But what if I want to turn this into something more specifically what Cisco is
going to do
is they're going to allow us to deploy a prepackaged solution.
This prepackaged solution is going to look like this.
It's going to start with a pair of catalyst 9500s.
And then it's also going to include a pair of what we call CSP 5000s where CSP
stands
for the cloud services platform.
What is the cloud services platform cloud services platform is intended to be a
hardware
container, basically a server.
And it's going to allow me it's got the tools to allow me to very seamlessly
spin up virtual
network functions or VNFs, which by the way, sometimes are referred to as
network function
virtualizations or NFEs.
But I would say more and more the industry seems to be calling them VNFs.
A VNF is essentially taking a network device like a router or a firewall or a
wireless
LAN controller.
We've got all kinds of different appliances, network appliances that
effectively operate
as if they're end user devices.
They plug into the network.
They're not operating as switches.
And so what we can do is we can take these virtual functions like a virtual
edge, for
example, like a virtual firewall, like a traffic inspector.
Then I can build a virtual infrastructure that connects into my very high
throughput switches.
And then this connects to, well, here to the very high throughput network.
What we're essentially saying is we're going to build this really cool
architecture.
However, we want to draw it.
This is really cool architecture that provides network services.
And furthermore, it's part because there's a virtual edge in there, it's part
of the SD
WAN environment.
So now all of my other SD WAN edge devices are able, or sites, really, the
users at these
sites are able to come in, take advantage of these network services.
Now, to some extent, this might be us taking advantage of them because, again,
there could
be firewalls in here.
It could be some kind of traffic inspector, maybe a intrusion prevention system
, something
along those lines.
But either way, we bring them into this and then we connect them into our
middle mile
optimization to get us to where or get them to wherever it is that they're
going.
It turns a colo space into a set of network functions that we pass our users
through.
So this is the purpose of on ramp for colocation.
If we're thinking about it along the lines of just connecting a virtual edge
into an
existing colo space, that's not quite what this is at all.
In fact, we don't even have to have an existing colo site to turn this online.
I can find a site that has an empty rack, purchase the on ramp for colocation
hardware
that comes from Cisco.
I install it, I spin it up, and I bring my users into it, and I use it as sort
of that
cloud edge middle mile optimization while also injecting Cisco services into
the pathways.
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