Page 19 - FCW, May/June 2018

ADAPTIVE NETWORKS THE FOUNDATION OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Adaptive Networking is Key to IT Modernization
Agencies benefit from scalability, flexibility
With the push to adopt
more efficient IT solutions and a digital approach to government, federal agencies are eager to reap the benefits of cloud and emerging technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, high-definition content, and internet-based sensors. Many struggle to adopt these solutions as they bump
up against network capacity, flexibility and scalability issues. Some older networks with manual processes and legacy protocols can’t adjust to the network demands of the new technologies.
Agencies have no choice but to rethink their networks, says Scott Barnett, vice
president of CenturyLink’s Department
of Defense practice. “Agencies may not
know exactly what their requirements are in the future, so it’s important to have a network infrastructure that can handle whatever the enterprise needs without worrying about whether there will be enough capacity or scalability in the network,” he said.
Barnett says the solution can be found in a partnership CenturyLink has formed with Ciena
to provide adaptive networks to federal agencies. Adaptive networks are designed to carry more data from more sources, quickly and intelligently, adapting to changing requirements and data types, as needed. To achieve this type of flexibility, adaptive networks
are built with artificial intelligence and are fully automated and programmable. The result is a network that is more intuitive, scalable, flexible, and cost- effective
MEETING AGENCY NETWORKING NEEDS
Agencies frequently need additional network capacity for short periods of time. It could be for a planned event like a data center backup, a seasonal spike such as tax filing, or an unanticipated event such as an emergency response. With traditional networks, agencies must
buy more network capacity than they normally need to cover these situations. With an adaptive network, they can quickly switch flows from one place in the network
“we can provide ubiquitous encryption across a wide area, and that encrypted waves are no longer a huge impediment in terms of cost or performance.”
— James Westdorp, Chief Technologist, Ciena Government Solutions
to another, without having to buy additional capacity. Adaptive networks are based on a programmable
infrastructure that manages the network’s
physical and virtual elements. The programmable infrastructure acts like a sensor and produces data about network trends, traffic patterns, vulnerabilities, peaks and valleys, latency issues and capacity. It then
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