White Paper Abstract:
Borderless networking is a set of technologies that span switching, routing, mobility, security, and application acceleration and promote service agility and business responsiveness, anywhere, any time, and to anyone. A borderless network is required to accommodate major trends that are reshaping the industry, touching many different aspects of the network. IT consumerization is driving new devices and new applications into the enterprise at an unprecedented rate. Mobility has enabled access to the network from a diverse set of devices. Organizations are taking in account their environmental responsibilities and are looking at optimizing their energy consumption. We are seeing tremendous adoption of everything delivered as service, driven by the cost advantage and flexibility it offers to an IT organization. Lastly, video is a powerful medium that is being used across enterprises for both internal and external applications. Borderless Networking Requirements Borderless enterprise requires a borderless network architected to meet these new needs. High-quality video traffic with devices such as Cisco TelePresence™ conferencing requires low delay, low jitter, and high-capacity transport. Smartphones can pose multiple security challenges when the border with the wireless provider is removed. Wireless devices also pose security and performances challenges. Saving energy at both the datacenter side and desktop side will require enforcing different sets of energy policies. Providing a highly dependable environment requires a set of functionalities that greatly reduce downtime during routine maintenance but also in case of unexpected failure.