Megaport Limited, a global provider of Network as a Service (NaaS), has launched Megaport Virtual Edge (MVE), an innovative product that will make it possible to host Network Function Virtualization (NFV) as SD-WAN capabilities, directly on the global Software Defined Network (SDN) from Megaport.
With MVE, customers will connect to Megaport’s extensive platform to organize and extend their network functions closer to the edge, in real time, and without the need to implement hardware. Megaport and Cisco are collaborating to make Cisco SD-WAN as the first use case in MVE.
“As companies and service providers begin to fully understand the benefits of SD-WAN, the ability for Megaport customers to” spin-up “(accelerate to maximum rotation) easily, and in minutes, on applications SD-WAN virtual networks around the world on our platform represent a great enabler for global organizations, “said Vincent English , Megaport’s CEO. “Having these virtual applications fully integrated into the Megaport Interconnection Platform leveraging our multi-cloud connectivity takes this to another level.”
And the highly distributed MVE footprint will align with global trade hubs to support traffic localization for low latency networks and provide an interconnect port to securely manage multi-cloud and multi-site interconnection. MVE includes gateway functionality to connect with Megaport’s SDN in a platform neutral and technology agnostic way, allowing customers to move beyond legacy network models and take a unified approach to managing their network.
SD-WAN in MVE
SD-WAN, the first network use case supported by MVE, allows customers to take advantage of Megaport’s secure, on-demand network from any SD-WAN location connected to the Internet around the world. This empowers customers to build a scalable, unified multi-cloud network architecture as their business grows – in minutes.
Customers will fully host and manage instances of SD-WAN devices in the MVE in order to connect to Megaport’s global interconnection fabric with SD-WAN-enabled locations. The configuration and maintenance of SD-WAN instances is enabled through an API and will soon be available through Megaport’s “point-and-client” portal. Once connected, local SD-WAN skills can provide on-demand connections to Megaport’s leading ecosystem of cloud and IT service providers, in addition to more than 700 enabled data centers.
Megaport is integrated with more than 200 cloud access services – most of them being a neutral elastic interconnection platform – and has an ecosystem of more than 360 360 service providers, including Alibaba Cloud , AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Oracle Cloud, and Salesforce, among others. MVE reveals the strength of Megaport’s ecosystem and makes it available, regardless of location.
Megaport’s SDN provides operator-level private connectivity that scales and secures traffic to vital locations and service providers to address performance and security requirements for mission-critical applications. More than 1,850 customers trust Megaport to power their digital businesses.
Megaport and Cisco have an initiative to integrate Megaport Virtual Edge with Cisco’s secure SD-WAN, powered by Viptela, to enable Megaport’s SDA interoperation with Cisco’s SD-WAN mesh technology. Megaport and Cisto invited a select list of customers to participate in the beta phase of the MVE program. The general availability of the Cisco SD-WAN platform in MVE is planned for the first quarter of 2021.
“The development of Megaport Virtual Edge marks a turning point for Megaport,” said Bevan Slattery , founder and president of Megaport. “By creating a platform that will link various types of network access directly to Megaport’s SDN, we effectively make it possible to connect to our leading ecosystem of service providers and data centers from anywhere in the world. This will put the strength of interconnection elastic in the hands of more businesses around the world. We’re excited to work with Cisco to integrate its SD-WAN services into MVE, so that customers can gain full control over how they connect to the vital services they feed your business.”