A10 Targets IaaS Providers With New aCloud Services Architecture, Virtual ADCs

A10 Networks this week rolled out a new services architecture aimed at streamlining the process through which enterprises and service providers build and deliver Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offerings.

The new aCloud Services Architecture consists of a number of updated A10 products -- such as its vThunder line of virtual application delivery controllers (ADC) -- and can be integrated with a range of third-party software-defined networking (SDN) and cloud platforms, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cisco's Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI), IBM's SDN for Virtual Environments and Microsoft Windows Server Hyper-V Network Virtualization. A10 said it plans on adding integration with VMware NSX.

A10 said the new aCloud Services Architecture is targeted at both its enterprise and service provider customers, and is meant to help those customers deploy their own public or private IaaS and to dynamically and automatically provision L4-7 network services.

[Related: A10 Taps Former HP Channel Exec To Lead Global Channels ]

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A10 said it expects its aCloud Services Architecture to be embraced not only by large-scale carriers like Deutsche Telekom -- which is one of the early A10 customers to implement the architecture -- but by its enterprise customers, as well, given that both segments feel pressure to move into the cloud services game.

"Everybody is trying to figure out how to migrate from being just a co-location provider or managed hosting provider, to being a cloud service provider," said Jason Matlof, vice presient of worldwide marketing at A10. "It's a critical competitive requirement both for public service provider as well as for private data center operators within the enterprise."

Mark Miller, principal at M&S Technologies, a Dallas-based solution provider and A10 partner, said he was excited about the aCloud Services Architecture launch not only because he sees many of his customers prioritizing a move toward cloud services, but because it shows that A10 is ahead of the curve in terms of aligning itself with major cloud and SDN platforms, such as Cisco ACI.

"It's pretty forward-thinking," said Miller. "Every one of these partner conferences I go to it's, 'SDN, SDN, SDN' -- you just keep hearing that language. So for A10 to come out with something that will integrate with SDN, they are forward-thinking and actually looking to where the applications are moving to."

Underpinning the aCloud Services Architecture is a series of new A10 ADCs. Among them are a next-generation version of A10's vThunder virtual appliance and a hybrid virtual appliance (HVA) that A10 said can run up to 40 vThunder appliances simultaneously on top of its Thunder hardware appliances.

There is also a new Amazon Web Services appliance, which is a virtual appliance available via the Amazon Web Services (AWS) marketplace, A10 said.

Matlof said the vThunder virtual appliance is ideal for enterprises building internal private clouds, while HVA is designed more for high-performance cloud data centers. The AWS appliance, he said, is ideal for existing AWS customers. The aCloud Services Architecture also can be used alongside cloud orchestration platforms, such as Microsoft Systems Center Virtual Machine Manager.

A10 also announced a licensing model for aCloud, which will let service providers offer subscription-based ADC services to customers based on a pay-as-you-go model.

A10 said the new vThunder and HVA appliances are available now, with the AWS appliance coming sometime in the first quarter.

PUBLISHED JAN. 31, 2014