The rise of hyperconverged infrastructure inside the data center has changed the way IT organizations need to think about securing those environments. As such, traditional firewalls simply can’t keep pace with the way those data centers now operate.
To address that issue, vArmour created its Distributed Security System that makes use of multiple distributed sensors that feed data back into a central security management system that applies policies across the elements of the data centers as if they were one logical entity. Making use of REST applications programming interfaces to integrate endpoints across the data center, the vArmour Distributed Security System creates new security fabric that adapts better to rapidly changing data center environments, said Dean Hickman-Smith, senior vice president of field operations for vArmour.
“Firewalls are no longer aligned with how traffic flows in the data center,” Hickman-Smith said. “What we’ve developed is a unique approach to security that scales within a hyperconverged data center.
Now, vArmour is looking to recruit channel partners into a global program that not only spans traditional demand-generation programs along with services and support capabilities, but also provides an approach to distributed security that Hickman-Smith contends is twice as profitable as traditional hardware-centric approaches to data center security.
Technology Business Research predicts that hyperconverged data center environments will generate more than $19 billion in revenue annually by 2018.
However, many solution providers don’t fully appreciate all the security aspects of making that shift.
vArmour provides a mechanism not only to secure those environments, but also to provide managed security services for hyperconverged platforms, Hickman-Smith said.
Although the degree to which individual IT organizations will make the shift to hyperconverged infrastructure inside the data center may be debatable, the entire IT environment will soon be defined by software up to and including everything and anything to do with IT security.
As a result, Hickman-Smith said vArmour is looking to work with solution providers that have deep understanding of how modern data centers are evolving. “We’re looking to work with a fairly limited number of partners,” Hickman-Smith said. “What we really need are partners that understand how the data center really operates.”
Michael Vizard has been covering IT issues in the enterprise for 25 years as an editor and columnist for publications such as InfoWorld, eWEEK, Baseline, CRN, ComputerWorld and Digital Review.