Big Switch Networks vs. Ixia Network Packet Brokers

Big Switch Networks is at the forefront of the next-generation of networking technologies. By combining industry standard switch hardware (“white box / branded white box “brite box”) with intelligent SDN control software, the company is delivering next-generation data center networking fabrics for the world’s most advanced data centers looking to achieve unmatched degrees of network automation at cloud-competitive price points.

Big Switch Networks has two data center networking solutions: Big Cloud Fabric, a data center switching fabric for OpenStack clouds or VMware virtualization environments, and Big Monitoring Fabric, a network packet broker that enables pervasive security and security, monitoring data center traffic for inline or out-of-band deployments. Big Switch is taking three key technologies: vendor agnostic switch hardware, SDN control software, and core-and-pod data center designs –and leveraging them for use in next-generation data center switching and monitoring solutions designed for use in enterprises, cloud providers, and service providers.

All Big Switch solutions run on high-performance open networking switches from Accton or Dell Technologies and leverage centralized SDN controller software for fabric-wide control and management. Big Switch Networks has two solutions:

Network packet brokers (NPBs) filter traffic to send only the right data to the right tool. Packets are aggregated and filtered from Layer 2 through to the application layer. Duplicate packets can also be removed and sensitive content stripped before the data is sent to the monitoring tools if that is required. This provides a better solution to improve the efficiency and utility of your monitoring tools.

• Aggregates monitored traffic from multiple links and segments
• Deep packet inspection and filtering grooms traffic to relieve overburdened monitoring tools
• Extended burst protection, available with the Advanced Feature Module, offers traffic management, and protection to online businesses subject to bursts of activity
• Installs, configures, and sends clean traffic to appliances in less than thirty minutes
• Time stamping and data masking aid in compliance and working with sensitive data