Infrastructure-as-a-Service has been discussed in prior articles (IaaS). Today, we’ll move on to Network-as-a-Service (Network-as-a-Service) (NaaS). We’ll go through the most important aspects of NaaS. So, readers, let’s get started on today’s adventure.
Table of Contents
What is Networking-as-a-Service (NaaS) and how does it work?
Users will have access to a complete networking infrastructure as well as security. It is primarily intended for those who do not wish to create their application. It is feasible for users to deploy bespoke protocols with NaaS.
Hardware-centric VPNs, load balancers, VPNs, firewall applications, and Multiprotocol Label Switching connections can all be reduced and deducted using NaaS.
Users can scale up and down based on their needs. Services may be quickly and easily implemented.
NaaS is comparable to other cloud services in that clients can use software to perform networking operations. Without the hardware, users or businesses can build up their networks. The internet is the most important prerequisite.
The networking architecture of an enterprise might be significantly impacted by a new traffic routing and security policy in NaaS.
The obligation for providing networking infrastructure will be assumed by the network service provider. It indicates that the network infrastructure can be delivered by a third party. Virtualization is sometimes included in NaaS via the OpenFlow protocol.
NaaS Mobile
On mobile devices, Mobile NaaS gives users more efficient and flexible control. It uses virtualization to simplify the architecture and provide an efficient workflow.
How did NaaS come to be?
The web was not regarded as a trusted location to do business when most firms were establishing their network architecture. They created their internal private versions of the web and used rented links to connect facilities.
They had to set up their wide area networks (WANs), and each office site required its firewalls, DDoS protection, load balancing, and other technology.
Using a method like MPLS, businesses are also required to set up dedicated connections between each location.
When all of the company’s employees connect to the internet rather than the internal network, their traffic must first pass through the company’s networking infrastructure via a VPN before it can reach the internet.
For instance, if the company’s headquarters are in Austin, Texas, and a company employee in a branch office in New Orleans, Louisiana, has to load a website. Their webpage request would go through the company VPN, over an MPLS network to the headquarters in Austin (approximately 800 kilometers away), and then bend the Internet.
As more corporate activity moved to the cloud, this paradigm quickly became inefficient. Assume the employee in New Orleans often used a SaaS service, which required them to constantly load content over the internet.
Within the Austin data center, their requests, and hence the demands of other employees, would become bottlenecked, reducing network connectivity.
In addition, as cloud computing got more efficient, more capabilities were available through the cloud. With the support of the Cloud, an organization’s IT team does not have to worry about constructing and maintaining DDoS mitigation, firewalls, load balancing, and other networking services.
For these reasons, NaaS may be a more efficient solution than relying on internally managed WANs, which require ongoing maintenance and might cause network traffic bottlenecks.
Organizations that use NaaS can connect their cloud apps or services directly using a virtual network. The external vendor is responsible for managing and protecting more than internal IT teams to practice and be active with on-demand network services.
In the current context, the company uses a NaaS paradigm. Employees in New Orleans will never have to wait for their web traffic to pass through the internal company network.
Instead, customers simply connect to the internet and log in using a browser, allowing them to access all of their cloud services.
The service provider will be responsible for securing their browsing activities, protecting their data, and effectively routing their web traffic wherever it needs to go.
What is the method for delivering NaaS?
The user must first log in to the cloud provider’s online interface, where they will be given an Online API to use NaaS. The user can access and customize the route from this location. And the user must pay the billing amount based on the capacity used. The user also can cancel or switch off the electricity at any time.
NaaS’s Requirements
Because the existing DC represents a considerable investment, one of the main requirements is to integrate current DC hardware. Massive DC deployments lose value due to the use of commodity networking equipment.
The natural programming model, also known as the high-level model, should be exposed via NaaS. Furthermore, it should not show the full intricacy of the DC’s physical structure.
The third criteria are that NaaS should be able to support many apps that are executing at the same time and are unaware of each other. Scalability and multi-tenancy isolation are the terms used to describe the situation.
NaaS’s characteristics
Let us now look at the properties of NaaS.
- NaaS allows users to securely access the internet directly. It also allows users to run their own custom routing protocols.
- NaaS uses a virtualized network to provide network services to its consumers. This feature relieves users of the burden of building and managing infrastructure. As a result, users may concentrate on their development and business.
- It gives consumers access to a virtual environment that helps them save money on hardware and upkeep.
- Remote access is one of the key advantages, allowing users to access data from any location with a stable internet connection.
Architecture of a NaaS
The network devices in a NaaS architecture can run tenant programming. It is in charge of the tenant code execution in the NaaS Box.
The switch hardware for NaaS boxes can be harmonized. It can be used with a variety of devices that are connected via high-bandwidth networks. The elements of network processing materials for conducting application-specific process packets that flow through them are housed in the NaaS box.
Service Model of NasS
The following are the three service models offered by NaaS:
- On-Demand Bandwidth
Demand is a method of allocating capacity. In the end, it is determined by the requirements of various users and nodes. The charges can be adjusted based on the traffic demand of nodes linked to the network.
2. Virtual Private Network (VPN)
The Virtual Private Network is the second service on the list (VPN). The private network and its resources are integrated into this service. Networks such as the public internet are included in VPN. It allows the host to send and receive data via the shared secret network, as well as access its features and policies.
- Virtualization of Mobile Networks
The network operator is in charge of planning and managing the network. It then sells its software to a third-party buyer. The NaaS consists of the following components:
User-friendly and scalable
Protocols for multicasting
Firewall protection
Detecting and preventing intrusion
Wide Area Networking (WAN) (WAN)
VPS (Virtual Private System) (VPN)
On-demand bandwidth
Content monitoring with custom routing
Filtering.
The NaaS providers concentrate on a few key areas, such as:
Extremely safe connectivity
The configuration that is quite basic
Mobile and temporary venues are served by this company.
Small and medium-sized businesses benefit the most from NaaS. It advantages users who haven’t made any investments in the Wide Area Network. It is popular because it eliminates the expense of capital investment, making it the model of choice over others.
Benefits of NaaS
- Flexibility: In the cloud, network modifications are made through software rather than hardware. It is straightforward for the users to change their networks as per requirements.
- Scalability: Compared to traditional hardware-based services, NaaS is more scalable. Instead of acquiring and installing the gear, businesses may just rent the benefits.
- No Maintenance: It is the obligation of the cloud provider to maintain the networks, their managing software and hardware upgrades.
- Access Remotely: The users can access its resources from anywhere and via any device. But without utilizing a VPN it requires stringent access controls. All users must have their login credentials and adequate internet connectivity.
- Secure: NaaS provides customers with several security components like firewalls. It results in the close integration between network and network security.
- Cost Savings: This factor relies upon the cloud vendor. The consumers can purchase cloud services rather than creating their own infrastructure. The user has no responsibility to acquire and maintain the hardware. It is the obligation of the cloud vendor who has to deliver the service.
- Bursting: The user will have to pay for a high capacity network solely on the requirement.
- Isolation: The traffic of the user gets isolated logically.
- Independence: Every user is separate or independent and can segregate the network.
Challenges of NaaS
- Compatibility: The NaaS vendor’s infrastructure could not be compatible with legacy systems that are still using the older hardware, on-premise-based apps, etc.
- Legacy data centers: In many enterprises, important applications and processes still run in on-premise data centers, not the cloud. In NaaS, the following step pushes the migration process slightly more complex.
- Vendor lock-in: Moving to a cloud service always involves the possibility that an enterprise may become too reliant on a particular service provider. If the service provider’s infrastructure fails or raises its costs, vendor lock-in might have serious ramifications.
Naas Network Agility
NaaS allows users the ability to pay for the services depending upon the usage and scale as per company changes. It also authorizes the users to monitor, control networking services, and keep an eye to track billings and use. NaaS services can be ordered, deployed, and co-managed on demand.
NaaS Examples
Holistically, NaaS is often used to a gaggle of apps and services. E.g., Aryaka and Pertino provide WAN and secure VPNs as a service, Amazon, on the other hand, offers web-hosting, storage, and personal cloud as a service. In contrast, Akamai offers CDN as a service, and a few service providers provide “Bandwidth On Demand” additionally to the hosted networks as a service.
The benefits emerging out of NaaS are driving its market expansion. For instance, in 2016, the Network as a Service market was valued at $1.85 billion, as per data from Statistics MRC, and by 2022 it’s going to reach about $22.5 billion valuations; at a compound annual rate of increase of 51.60 percent, over six years.
However, NaaS has got to add up within the context of a company’s infrastructure.
Conclusion
As the technology grows, the software also increases. So, in today’s article, we have gained experience with a new cloud service. Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) is a unique and trending technology among users and enterprises.
