Networking & Wireless

Saisei Intros Net Neutrality in a Box

• By Leila Meyer
• 04/09/15

Saisei, a company that develops network analysis and control software, has introduced Net-Neutrality-in-a-Virtual-Box, a simplified version of its FlowCommand network performance enforcement software.

Net-Neutrality-in-a-Virtual-Box is designed to help organizations enforce fair usage of network bandwidth, such as ensuring each university dorm room has equal access to the wireless network, without the need to block specific types of traffic.

Net-Neutrality-in-a-Virtual-Box includes a preconfigured feature called "Host Equalization" that automatically identifies, monitors and controls network traffic in real time, giving all users equal bandwidth, regardless of the type of application they are running. The system prevents applications that are high bandwidth consumers, such as streaming video apps, from dominating the network and balances bandwidth allocation equally to all users.

The technology "works by allocating a guaranteed bit rate to each discrete flow for each user and actively manages the target rates for these flows and users independently in a very IP friendly manner," according to information from Saisei. The company claims that this method lets organizations run their network peak loads at around 95 percent efficiency and eliminates congestion.

Key features of Net-Neutrality-in-a-Virtual-Box include:

• Deployment either as a virtual machine under hypervisor control (VMware of KVM) or on Saisei-certified bare-metal x86 server cores;
• Support for links up to 10 gigabits, with higher bandwidth solutions under development;
• Real-time analytics based on 40+ Layer 2 to Layer 7 metrics along with complete flow data history;
• REST API for integration with other operating systems; and
• Full integration with OpenStack for network functions virtualization (NFV) deployments.

Net-Neutrality-in-a-Virtual-Box offers a single level of service. Institutions that want to offer multiple tiers of bandwidth allocation will need to choose a different product, such as Saisei's FlowCommand.

Further information about Net-Neutrality-in-a-Virtual-Box can be found on Saisei's site.