Enterprise Systems,Virtualized Environments,VPN

Boosting the Signal from Space: MetTel Labs Deploys VMware SD-WAN over Starlink

boosting-the-signal-from
MetTel announced today that its Customer Innovation Labs, the research and development unit of MetTel, has deployed its Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) service using the VMware SD-WAN™ solution over SpaceX's Starlink satellite service.

These technologies far outpace the growth of the overall IT market which Gartner predicts at 5.1% year-over-year in 2023. According to the 2022 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for SD-WAN report, "The SD-WAN market is forecast to generate a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% in end-user spending from 2020 through 2026."

Starlink's service has expanded significantly with more than 3,000 satellites in orbit and over 500,000 customers since 2019, according to research firm Ookla, with an estimated 500% growth in supporting terminals since 2021.

Led by MetTel Chief Technology Officer, Ed Fox, MetTel Labs strives to innovate, test, and prove new technologies, services and best practices with enterprise customers. In the case of Starlink, MetTel collaborated with multiple enterprise clients to deploy SD-WAN technology over the satellite network and bring high bandwidth communications to remote locations that would otherwise lack Internet access. Among the active use cases are a large government agency and a leader in the environmental management industry.

"Deployment of earth-based SD-WAN over Starlink will bring business-grade connectivity and network management to every remote location where it's needed for our clients," said Fox. "MetTel is thrilled to upgrade the quality of space-based communication while extending the reach of our SD-WAN network to any location worldwide."

As an access technology, satellite communication has always been a challenge as signals must travel up to space and back down to earth, introducing latency and eroding performance. Many satellite communication providers use packet manipulation like queuing to provide a better consumer experience, but when using a business-oriented overlay technology like SD-WAN the packet manipulation can inhibit the performance of the network. Starlink's low-earth orbit system provides low latency, high bandwidth transmissions without heavy processing of traditional satellite, enabling the MetTel Labs team to integrate space-based access paths into its existing terrestrial SD-WAN networks.

"The promise of space-based communication is limitless.By deploying SD-WAN over the Starlink satellite network, MetTel is bringing the benefits of VMware SD-WAN -- cloud-delivered, resilient networking with embedded security, along with DMPO which will automatically remediate transient satellite link issues -- to anywhere on earth, without the need for terrestrial networks."

Craig Connors, vice president and general manager of VMware's SASE business. 


VMware SD-WAN™ and VMware SASE™ bring cloud-delivered networking, security, and AIOps together with compute to support secure, ubiquitous access to Cloud and SaaS for branch and remote workers as well modern applications at the edge. VMware's SD-WAN solution makes intelligent routing decisions based on network conditions and then steers traffic to the optimal network path to meet customers' service level requirements and provide a better user experience for applications.

Working with VMware SASE and SD-WAN solutions, MetTel has built a global cloud network with 19 data centers and points of presence (PoPs) to deliver its secure networking services as a fully managed service.  A recognized leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Managed Network Services for 2020 and 2021, MetTel has engineered some of the largest commercial implementations of SD-WAN and cloud firewall in North America, each connecting thousands of locations with high performance and scalable bandwidth in many different verticals such as retail including the largest jewelry retailer in the world, automotive, and waste management.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for SD-WAN, Jonathan Forest, Naresh Singh, Andrew Lerner, Karen Brown, 12 September 2022.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About MetTel
MetTel is a leader in communications and digital transformation (DX) solutions for enterprise customers. By converging all communications over a proprietary network, MetTel gives enterprises one, unified view and control point for all their communications and advanced network services. MetTel's comprehensive portfolio of customer solutions can boost enterprise productivity, reduce costs and simplify operations.

Spotlight

Other News
Virtual Desktop Tools, Virtual Desktop Strategies

Leostream Enhances Security and Management of vSphere Hybrid Cloud Deployments

Business Wire | January 29, 2024

Leostream Corporation, the world's leading Remote Desktop Access Platform provider, today announced features to enhance security, management, and end-user productivity in vSphere-based hybrid cloud environments. The Leostream platform strengthens end-user computing (EUC) capabilities for vSphere users, including secure access to both on-premises and cloud environments, heterogeneous support, and reduced cloud costs. With the Leostream platform as the single pane of glass managing EUC environments, any hosted desktop environment, including individual virtual desktops, multi-user sessions, hosted physical workstations or desktops, and hosted applications, becomes simpler to manage, more secure, more flexible, and more cost-effective. Significant ways the Leostream platform expands vSphere’s capabilities include: Security The Leostream platform ensures data remains locked in the corporate network, and works across on-premises and cloud environments, providing even disparate infrastructures with the same levels of security and command over authorization, control, and access tracking. The Leostream platform supports multi-factor authentication and allows organizations to enforce strict access control rules, creating an EUC environment modeled on a zero-trust architecture. Multivendor/protocol support The Leostream platform was developed from the ground up for heterogeneous infrastructures and as the connection management layer of the EUC environment, the Leostream platform allows organizations to leverage vSphere today and other hypervisors or hyperconvergence platforms in the future as their needs evolve. The Leostream platform supports the industry’s broadest array of remote display protocols, including specialized protocols for mission-critical tasks. Consistent EUC experience The Leostream platform enables IT to make changes to the underlying environment while ensuring the end user experience is constant, and to incorporate AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or OpenStack private clouds into their environment without disruptions in end-user productivity. By integrating with corporate Identity Providers (IdPs) that employees are already familiar with, and providing employees with a single portal they use to sign in, the Leostream platform offers simplicity to users too. Connectivity The Leostream Gateway securely connects to on-prem and cloud resources without virtual private networks (VPNs), and eliminates the need to manage and maintain security groups. End users get the same seamless login and high-performance connection across hybrid environments including corporate resources located off the internet. Controlling cloud costs The Leostream Connection Broker implements automated rules that control capacity and power state in the cloud, allowing organizations to optimize their cloud usage and minimize costs, such as ensuring cloud instances aren’t left running when they are no longer needed. The Connection Broker also intelligently pools and shares resources across groups of users, so organizations can invest in fewer systems, reducing overall cost of ownership. “These features deliver a streamlined experience with vSphere and hybrid or multi-cloud resources so end users remain productive, and corporate data and applications remain secure,” said Leostream CEO Karen Gondoly. “At a time when there is uncertainty about the future of support for VMware’s end-user computing, it’s important to bring these options to the market to show that organizations can extend vSphere’s capabilities and simultaneously plan for the future without disruption to the workforce.” About Leostream Corporation Leostream Corporation, the global leader in Remote Desktop Access Platforms, offers comprehensive solutions that enable seamless work-from-anywhere environments for individuals across diverse industries, regardless of organization size or location. The core of the Leostream platform is its commitment to simplicity and insight. It is driven by a unified administrative console that streamlines the management of users, cloud desktops, and IT assets while providing real-time dashboards for informed decision-making. The company continually monitors the evolving remote desktop landscape, anticipating future trends and challenges. This purposeful, proactive approach keeps clients well-prepared for the dynamic changes in remote desktop technology.

Read More