Speared on by expanded network capacity, new converged application offerings and the cost savings associated with virtualization, the data center has become a focus for carriers, enterprises, and government agencies.

The question is, though, once the components of the data center are assembled, are they ready? Ready for 100’s of Gigabits of traffic with 5-nine’s reliability. Ready for 40/100 Gigabit Ethernet? Ready to defend against sophisticated security attacks? Ready with optimized virtual services? Ready for the convergence of fibre channel and Ethernet with FCoE? Ready to lower energy consumption?

The answer to these questions depends on next-generation test tools that match the scale, performance and flexibility of the virtualized data center. Both lab-based and live-network testing is required to provision and maintain network operation. Ixia’s recent platform and application releases provide a test environment that closely models network environments – allowing enterprises of all types to field lower-cost, efficient and flexible data centers.

Atul