VMware Forum 2011: Debating Virtual Application Delivery Controller

Last week, we participated in the VMware Forum 2011, which was held in Tel Aviv. During the event, I presented on Radware’s VADI (Virtual Application Delivery Infrastructure) solution and how it ties into the journey that our customers are going through from the current data center architecture towards a virtual data center and even the cloud.

One main component of our VADI solution is the vADC (virtual ADC), and quite a few people came over after the presentation and asked me to help them understand our vADC concept. It took me a while but I realized that a few of them were confused about the use of the terms ADC virtualization and virtual ADCs and thought that both of them are identical with a soft ADC, an ADC running as a virtual appliance on general server HW.

I had to explain to them that, ADC virtualization and virtual ADCs can bring more value and be much more than just soft ADCs. While it is true that a soft ADC is a form of virtual ADC, it is only ONE possible form of it. However, the virtual ADC and ADC virtualization concept is bigger than that.

Virtual ADCs (or vADCs as we at Radware call them) are the abstraction of ADC services or functionality just like a VM is an abstraction of a physical server. The real power behind ADC virtualization is the ability to deploy the exact same vADC freely across different type of computing resources (general servers or specialized ADC HW alike) which means it allows users to break the boundary of a single physical device. Once you have achieved that – you have a real ADC virtualization infrastructure and you can start enjoying the full benefits of greater agility (with vADCs that can be provisioned instantly anywhere) better cost structure (with a vADC deployed instead of a dedicated device) and greater resilience with smarter ADC HA (High Availability) schemes.

When I explained this to people at the event, they understood that ADC virtualization mimics server virtualization in this way – and form a fabric of vADCs (like a virtual server infrastructure), rather than just soft ADCs.

Virtual ADCs have really evolved recently, as seen by the expansion in the definition of vADC. What other virtual ADC improvements have you seen recently?

For more on our VADI solution, you can learn more here.