VNS3

VNS3
Screen shot of VNS3 Manager UI
VNS3 Manager Status User Interface.
Developer(s) CohesiveFT
Initial release June 2006
Stable release v3.5.0.1,[1] available for free in some cloud providers, paid subscription / 30 January 2014[2]

VNS3 is a hybrid overlay networking appliance for cloud computing and virtual networks.[3] VNS3 is a software-based virtual router, switch, firewall, protocol re-distributor, and SSL/IPSec VPN concentrator.[4] The Network Virtualization Software creates a customer controlled overlay network over top of the underlying network backbone [4]

Uses

Cloud users looking to eliminate cloud networking risk in public, private, or hybrid clouds use VNS3.[4] VNS3 prevents vendor lock-in and allows for high availability, geographic distribution, and cloud federation.[5] VNS3 lets enterprise datacenter administrators "create encrypted LAN between virtual machines in a private cloud, as well as encrypted WAN across multiple public clouds."[6] A quoted VNS3 customer uses VNS3 to direct and manage IPsec traffic with insight and control to comply with financial services compliance regulations.[7]

History

Developers CohesiveFT first named their multi-sourced infrastructure concept "v-cube-v." The software ran in internal production starting in 2007.[8] The company named the early commercial version of VNS3 "VPN3" or "VPN-Cubed"[6][9] and later renamed the software to VNS3 in 2012.[10] Amazon Web Services users first began downloading VPN-Cubed from the partner directory on 5 December 2008.[11] VNS3 gained popularity (as VPN-Cubed) as part of the Amazon Web Services public cloud ecosystem[12] and with independent reviews from ZDNet,[13] High Scalability,[14] InfoQ,[15] Chris Hoff,[16] and CloudAve.[17] In 2012, developers CohesiveFT released a major version update. The release updated the software to 3.0 and rebranded it as VNS3 (VNS-Cubed).[18] 451 Research analyst William Fellows wrote "VNS[3] is not only for VPNs – hence the name change – since overlays can be within a cloud, between clouds, between a private datacenter and a cloud (or clouds), or between multiple datacenters."[19] In 2013, the CohesiveFT development team released the 3.0.1 version of the product, as well as a free edition of VNS3 in Amazon Web Services.[20] VNS3 was recognized in the 6th Annual International Datacenters Awards as the winner of the Public Cloud Services & Infrastructure award[21] and a VNS3 public cloud project with the UK's Energy Savings Trust was named Runner Up for Public Sector Cloud Project of the Year in the Datacentre Solution Awards.[22] Later in 2013, the development team released a VNS3 version aimed at Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), offering VPN services as part of a cloud infrastructure solution.[23] Also in 2013, CohesiveFT joined industry group the Open Data Center Alliance.[24] In early 2014 VNS3 3.5 was released with major software updates and a new integration with Docker[25] Docker's a open source virtualization platform added the ability to run other networking applications as containers inside VNS3 virtual machines. Users can create an overlay network "as a substrate for layer 4-7 network application services – things like proxy, reverse proxy, SSL termination, content caching and network intrusion detection" William Fellows writes.[26] Since 2008, VNS3 has become available in more public cloud providers and geographic regions, including Amazon Web Services EC2,[27] GoGrid,[28] Flexiant,[29] IBM,[5] Google Compute Engine,[30] HP Cloud Services,[31] and Abiquo.[32]

Software

VNS3 software creates IPSec tunneling connections similar to a site to site VPN. The connections can ensure a single LAN connection between virtual or cloud environments[33] VNS3 gives secure access to cloud assets, extends the Virtual LAN segmentation, isolation, and security of a cloud provider's network.[16] The first VNS3 was built on a customized Ubuntu-based Linux using open source networking applications Openswan and OpenVPN.[8] The development team chose OpenVPN "primarily because it uses standard OpenSSL encryption, runs on multiple operating systems and does not require kernel patching or additional modules."[8]
VNS3 Managers are virtual machines that act as a VPN gateway for the other virtual machines in the same cloud infrastructure. VNS3 synchronizes between cloud managers using RabbitMQ.[34] VNS3 enables users to turn multicast on and off in order to work on public clouds, allowing software configurations dependent on multicast to function in the cloud.[34]
VNS3 software creates IPSec tunneling connections similar to a site-to-site VPN. The connections can ensure a single LAN network between multiple cloud environments.[35] VNS3 secures connections to cloud deployments, extends the Virtual LAN segmentation, and ensures network isolation and security in a cloud provider's virtual environment.[16] VNS3 has a web-based UI and traditional Linux system command line interface. The VNS3 API uses a Ruby script and Ruby language binding.[36]
The developers earned a patent on the underlying cloud VPN technologies in 2010.[37]

Availability

VPN-Cubed has been available in Amazon Web Services cloud since December 5, 2008[38]
According to the CohesiveFT website, VNS3 is delivered as a virtual machine and is available in public clouds including: Amazon Web Services,[39] HP Cloud Services,[40] Google Compute Engine, ElasticHosts, IBM[5] Softlayer, Flexiant, Interoute, and Greenqloud. Private clouds availability includes: Abiquo, Eucalyptus, Openstack; and virtual infrastructures such as: Xen, VMware, KVM, Citrix.

Pricing

Since October 2008, VNS3 has been available for free on Amazon Web Services[41] with additional paid editions are listed on the CohesiveFT website.

Release History

Version number Release date Status Major changes Available in Notes
3.5 30 January 2014 In beta User-requested updates include the ability to create customizable, flexible networks with Docker containers built into the VNS3 Manager instances. Users can build in custom network functions, including proxy, reverse proxy, WAN optimization, load balancing, and more. Major updates to VNS3 Network OS. Security additions include the ability to generate larger key sizes, easily regenerate new or revoke outstanding ssh credentials, and backward compatibility with all previous supported versions[42] Public clouds Amazon Web Services, HP Cloud Services, Google Compute Engine, ElasticHosts, Flexiant Limited, Interoute, Softlayer; Private clouds: Abiquo Enterprise Edition, Eucalyptus (computing), Openstack; virtual infrastructures: Xen, VMware, KVM, Citrix[10] Major update to 3.0.4 release with Docker integration
3.0.4 26 November 2013 Current Allows VNS3 to replace the Amazon Web Services Amazon Virtual Private Cloud Network address translation Amazon Machine Image; easier management and troubleshooting for IPsec tunnels; uniform customer experience across all VNS3-supported clouds; Overlay network security improvements[42] Private clouds: Abiquo Enterprise Edition, Eucalyptus (computing), Openstack; virtual infrastructures: Xen, VMware, KVM, Citrix; and public clouds Amazon Web Services, HP Cloud Services, Google Compute Engine, ElasticHosts, Flexiant Limited, Interoute, Softlayer[10] Last release in the 3.0 line before upcoming 3.5 release
VNS3 Provider Edition 20 August 2013 Current VNS3 for Providers is geared toward cloud providers, instead of cloud users. With VNS3 as part of a cloud infrastructure offering, CSP can offer VPC suite of service to differentiate from other CSP conpetitors.[43] Available for most cloud providers, bespoke pricing[44] Cloud service providers can offer VPN solutions inside their cloud infrastructure offering
3.0.1 17 April 2013 Supported Outbound Network address translation features to replace Amazon Web Services Amazon Virtual Private Cloud fees; Private Virtual LAN; Simple Network Management Protocol support for network monitoring tools; recover and re-create VNS3 Managers with snapshots[10] Private clouds: Abiquo Enterprise Edition, Eucalyptus (computing), Openstack; virtual infrastructures: Xen, VMware, KVM, Citrix; and public clouds Amazon Web Services, HP Cloud Services, Google Compute Engine, ElasticHosts, Flexiant Limited, Interoute, Softlayer[10] Minor release for bug fix and feature updates
3.0 12 September 2012 Supported Network sniffer Packet analyzer, IPsec visibility and monitoring in the API and User Interface; License Upgrade program for immediate upgrades; updated API, expanded Representational state transfer API Private clouds: Terremark, Eucalyptus (computing), RightScale, ElasticFox, Openstack; virtual infrastructures: Xen, VMware, KVM, Citrix; and public clouds Amazon Web Services, ElasticHosts, Flexiant Limited, IBM cloud computing[10] Major release including new user interface, and rebranding change that renamed the older v2.x VPN-Cubed product to VNS3
2.x 17 November 2010 2.7 Supported, older versions EOL Manager Virtual firewall, Manager API compatibility, external ping capability, Cloud Only edition and Datacenter Connect edition Private clouds: Terremark, Eucalyptus (computing), RightScale, Openstack; virtual infrastructures: Xen, VMware, KVM, Citrix; and public clouds Amazon Web Services, GoGrid, Flexiant Limited, IBM cloud computing[10] First commercial version, named VPN-Cubed
1.x June 2006 Historical, no longer supported First versions were named v-cube-v and tested internally. As the software became commercially available, CohesiveFT renamed it VPN-Cubed Terremark, Eucalyptus (computing), RightScale, Xen, VMware, KVM, Amazon Web Services,[10] First version

References

  1. ↑ "VNS3 Product Release Notes".
  2. ↑ "CohesiveFT Unveils VNS3 3.5 with Docker Technology For The Co-Creation of Customizable, Flexible Cloud Network Platforms". VMblog. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "VNS3 CrunchBase Profile". CrunchBase. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 contentRoy Chua (2014). "CohesiveFT VNS3". SDNCentral LLC. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "VNS3 Datacenter Connect 3.0". IBM. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Karin Kelley (29 October 2008). "CohesiveFT releases cloud security service VPN-Cubed". 451 Research. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  7. ↑ Alan R. Earls (19 March 2014). "Stampede to cloud presents data integration problems". Techtarget. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Dmitriy Samovskiy (1 February 2008). "Building a Multisourced Infrastructure Using OpenVPN". Linux Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  9. ↑ Dmitriy Samovskiy (2008-03-12). "VcubeV". Dmitriy Samovskiy. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 "VNS3 Release Notes". CohesiveFT. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  11. ↑ "VPN-Cubed". Amazon Web Services. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  12. ↑ Jeff Barr (31 October 2008). "New and Cool - VPN-Cubed & Glue". Amazon Web Services Blog. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  13. ↑ Phil Wainewright (19 February 2008). "How to deploy to the cloud of your choice". ZDnet. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Todd Hoff (4 March 2008). "Manage Downtime Risk By Connecting Multiple Data Centers Into A Secure Virtual LAN". High Scalability. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  15. ↑ Jean-Jacques Dubray (28 October 2008). "A VPN for Cloud Computing". InfoQ. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Christopher Hoff (2008-11-14). "CohesiveFT VPN-Cubed: Not Your Daddy's Encrypted Tunnel". Rational Security. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  17. ↑ Krishnan Subramanian (28 October 2008). "VPN Cubed – Cloud is Ready for the Enterprise". CloudAve. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "VNS3 Release Notes". CohesiveFT. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  19. ↑ William Fellows (29 May 2013). "Extending into the cloud: CohesiveFT redefined for its VNS network software". 451 Research. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  20. ↑ "CohesiveFT Announces Free Trial Edition for VNS3, Technical Update". Wall Street Journal. 17 April 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  21. ↑ "International Datacentre and Cloud Awards Announced for 2013". Broad Group. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  22. ↑ "IAnd the winners are.". DSC Europe. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  23. ↑ Paula Bernier (9 October 2013). "CohesiveFT: SDN, NFV Can Enable CSP Differentiation with VPCs". SDN Zone. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  24. ↑ "CohesiveFT Joins Open Data Center Alliance". Hosting News. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  25. ↑ "CohesiveFT Unveils VNS3 3.5 with Docker Technology For The Co-Creation of Customizable, Flexible Cloud Network Platforms". VMblog. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  26. ↑ William Fellows (27 February 2014). "CohesiveFT ships Docker with latest network overlay release". [451 Research]. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  27. ↑ Robin Wauters (4 March 2009). "CohesiveFT Releases VPN-Cubed for EC2". Virtualization.com. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  28. ↑ Jason Verge (8 January 2010). "GoGrid partners: typical cloud pieces being addressed through tech partnerships". 451 Research. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  29. ↑ "Flexiant and CohesiveFT Join Forces to Offer Virtual Private Clouds On Extility". Flexiant. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  30. ↑ "CohesiveFT Joins Google Cloud Platform Partner Program". Reuters. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  31. ↑ "CohesiveFT Offers Customers Secure and Flexible Networking Features in the HP Public Cloud". Yahoo Finance. 12 Nov 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  32. ↑ "Abiquo and CohesiveFT Offer Software Defined Networking to Expand Cloud Platform’s Flexibility and Security". Abiquo. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  33. ↑ Krishnan Narayan (2013-07-02). "Smart gateway for AWS Virtual Private Clouds". Symantec. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 William Fellows (17 November 2008). "CohesiveFT's VPN-Cubed offers some cloud control". 451 Research. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  35. ↑ Krishnan Narayan (2 July 2013). "Smart gateway for AWS Virtual Private Clouds". Symantec. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  36. ↑ Patrick Kerpan (17 November 2010). "API Tools and Documentation" (PDF). CohesiveFT. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  37. ↑ US 20100115606 A1, Google Patents, retrieved 10 December 2013
  38. ↑ "Customer Apps: VPN-Cubed". Amazon Web Services. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  39. ↑ "VNS3 Free Edition". Amazon Web Services. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  40. ↑ "CohesiveFT VNS3". HP Cloud Services. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  41. ↑ Krishnan Subramanian (2009-03-04). "VPNCubed Available For EC2 Including A Free Version". Cloud Ave. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 "VNS3 Release Notes". CohesiveFT. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  43. ↑ "New CohesiveFT VNS3 Cloud Service Provider Edition Increases Revenue Generating Opportunities". Yahoo Finance. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  44. ↑ "VNS Provider Edition". CohesiveFT. Retrieved 6 April 2014.

External links