NEC introduces pay-as-you-grow SDN pricing model

NEC Corp. of America (NEC) has launched Version 6 of its ProgrammableFlow software-defined networking (SDN) networking suite. At the same time, it has overhauled the pricing structure and added new features for campus networks.

The new release includes a pricing scheme for the ProgrammableFlow Controller that is based on network capacity. With the new pricing, network operators can deploy an SDN network that meets their current needs and then cost-effectively scales as the network grows.

NEC has also introduced a ProgrammableFlow SDN Starter Pack, priced from $3,000, which provides the features of the ProgrammableFlow Controller software, but is designed for smaller SDN deployments, including departmental or lab deployments, and can be scaled up as capacity requirements grow.

"The new pricing enables customers to deploy networks of any size to seize the operational and performance benefits of Open Networking," said Don Clark, director, business development, NEC Corp. of America. "We are confident that once our customers experience the benefits of SDN, they will make it a part of their IT infrastructure."

NEC is also adding new capabilities to Version 6 that address the challenges customers face in campus deployments. With this release, network architects can build larger, more reliable, wide-area Ethernet fabrics that stretch across the campus or metro area. Combined with network virtualization, these new capabilities enable network operators to deploy converged network fabrics across remote sites. SDN for campus networks improves service agility through simplified operations and greater traffic visibility, compared to traditional networks.

"Marist College has benefited from using SDN as a network management tool since we deployed an OpenFlow-based SDN campus network more than a year ago to interconnect three college data centers," said Robert Cannistra, professor of Computer Science and IT at Marist College (see "Demo highlights OpenFlow-based virtualized optical transmission"). "We've found that the dynamic nature of SDN helps us take full advantage of our network infrastructure and gives us more control in determining what network traffic takes priority. NEC is at the forefront of this technology as it continually adds new functionality such as path policy, automation, link aggregation and security to its SDN solution."

ProgrammableFlow Version 6 is now available as a free download. Customers can evaluate how fabric-based SDN can increase network service agility, boost performance and reduce downtime throughout the organization.

In addition to its work on data center SDN applications, NEC took part in the recent Optical Internetworking Forum/Open Networking Foundation joint demonstration of transport SDN interfaces and protocols (see "OIF and ONF enjoy joint Transport SDN demonstration success").

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