Volterra, an innovator in distributed cloud
services, today announced new capabilities for its VoltMesh service to provide
globally distributed networking and security for cloud-native, API-centric
applications. In contrast to point products like a load balancer or API gateway
that were designed to provide a single function for legacy applications, VoltMesh provides multiple services for cloud-native
workloads via a single SaaS platform for seamless collaboration, simplified
automation and centralized observability. In addition. Since it was launched in
November 2019, VoltMesh has been deployed at over 50 enterprises and service
providers, including fifteen of the Fortune Global 2000.
Organizations of all sizes are adopting cloud-native
application design and deployment practices as they continue to digitally
transform business processes. This includes the extensive use of microservices
and APIs, as well as distributing clusters across multiple cloud providers (aka
"true multi-cloud"). The Gartner report Ensure Your API Management Solution
Supports Modern API Trends Such as Microservices and Multicloud states,
"Gartner's 2019 API Strategy and Usage Survey found that 45% of surveyed
organizations reported using microservices architecture (MSA) to build APIs".
A key DevOps requirement is that new clusters must be deployed dynamically and
connect with each other seamlessly, while having the proper security to
automatically identify and control APIs -- all while providing a superior end
user experience.
"In
the cloud-native world, DevOps has taken over responsibility for much of the
networking and security work previously done by infrastructure and operations
teams," said Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst, ZK Research. "That leaves them
with a double-whammy...getting apps deployed faster yet ensuring that
microservices and APIs are performing properly. At the same time, they must be
sure that everything is properly secured and policy is enforced across all
clusters and clouds."
To address these often conflicting requirements, Volterra
has both significantly expanded its VoltMesh service and made it available as
a free or paid self-service subscription.
Distributed Applications Require
Distributed Load Balancers and API Gateways
A key aspect of modern cloud-native applications is their
modularity and distributed deployment architectures. The tens or hundreds of
microservices that comprise a cloud-native app can be deployed in many clusters
across many different locations or cloud providers. Distributed workloads
present a significant deployment and operational challenge for DevOps teams as
they require a dedicated set of infrastructure point products like a load balancer/ADC,
API gateway, web app firewall (WAF) and more for each cluster.
VoltMesh directly addresses many of the operational
challenges of distributed cloud-native applications by consolidating multiple
networking and security services into a single SaaS-based offering. Instead of
implementing a separate load balancer, API gateway and WAF for each cluster,
DevOps can activate VoltMesh globally to provide all these services at every
cluster with centralized management, end-to-end visibility and policy control.
DevOps can dramatically accelerate deployment and simplify operations, while
developers can achieve better code integration and application enablement vs.
disparate services.
VoltMesh can be deployed in clusters across multiple
cloud providers. It can also be seamlessly enabled within Volterra's
application delivery network (ADN) for securing and accelerating application
performance to global users.
Cloud-Native Applications Require
Zero-Trust at the API Layer
As cloud-native applications are built on microservices,
a broad new attack vector is emerging -- embedded and unseen APIs. The major
increase in APIs per application has made existing security controls like
network microsegmentation ineffective, as inter-application communication is
now occurring at the API layer with all traffic encrypted and multiplexed on
the same network port. This is forcing DevOps, DevSecOps and CISO teams to
up-level zero-trust from the network- to the API-layer, including discovering
all APIs and enforcing policy and control on them.
VoltMesh's new API auto-discovery and control
capabilities simplify the implementation of zero-trust security for
cloud-native applications and multi-cloud environments. VoltMesh uses machine
learning (ML) to automatically identify all APIs present in an application --
whether they were inserted by the current developer team or were legacy or open-source software components -- as well as learn normal
user behavior. It then applies policy to whitelist just those APIs that are
required -- automating zero-trust at the API-level.
DevOps and DevSecOps teams can more rapidly implement the
controls required for new service rollouts while reducing the attack surface by
only allowing APIs that the applications expose.
Distributed Networking and Security =
Core Component of Distributed Cloud
Distributed cloud, which Gartner notes as one of
its Top 10 Strategic
Technology Trends for 2020, includes a broad range of application
and infrastructure services. These services must all work seamlessly together
to provide a distributed cloud environment for distributed workloads like
cloud-native applications.
"When we founded Volterra, we envisioned a platform for
application teams to deploy and operate distributed applications and
infrastructure in a true cloud environment -- wherever needed," said Ankur
Singla, Volterra co-founder and CEO. "With the addition of a globally
distributed load balancer, API gateway and strong API security, we are further
bringing our vision to market and empowering DevOps with a cloud-native
alternative to legacy point products."
"Volterra has dramatically simplified our ability to
manage and secure distributed applications across the edge and cloud," said
Fumihiko Shinoura, SVP/GM Business Development, Net One Systems. "Our teams now
focus on applications, while Volterra handles the operations."
"To provide the best playing experience for our players
and the most secure environment, we use Volterra's VoltMesh service and global
private backbone," said Gauthier Astruc Amato, Head of Operations, Betclic.
Free and Enterprise Versions Available
The updated VoltMesh service is available today as
a free software download for base users with two
multi-cloud clusters and a paid enterprise subscription for larger footprint
and/or globally-distributed deployments.