For the last decade, commercial and federal technical specialists have been talking about the power and flexibility of virtualization in servers. Today’s discussion brings us up to date with the impact of similar changes in the world of federal networks.

Today’s federal networks must manage a drastic increase in volume, inconsistent data flows, maintenance changes, as well as managing costs.

Jim Westrop from Ciena Government Services puts the increase in volume in simple terms. During the discussion, he mentions that the edge of the network is now one hundred times the size it used to be. We all know that a data center has seen similar increases, but in a data center, the volume can be managed easily because it is consistent. The drastic increase in data-generating at the edge does not come in easy-to-digest packages. There may be peaks and valleys that challenge any system.