MVE will enable the hosting of NFV, such as SD-WAN capabilities, directly on Megaport's global SDN, enabling customers to leverage Megaport's platform reach to deploy and extend their network functions closer to the edge, in real time, and without the need to deploy hardware.
Specifically, Megaport and Cisco are collaborating to integrate MVE with Cisco's SD-WAN, powered by Viptela, to enable interoperation of Megaport's SDN and Cisco's SD-WAN fabric technology.
Once connected, SD-WAN enabled locations can provision on demand connections to Megaport's leading ecosystem of cloud, IT service providers, and more than 700 enabled data centres.
The Cisco SD-WAN platform on MVE is due to go live Q1 of 2021.
"As enterprises and service providers begin to fully understand the benefits of SD-WAN, the ability for Megaport customers to easily, and in minutes, 'spin up' SD-WAN virtual appliances around the world on our platform is a big enabler for global organisations," said Vincent English (pictured), CEO of Megaport.
"Having these virtual appliances fully integrated into the Megaport Interconnection Platform leveraging our multicloud connectivity takes this to another level."
The MVE footprint will align with global commerce hubs to support traffic localisation for low-latency networking and will provide an interconnection gateway to securely manage multi-cloud and multi-location interconnection.
It also includes gateway functionality to connect with Megaport's SDN in a platform-neutral and technology-agnostic manner, allowing customers to move beyond legacy networking models and take a unified approach to managing their network.
"The development of Megaport Virtual Edge marks a transformation point for Megaport. By creating a platform that will bridge various network access types directly to Megaport's SDN, we have effectively made it possible to connect to our leading ecosystem of service providers and data centres from anywhere in the world,” said Bevan Slattery, founder and chairman of Megaport.
“This will put the power of elastic interconnection in the hands of more businesses around the globe. We are excited to work with Cisco to integrate their SD-WAN services on MVE so customers can gain full control over how they connect to the vital services that power their business."
