Forward Networks Overview
Forward Networks offers a revolutionary network management solution through its flagship product, Forward Enterprise, which is built around the concept of a network digital twin. Here’s a comprehensive overview of what the product does and its key features:
Network Digital Twin
Forward Enterprise creates an always-accurate, mathematical model of an entire network infrastructure. This digital twin replicates the behavior of the physical network, allowing for detailed analysis, verification, and prediction of network behavior. This approach helps in managing complex, large-scale enterprise networks across multiple vendors and cloud platforms, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.
Key Features and Functionality
Network Verification and Analysis
- Forward Enterprise documents, searches, verifies, and predicts the behavior of the network by tracing, indexing, and storing configuration and state data from network devices and cloud platforms. It provides end-to-end visibility and searchability, enabling users to debug configuration problems and verify network-wide policy implementations.
- The Network Query Engine (NQE) allows users to define and perform custom verification checks, making it easy to write and store custom inquiries without complex vendor-specific scripting.
Network Security
- The platform enhances network security through features like Vulnerability Management, which proactively identifies devices with CVE vulnerabilities and prioritizes remediation based on severity.
- Security Posture Management validates that the global network security posture complies with zero trust design goals for multi-cloud and on-premises networks.
- Blast Radius Identification provides detailed information on all devices connected to a compromised host, aiding in quick remediation.
Multi-cloud Networking
- Forward Enterprise offers end-to-end visibility across multi-cloud environments, allowing users to analyze and troubleshoot issues in a single console. It normalizes data from different cloud vendors, making it easier for users to manage hybrid and multi-cloud networks.
Automation and Integration
- The platform supports workflow automation and integration with tools like Splunk, ServiceNow, Itential, and Ansible through REST APIs. This streamlines network operations and enhances efficiency by automating time-intensive network tasks.
AI-Powered Insights
- With the introduction of AI Assist, Forward Enterprise integrates generative AI to help engineers gain greater insights and faster resolutions to network issues. AI Assist uses natural language prompts to facilitate sophisticated network queries and generates natural language explanations for existing queries, improving collaboration and understanding within teams.
Compliance and Inventory Management
- Forward Enterprise enables organizations to perform credentialed scans to create a detailed inventory of network devices, including make, model, vendor, and location. It also ensures compliance by continuously auditing and documenting the state of networks to prove compliance and provide actionable alerts for unintended violations.
Visualizations and Dashboards
- The platform provides key network insights through visualizations and dashboards that are easily consumable and exportable. This includes network complexity metrics, passive and failing active checks, and device failures, helping users to quickly diagnose and resolve issues.
Conclusion
In summary, Forward Enterprise by Forward Networks is a powerful tool that combines advanced network digital twin technology with AI-driven insights to enhance network security, operations, and multi-cloud management. It offers comprehensive visibility, automation, and compliance features, making it an essential solution for large enterprises and federal agencies managing complex network infrastructures.