In a recent interview, Ariana Lynn, Principal Analyst at The Fast Mode spoke to Alexander Barinov, Chief Product Officer of Solar on the impact of traffic visibility on modern IP networks. Alexander joins us in a series of discussions with leading networking, analytics and cybersecurity companies, assessing the need for traffic filtering technologies that can deliver real-time, granular application awareness. The series explores how advanced analytics power various network functions amidst the rapid growth in traffic and applications.
Ariana: What is your view on commercial DPI vs open-source DPI?
Alexander: If you are developing your own solution or product based on third-party DPI, and you need deep customization for specific requirements, and you have development and support teams, it is definitely best to use open-source DPI.
If basic functionality is enough for your needs and you don't need deep customization, then commercial DPI is the best option with high-quality customer support.
If you need basic signatures and a premium SLA it is better to use commercial DPI. If you use open-source DPI, you will have to create a team to make your own application-specific signatures.
Cost and license issues are also important, and while open source DPI is free, the total cost of ownership of open source DPI compared to commercial DPI is comparable.
Ariana: How effective is deep packet inspection (DPI) technology in addressing today's traffic complexities?
Alexander: We believe that there is a certain parity in the current race between the DPI technologies used by network operators and service providers and the countermeasures, for example obfuscation of network traffic, used by the opposite side.
Also, the variety of traffic produced by voice/video applications, cloud services and IoT devices is well covered by the capabilities of current DPI solutions.
Alexander Barinov holds a PhD in radiophysics and electronics. During his 20-year career, he has held various roles from consultant to CPO in IT, telecoms and cybersecurity. He joined Solar in 2019 and is currently responsible for creating and developing the company's products and services.
This interview is a part of The Fast Mode's Traffic Visibility segment, featuring leading networking, analytics and cybersecurity companies and their views on the importance of network intelligence and DPI for today's IP networks. A research report on this topic will be published in June 2024 - for more information, visit here.
