In this article, you will learn:
- Common risks in legacy data center infrastructure
- Why traditional networks create security and compliance challenges
- How to modernize your network for hybrid multicloud
- Practical tips to modernize your data center
When infrastructure design limits business agility
Businesses often discover network limitations only when deploying new applications. A carefully tested artificial intelligence (AI) service can perform well in development but struggles when customers across different locations try to use it. Response times lag, connections fail, and infrastructure costs unexpectedly climb. The issue isn’t typically with the application itself, but with the network architecture that was built for centralized operations. They were designed when work was done in corporate data centers and cloud computing was uncommon. Today’s distributed environments — where applications span multiple cloud platforms and users connect from anywhere — expose the weaknesses of older designs.
Four challenges with centralized network architectures
- Inconsistent security across distributed workloads: Traditional networks funneled all their data through a central hub. Although it simplified things when operations were localized, it creates complications now. When data moves between clouds, it often unnecessarily routes through the central hub. Security built for on-premises systems typically struggles to protect these cloud-to-cloud connections efficiently.
- Difficulty tracking data for regulatory requirements: Industries with data sovereignty rules, like healthcare and finance, face particular challenges. When networks transmit data through multiple intermediaries across different locations, organizations struggle to control the actual path their data takes. Sensitive data may unintentionally cross boundaries, complicating compliance and creating audit problems.
- Paying for unused network capacity: Traditional private network services provide more predictable performance but require buying enough bandwidth to handle peak demand. Most organizations use only a fraction of this capacity during normal operations. A retail company may need additional bandwidth during holiday shopping periods but maintains that same expensive capacity year-round because traditional circuits can’t easily scale with actual demand.
- Long timelines for network changes: In a traditional network model, adding new connections often meant ordering, shipping, installing, and configuring physical equipment at each location. This process can take weeks or months, delaying product launches.
Modern approaches to network infrastructure
Modern networking has shifted away from centralized architectures. Organizations now connect private infrastructure, cloud platforms, and strategically positioned edge computing resources through software-controlled pathways. This approach delivers four key advantages:
- Enhanced security and compliance: Encrypted connections and enhanced control over routing decisions help keep data secure and within approved regions. Monitoring tools further increase control and help track the movement of data for regulatory audits and compliance purposes.
- Scalable capacity: Software-defined connections can adjust bandwidth based on current needs instead of requiring permanent high-capacity circuits.
- Rapid deployment: Network administrators can provision and modify connections through management interfaces in minutes instead of waiting for physical installation.
- Provider choice: Connecting to multiple cloud and network vendors through a common infrastructure prevents dependence on any single supplier.
Five steps toward modernization
These five practical steps provide a road map when you’re moving to modern network infrastructure:
- Document your current infrastructure. Understanding existing network architecture lets you know where bottlenecks occur and which security or compliance gaps need attention.
- Align connections with application requirements. Route less sensitive traffic over internet connections while reserving dedicated or virtual private circuits for regulated data and performance-critical applications.
- Reduce latency through strategic placement. Positioning networking resources nearer to users and data sources improves response times without application rewrites. Geographic proximity still matters.
- Select platforms supporting multiple vendors. Infrastructure that connects to various providers maintains flexibility and competitive leverage.
- Implement automation. Software-defined management applies consistent policies across all network locations and connection types.
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