After software-defined-computing and software-defined-storage, the next big hit is software-defined-networking to complete the software-defined-datacenter. And the hunt is on!

Last week VMware announced the acquisition of Nicira and yesterday Oracle announced they bought Xsigo, one of the leading providers of network virtualization technology.

Why?
Oracle wants to extend their virtualization capabilities with this software-defined-networking technology for cloud environments. With the addition of Xsigo’s network virtualization technology to the Oracle portfolio, Oracle is hoping to complete their set of virtualization capabilities for cloud environments. Xsigo’s software-defined networking technology should simplify Oracle’s cloud infrastructure and operations by allowing customers to dynamically and flexibly connect any server to any network and storage, resulting in increased asset utilization and application performance while reducing cost.

For people who have visited VMworld, VMUG or any other VMware event in the last 3-4 years, must know Xsigo. The company’s products have been deployed at hundreds of enterprise customers including British Telecom, eBay, Softbank and Verizon.

Oracle described the Xsigo technology as “complementary” to its own, and implied that there would be few, if any, changes to the Xsigo roadmap. Xsigo technology will be integrated into the Oracle stack.

In the graphics below you can see how Xsigo fits in Oracle’s total portfolio.

So far, Oracle has claimed that the Xsigo technology would continue to interoperate with other vendors, although it will be “optimized” for Oracle technology. Xsigo’s compatibility list includes Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM servers, with just a handful of Sun Fire servers in the mix.