Forward Networks

Forward Networks
Computer Software
Industry Software and Information Technology
Founded 2013
Founders Brandon Heller, Peyman Kazemian, Nikhil Handigol, and David Erickson
Headquarters Palo Alto, California, United States
Products Forward Enterprise, Forward Essentials
Website www.forwardnetworks.com

Forward Networks is an American Software and Information Technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. They are focused on computer networking software and the emerging product category of intent-based networking.[1][2]

Forward Networks, located in Palo Alto, California, was founded in July, 2013 by four Ph.D. graduates from Stanford University, Brandon Heller, Peyman Kazemian, Nikhil Handigol, and David Erickson.[3][2]

The initial Series A round of venture capital for $11 million was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and included A.Capital Ventures and SV Angel.[4] The Series B round of $16 million included A.Capital and a16z, as well as Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) in August, 2017.[5][6]

Forward Networks emerged from stealth mode in November, 2016 with the announcement of their initial product, Forward Enterprise.[7] In, November 2017, Forward Networks was highlighted in Network Computing magazine as one of the 25 vendors making waves in IT infrastructure.[8] Also in November 2017, Forward Networks was selected as one of the 10 coolest start-ups of 2017 by CRN magazine.[9]

Technology

The Forward Networks solution is designed to help network teams eliminate network outages and reduce time to remediate errors. Its platform enables engineers and operators to visualize and search complex networks, debug configuration problems, verify network-wide policy implementations, and predict network behavior prior to deploying changes. Forward Networks builds a software replica of an entire network to analyze its behavior.[10] Using the network copy, the software traces, indexes, and stores the collected data, monitoring things like end-to-end behavior, verification of the network’s forwarding behavior and security posture, and close monitoring of configuration changes.[7][11]

The primary focus of Forward Networks in the intent-based networking space is on formal verification, a systematic analysis of the network based on a mathematical model of the network to isolate errors and policy violations.[3] In August, 2017, Forward Networks unveiled Forward Essentials, a product which enables engineers and operators to easily access network state.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Lerner, Andrew. "Intent-based Networking". Gartner Group, Inc.
  2. 1 2 Butler, Brandon. "Startup Forward Networks helps search, protect and predict network behavior". Network World.
  3. 1 2 Matsumoto, Craig. "Forward Networks' SDN Pioneers Want to Make the Network Less Error-Prone". SDxCentral.
  4. ↑ "Andreessen Horowitz Leads $11M Series A Round in Forward Networks". Wall Street Journal. 26 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Lundgren, Ingrid. "Forward Networks nets $16M to help prevent network outages". TechCrunch.
  6. ↑ "Forward Launches Freemium Service for Network Visibility". Light Reading.
  7. 1 2 3 Townsend, Will. "Intent-Based Networking and Why You Should Care". Forbes Magazine.
  8. ↑ "25 Vendors Making Waves in IT Infrastructure". Network World.
  9. ↑ "The 10 Coolest Networking Startups of 2017". CRN.
  10. ↑ "Forward Networks' platform anticipates infrastructure change - Data center and cloud computing products that make an impact". TechTarget.
  11. ↑ "Stanford team behind NSX and OpenFlow spawns network modelling startup". The Register.
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