Nicira Networks

Nicira Networks was a company that specialized in software-defined networking (SDN) and network virtualization. Its main goal was to transform network architecture in the same way that server virtualization transformed computing architecture.

The company's target clients were large enterprises and service providers that managed complex and large-scale data centers. Nicira's technology allowed these organizations to create virtual networks that were decoupled from the underlying physical network hardware. This enabled greater agility, flexibility, and automation in network provisioning and management.

Nicira's business model was based on selling its network virtualization platform, the Nicira Network Virtualization Platform (NVP). This platform provided a software overlay that could be deployed on top of any existing network hardware, creating a flexible pool of network capacity. The company made money by licensing its software to customers.

In 2012, VMware acquired Nicira for approximately $1.26 billion. This acquisition was a key move for VMware to expand its virtualization offerings from servers to the entire data center, including networking. Nicira's technology became the foundation for VMware's NSX (Network and Security) platform, which is now a major product in the software-defined networking market.

Keywords: software-defined networking, network virtualization, data centers, network provisioning, network management, network architecture, server virtualization, network hardware, software overlay, VMware NSX