Forward Networks creates digital twins to assure network performance

Palo Alto, California-based Forward Networks can create a virtual twin of a network to assure network performance. The firm was launched by four Stanford University Ph.D.s five years ago and has raised $33 million in two funding rounds. Forward's software taps into configuration data and operational state information from every device on the network to create the virtual copy. The flow of data is constant, so the digital twin always is current. It tracks how the network is doing and assesses the impact that any hardware or software change has on operations. The data collection is done via APIs that link to major manufacturers' network equipment. “We have a copy of the production network in software and use this digital twin to map all actions the network performs and use a mathematical algorithm to determine whether they are operating as they should be,” Forward Networks CEO and Co-founder David Erickson told FierceTelecom.