Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Arista: Networking Portfolio Review

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Santa Clara, California-based Arista Networks is a market leader in manufacturing networking equipment for data centers, financial service providers, cloud companies, and internet service providers (ISPs). 

Arista Networks is led by Jayshree Ullal, a Cisco protegee, and has more than 7,000 global customers.

See below to learn all about Arista Networks and where it standing in the networking market:

Networking Portfolio

CloudVision 

Arista’s CloudVision software enables network virtualization, bolstering security through scalable, resource-extensive, and low-latency solutions. It also offers a high degree of customization, add-ons, automation, and flexibility.

Moreover, Arista’s networking products run on distributed servers, enabling the interconnection of server nodes and end-user access points.

Cloud-Grade Routing

Arista Networks R-Series has use cases across core routing, internet peering, Telco NFV data centers, and content distribution networks.

R-Series comes with storage dimensions of 10 G, 25 G, 100 G, 200 G, and 400 G, segment routing, EVPN’s open standards, and high portability to reduce opex through a single train. Arista delivers the networking solution through 7280 R/R2/R3 Universal Leaf, 7500 R/R2/R3, 7800 R3 Universal Spine platform, and Arista EOS.

With these solutions, Arista is planning to enter the multicloud and 5G RAN edge market.

Universal Cloud Network

Arista Universal Cloud Network consists of a spine-leaf design infrastructure supporting millions of server connections with fail-over capabilities, so every time a node fails, the remaining networking system doesn’t have to bear the brunt of the collapse. Currently, the spine-leaf network is powered by 16-slot 7500 R Series 15 petabits of the spine, expandable capacity to incorporate up to two million hardware routes, and 100 G worth of 576 ports in a unified system.

EOS

Arista Extensible Operating System (EOS) powers over 50 million ports across WANs, campuses, data centers, and cloud operators. The next-generation EOS, NetDL, has applications in network data sources, like alerts, full packet capture, flows, and control plane traffic. It allows third-party integrations with data providers and a setup available across multiple platforms with rich data analytics. The EOS also authorizes cloud security integration, 2x network segmentation, and full inventory integration along with live chatops/bot and tracking configuration.

Partners 

Arista has several types of partners: strategic partners; cloud networking solutions; software-driven networking; network virtualization; big data and HPC clusters; high frequency trading; internet edge; IP and storage; TAP aggregation; network operations; security partners; media and entertainment; and wireless partners. 

Here are a few of its biggest partners in its networking segments:

  • Hitachi Vantara
  • Microsoft
  • Nutanix
  • Palo Alto Networks
  • Docker
  • VMware
  • Red Hat

Arista also offers a channel partner program for resellers and system integrators.  

Networking Use Case

Arista is looking to solve the bottlenecks of the traditional cloud environment by enhancing virtualization access across servers. Most legacy clouds require separate disaster recovery (DR) data centers for operations when needed. These DR units are resource-intensive, with a low RoI in the long-term.

Arista introduced its DWDM network solution to reduce dependency on DR entities while synchronizing data beyond geographies. The solution proved to be cost-effective and eliminated the need to maintain remote DRs. The DWDM product empowers data centers with a 10 G-40 G frequency, an uptick from the previous 1 G mark.

Arista’s networking solution also helped Arqiva, a U.K.-based telecom provider, oversee media distribution and content scheduling across global channels. Arista’s EOS and EAPI platforms are ideal for Arqiva’s multicast workflows.

Moreover, the telco’s transition to SDI was based on Arqiva’s decision to shift from legacy software and configure more All‐IP architecture to manage a dynamic consumer. Arista’s recent announcement in enabling 5G operations is another boost for telecoms by expanding communication infrastructure and connecting customers together.

User Reviews

Arista offers an operating system without backward compatibility and lower latency to configure back and forth between new and older switches.

According to a user, “Arista Networks Platform offers straightforward deployment and good features. Support for the platform is also good.”

Another user says, “The most valuable features I’ve found are that the product is easy to configure, inexpensive, and its ability to multitask. The most valuable feature is stability.”

However, some customers leave feedback on Arista’s lack of third-party integrations.

Arista has an overall 4.6 score out of 5 at Gartner Peer Insights, and over 94% of users would recommend the networking solution to peers.

Industry Recognition

Arista has received numerous accolades for its innovation, software, and company culture. Here are some recent examples:

  • A “leader” in the “Magic Quadrant” by Gartner for data center networking 
  • “100 Fastest-Growing Companies” by Fortune
  • “Fast Tech 25” by Forbes
  • Great Place to Work Institute, “Best Workplaces” in Bay Area
  • “Technology Fast 500” North America by Deloitte

Arista in the Networking Market

The global network market is expected to exceed $7 billion by 2024. Regarding the network economy, Arista controls a 10% share. In the high-speed data center switching market, Arista has a 19.5% share. It is now looking to expand its campus business through mergers and acquisitions.

Moreover, Arista registered a net CAGR of 24% in Ethernet switch revenues, and it occupies 7.5% of the switch market.

Some of Arista’s competitors in the networking market include:

  • Cisco
  • Dell Technologies
  • Juniper
  • Extreme Networks
  • NVIDIA
  • H3C
  • Nokia 

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