Arista Unveils Modern Stacking for Campus Networks

Business Wire 3-Dec-2024 9:00 AM

Innovative approach challenges legacy and proprietary options with flexible stacking

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET), a leading provider of cloud and AI networking solutions, today announced innovations enabling customers to build scalable and resilient campus networks. Arista is introducing the Switch Aggregation Group (SWAG™) capability in Arista EOS^® that uses industry-standard Ethernet to group and manage individual switches via a single IP address. In addition, Arista CloudVision^® Leaf Spine Stack (LSS™) Management allows operators to collectively manage a logical stack of switches within a single networking closet or across the entire campus. Arista EOS, SWAG and CloudVision LSS free customers from proprietary stacking protocols and design limitations while delivering extensive flexibility for network topologies and operations.

Legacy Stacking Impedes Effective Network Operations

Historically, stacking has been the only option for achieving the goal of aggregated management across a group of switches. However, existing stacking solutions rely on proprietary cables and protocols to offer a single IP and common CLI interface. These systems also limit customers to specific hardware, complicate upgrades, restrict network design to ring or chain topologies, and can only operate within a limited switching closet scope. Customers are thus saddled with inflexibility, operational complexities, and increased costs.

Introducing Switch Aggregation Groups (SWAG)

Arista was an early pioneer in link-level aggregation groups with Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation Groups (MLAG), which brought resilience to data center networking. Building on that experience, SWAG addresses the challenge of managing a group of campus switches using a single IP address. This key innovation extends Arista EOS' modular chassis software architecture to manage a group of individual switches via a single IP address. The approach also supports flexible network topologies, including Arista's universal leaf spine design and the more traditional ring or chain, enabling easy migration from existing campus stacking environments. Moreover, because SWAG avoids proprietary stacking cables and relies on standard Ethernet cabling and optics, customers benefit from a consistent, open, modern operating model. SWAG will be an EOS feature on Arista campus switches.

"IP addresses are a scarce resource within our environment," said Kevin Sanders, Lead Network Architect at Steelcase Inc. "Arista's modernized stacking solution based on EOS and CloudVision, offers us CLI options and industry-leading flexibility to manage up to 16 switches in a stack with a single IP address. This delivers an order of magnitude reduction in IP address consumption, which translates into significant TCO reduction in operational expense on additional network management and security tools. Moreover, Arista's continued commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction makes them the obvious choice in the industry."

Managing Leaf Spine Stack (LSS) with Arista CloudVision

With CloudVision Leaf Spine Stack (LSS) Management, Arista offers a single and logical management plane approach to providing the operational benefits of stacking while not requiring the switches to be physically stacked in the legacy sense. Instead, customers have the flexibility to perform network operations on a logical stack of switches in a standards-based, modern leaf spine architecture rather than being limited to ring or chain topologies. This logical stacking allows operators to extend beyond a single access pod and organize the switches in a hierarchical model representing any real-world construct –two switches, a wiring closet, a floor of switches, a building, or even an entire campus. Thus, LSS brings the broad set of CloudVision capabilities, from provisioning, telemetry, and compliance to hitless upgrades, configuration management, and segmentation, along with AI-driven insights, to any and all layers of the hierarchy. Importantly, CloudVision allows customers to design the network with any topology they need, including standalone switches, classic Arista MLAG design, modular chassis, or SWAG.

"A large and complex campus network like ours requires established processes and tools for efficient operations," said Keith Bradley, VP, IT & Security at Nature Fresh Farms. "Arista's highly malleable approach to network stacking offers us both CloudVision and CLI options for management, helping us preserve our current operational model, processes, and practices while easing the migration of our campus to Arista."

The combination of Arista CloudVision LSS Management and EOS SWAG delivers the broader multi-domain modern operating stacking approach that simplifies operations, eliminates downtime, and reduces costs.

To read more about this announcement, please check out Arista CEO and Chairperson Jayshree Ullal's blog here. For more information about the technologies and capabilities, please register to attend our webinar here.

About Arista

Arista Networks is an industry leader in data-driven, client-to-cloud networking for large AI, data center, campus and routing environments. Its award-winning platforms deliver availability, agility, automation, analytics, and security through an advanced network operating stack. For more information, visit www.arista.com.

ARISTA, AGNI, AVA, CloudVision, CV UNO, EOS, NetDL, and Universal Network Observability are among the registered and unregistered trademarks of Arista Networks in jurisdictions worldwide. Other company names or product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Additional information and resources can be found at www.arista.com. This press release contains forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements regarding the performance and capabilities of Arista's products and services. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including rapid technological and market change, customer requirements, and industry standards, as well as other risks stated in our filings with the SEC available on Arista's website at www.arista.com and the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Arista disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

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