Arista Delivers Network Observability with DANZ Monitoring Fabric

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) today announced a network observability software, DANZ Monitoring Fabric (DMF), on Arista switching platforms for enterprise-wide traffic visibility and contextual insights. Network observability is the next-generation, analytics-driven approach delivering network visibility across data center, campus and edge use cases. This new offering enables mission-critical monitoring for enterprise-wide traffic while improving efficiencies and reduced opex through the adoption of modern cloud networking principles.

Network Observability for Contextual Visibility

Today’s enterprise network visibility is evolving to support real-time demands of distributed users and IoT devices. As the lifeline for digital communications, network traffic analysis is paramount for delivering real-time client-to-application to cloud experience. To address these challenges, Arista is introducing a new generation of network observability – to bring cloud networking principles, data analytics and contextual insights. By integrating its Data Analyzer (DANZ) with acquired Big Switch’s monitoring fabric software, Arista is introducing the DANZ Monitoring Fabric (DMF) software for enterprise-wide network observability.

The DMF offering is based upon Arista’s popular switching platforms with optional advanced nodes including:

• Service Node software for packet processing, optimization and flow generation
• Analytics Node software for deep context-aware traffic analysis and machine learning
• Recorder Node software for full packet capture, query and replay with built-in application identification

"The Arista DMF offers an elegant and integrated system, instead of multiple legacy point products, simplifying operational workflows, speeding up incident management and issue resolution as well as reducing capex and opex costs,” said Alan Weckel Founder and Technology Analyst for 650 Group. "Arista’s DMF redefines network visibility from reactive to contextual as the market is rapidly automating to scale to the explosion of data coming from cloud applications and IoT devices.”

Network Observability is Next Generation of Network Visibility

Regulatory compliance and cybersecurity hardening mandate enterprise-wide, pervasive network observability for north-south as well as east-west traffic. Legacy network packet broker (NPB) approaches that rely on complicated scale-up designs are inefficient, complex to operate and cost-prohibitive to deploy and manage for east-west traffic.

Arista DMF is optimized for pervasive observability based on cloud networking principles using scale-out leaf-spine, clustering architecture and API-first programmability model. The DMF console provides zero-touch workflows to streamline enterprise-wide deployment, thereby accelerating service activation. DMF’s unique multi-tenant capability enables NetOps, SecOps and DevOps teams to consume DMF as an IT service to reduce monitoring costs further.

Network Time Machine for Contextual Insights

To rapidly resolve a network performance issue or to detect a threat, the IT operator needs to rewind the network state to the occurrence of the anomalous event. Legacy solutions require complex hopping and hunting across multiple discrete devices, extending the mean-time-to-resolution (MTTR).

Arista DMF is the industry's leading solution to deliver a fully integrated network time machine experience. DMF’s system-level approach delivers metadata and associated contexts to the Analytics Node cluster and packet capture to the Recorder Node cluster. This integrated one-click workflow across nodes allows operators to zero-in on anomalies that have occurred in the past by instantaneously retrieving historical network traffic. The DMF Analytic Node’s machine learning capability dynamically identifies anomalous network behaviors through auto-baselining. For tracing malicious activities, The DMF Recorder Node provides one-click traffic replay to designated security tools in order to recreate their spreading behavior.

Mission-critical Observability for Cybersecurity

Mission-critical monitoring also demands lossless packet delivery to security tools which necessitates the use of deep buffer platforms. With DMF’s support for Arista’s flagship 7280R3 platforms with 25G and 100G interfaces, Arista assures reliable observability solutions for mission-critical monitoring. DMF’s flexible fabric ensures security tools receive all relevant network traffic to detect and hunt threats. DMF integrates with Awake Security’s Network Detection and Response (NDR) -- Arista’s recent security acquisition -- to deliver traffic to various NDR ingests points, thus bringing zero-trust security to enterprises.

Availability

The Arista DMF Software is procured as a multi-year subscription license, with availability is as follows:

• DMF for 7050X3 (25G and 100G) platforms is shipping now
• DMF Service Node software supporting 40G, 160G and now 320G performance with scale-out clustering support, enabling multi-Terabit processing capacity, is shipping now
• Network Time Machine integrated workflows with DMF Analytics Node and DMF Recorder Node are shipping now
• DMF software support for 7280R3 (10G, 25G and 100G) platforms for mission-critical observability will be available starting Q1 2021
• DMF support for open networking platforms is shipping

Register here to learn more about Arista’s network observability innovations with DANZ Monitoring Fabric at our webinar on January 14, 2020.

Read more about this announcement on Jayshree Ullal's blog here.

Learn more about Arista’s Network Observability innovations and the DANZ Monitoring Fabric solution here. Register here to test-drive DMF on-line.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks is an industry leader in cognitive cloud networking solutions for large data center and campus environments. Arista’s award-winning platforms deliver availability, agility, automation analytics, and security through CloudVision^® and Arista EOS^®, an advanced network operating system. For more information, visit www.arista.com.

ARISTA, CloudVision, and CloudEOS are among the registered and unregistered trademarks of Arista Networks, Inc. in jurisdictions around the world. 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 cost savings, performance, reliability, security and efficiency. 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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