Arista Networks and VMware Enter Strategic Relationship to Advance Adoption of Network Virtualization

PALO ALTO, CA and SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 8, 2014) - Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE: ANET), a leader in software driven cloud networking, and VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) today announced a strategic relationship to enable customers to accelerate adoption of network virtualization in the software-defined data center (SDDC). This new collaboration agreement builds on the companies four year relationship in developing innovative, integrated SDDC solutions, and focuses on development and joint marketing of the generally available Arista and VMware integrated networking solution for VMware NSX .

Arista and VMware are continuing to partner in areas that will optimize the software-defined data center for the hybrid cloud. Building on previous work around VMware vSphere , VMware vCloud Director , and VXLAN support, the companies are working together to drive greater interoperability across the broader VMware SDDC portfolio.

Aristas network programmable underlay, utilizing Arista Extensible Operating System, EOS , network APIs and hardware enabled VXLAN Tunnel Endpoints (VTEPS) and the VMware NSX network virtualization platform, support a software-defined data center for both enterprise and service provider customers. The Arista and VMware integrated networking solution combines award-winning network infrastructure with a complete network virtualization platform enabled to simplify management and provisioning, speed service delivery, reduce costs and create opportunities for competitive differentiation. The tools provided by Arista and VMware put control and visibility back in the hands of the network and systems administrators.

This is the third phase of an ongoing collaboration between the two companies:

Phase 1 2010+: ESX and vSphere/VMware vCloud Integration

Phase 2 2012+: VXLAN specification and interoperability across physical/virtual networks

Phase 3 2014+: VMware NSX integration and Arista Networks support for VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite and VMware vCenter Log Insight

With multiple years of joint engineering and customer deployments, this announcement highlights our growing relationship with VMware. Arista is committed to working with VMware products and architectures to optimally combine the VMware network virtualization platform and Arista programmable physical networks for the best network-wide virtualization deployments.

Jayshree Ullal, President and CEO, Arista Networks

VMware and Arista are challenging the status quo in networking today, driving innovative, agile and cost-effective solutions that are changing the operations and economics of data centers. Through our shared vision for the software-defined data center, we are empowering customers to integrate Arista EOS-based network infrastructure with VMware NSX to enable the same operational model to be used for both virtual and physical workloads, resulting in increased efficiency and agility for the data center operator.

Raghu Raghuram, Executive Vice President of Cloud Infrastructure and Management, VMware

The excitement around SDN and network virtualization is that -- for the first time -- networking is becoming more software orientated, so were able to dynamically orchestrate service modification and activation in real-time. Network connectivity can now keep up when virtual machines and associated compute and storage change or are moved within distributed data centers. This means that servers, storage and now the network are in synch so that we can meet the specific needs of our customers in a timescale they demand. As a result of deploying a new network architecture based on Arista and VMware networking technologies, the time for Colt to add, change or modify services now takes minutes rather than days, and enables Colt to onboard customers faster and expand its service portfolio quicker.

Mirko Voltolini, VP Technology and Architecture at Colt

Software Driven Networking for todays Data Center Requirements

Arista Networks and VMware recognize that todays data centers require automation, self-service provisioning, and linear scaling of both performance and data center economics. Aristas award-winning data center switching products combined with VMware NSX will be able to deliver next-generation network virtualization, custom programmability and simplified architectures, with a single point of management. VMware and Arista Networks help unlock the full potential of the software-defined data center, allowing IT organizations to:

Automate delivery of next-generation network services

Enable end-to-end network virtualization and deliver application workload mobility by preserving IP addressing within and between data centers

Simplified troubleshooting by offering complete physical and virtual network visibility

Accelerate deployment of business critical applications through transparent network provisioning

Seamless Integration without performance impact of non virtualized applications or servers

Additional Resources

Attend Arista CTO Ken Dudas presentation at VMworld, Physical Networks in a Virtual World, Session ID: NET1875

Read VMwares Network Virtualization Blog

Read Jayshree Ullals blog on Software Driven Networking

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks was founded to deliver software-driven cloud networking solutions for large data center and computing environments. Aristas award-winning 10/40/100 GbE switches redefine scalability, robustness, and price-performance, with over 2,700 customers and more than two million cloud networking ports deployed worldwide. At the core of Aristas platform is EOS, an advanced network operating system. Arista Networks products are available worldwide through distribution partners, systems integrators and resellers. Additional information and resources can be found at: http://www.arista.com

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