Arista Launches 7000 X Series, Goes Head-To-Head With Cisco

Arista Networks, Inc. introduced the new member to its software defined cloud network: the Arista 7000 X Series with the Arista 7300 and Arista 7250. Designed to deliver a resilient architecture, enhanced programmability, control of virtualised networks, improved power efficiency, and price/performance optimised for universal cloud and data center deployments. Powered by Arista EOS the Arista 7000 X Series optimises costs, automates provisioning, and builds more reliable scale-out architectures endorsed by an open ecosystem of partners.

Universal Cloud Networks with Single Tier Spline

Complementing Arista’s pioneering two-tier leaf-spine designs based around Arista’s 7500E and 7x50 Series, customers can simplify cabling, consolidate servers, migrate between virtual to physical networks and control IP storage as well as big data and business applications with a Spline network. By collapsing the leaf and spine together into a single-tier network for performance and latency sensitive cloud applications, operating and capital asset costs are lowered by 40%. This brings deterministic performance for up to 2000 hosts in one cluster.

“Newer small form factor core devices can enable network managers to reduce capital costs by 30% to 70%, and save 30% or more on operations expenses, compared with chassis-based switches. Enterprises should not only compare the capital cost differences between fixed form factor switches and chassis-based switches, but also should look at operating expenditures (OpEx) such as power consumption and maintenance, which can cut costs by at least 30%,” said Mark Fabbi, VP Distinguished Analyst at Gartner in a March 2013 report entitled Rightsizing the Enterprise Data Center Network.

The Arista 7300 and 7250X series achieve new levels of performance and density with resilient control planes at an optimised and linear cost model for the next-generation data center creating a new deployment model: the Spline Network.

Application Agility and Programmability

At the heart of the data center Arista provides a single binary image of Arista EOS, purpose built for open cloud applications. Arista EOS’s unique foundation is a state-driven multiprocessing operating system optimised for mission-critical networks.

Key highlights include Zero Touch Provisioning to simplify network deployment, Smart System Upgrade to maximise uptime and availability with F5; OpenWorkload to integrate with orchestration, virtualisation, and provisioning tools in OpenStack, Microsoft System Center and VMware NSX; wireless/wired integration with Aruba, Scale out Security with Palo Alto Networks and Network Telemetry with Splunk and Riverbed. Based on an unmodified modular Linux kernel coupled with an industry standard CLI, no other network operating system is as proven, open, extensible, feature rich and capable of dramatic operational savings.

Compelling alternative to Cisco Catalyst 6500

The Arista 7300 is comprised of three chassis: the Arista 7304, 7308 and 7316 with 4, 8 and 16 line card slots respectively. All three share a common resilient architecture that scales up to 512 ports of 40GbE or 2,048 ports of 10GbE, with wirespeed performance of 40Tbps (terabits per second) of throughput. X Series line card modules for the Arista 7300 include 10GBASE-T, SFP and QSFP configurations. Front-to-rear and rear-to-front airflow options along with platinum rated power supplies allow for improved efficiency and middle-of-row Spline configurations.

Two Arista 7316 Series systems can fit in a single 42RU rack supporting over 4000 10GbE ports. With power consumption under 3W per 10GbE port and latency under 2 microseconds, a pair of 7300 series switches replaces two Catalyst 6509Es with more than ten times the scale, throughput, latency improvement and power efficiency.

Complementing the 7300X series, the Arista 7250X Series is a high-density solution delivering 64 ports of wire-speed 40GbE or up to 256 Ports of 10GbE in a compact and power efficient two-rack unit fixed form factor with redundant and hot-swap power supplies and fan modules.

Key features on the 7300X and 7250X Series:

Unified Forwarding Table: The Layer 2 MAC table and Layer 3 routing tables dynamically expand based on the application to support up to 288K MAC entries, or 144K routes.

New Duplex Fiber 40GbE Optics: Support for Arista’s LRL4 QSFP optics requiring a single pair of single mode fiber, reducing the fiber requirements by 75% compared to existing choices.

Network Telemetry: Real-time visibility into network congestion, buffer management and industry-standard sFlow support for traffic analysis.

Physical-Virtual-Cloud Network: Arista VMTracer provisioning and native VXLAN support, workload mobility and migration at wire speed across multiple hypervisors.