
In a world where data centers are being seen as individual compute and storage commodities, industry experts have begun to ask: How do we securely connect these clouds to begin sharing resources?
Arista’s solution is tp connect clouds using VXLAN as a solution for Layer 2 interconnects between clouds. Arista describes this being a “Spine” interconnect.
By using this type of connection, cloud service providers that reach across multiple cloud data centers to fetch data for end users can now operate rapidly and securely thanks to Arista’s Network Function Virtualization techniques.
In order to provide additional security, Arista enables clouds to connect using MACsec, which ensures the confidentiality of the data flow between clouds using AES 256 bit encryption.
All of this is enabled using 7500E Series 100GbE line cards that have integrated Coherent DWFM optical interfaces. These interfaces are built to rapidly transmit data over distances of 5,000 kilometers.
Who benefits from Arista’s Cloud Connect solutions between data centers? Providers such as Box, Netflix and even data center providers such as Equinix are implementing the technology.
“Equinix is the leader in providing Data Center interconnection services for Enterprises, Content providers, Internet Service Providers, and Cloud Service Providers,” says Ihab Tarazi, CTO of Equinix.
“The Equinix Global Internet Exchange (IX) provides L2 interconnectivity to all the peering participants over a geographically distributed L2 fabric. Arista’s VXLAN cloud interconnect solution on the 7500E platform has been instrumental in addressing the scale-out of our IX fabric. By moving to a resilient, cloud scale L3 design with Arista’s VXLAN solution and EOS, we get better operational efficiencies and higher performance from our network while keeping up with our business growth,” Tarazi added.
According to Arista, data center providers who are interested in implementing this technology can attend a webinar entitled The Universal Spine: Cloud Internetworking Use Cases. The webinar happens December 10th at 1PM EST.