Array Networks Inc. today announced the latest
version of its groundbreaking AVX Series Network Functions Platforms
with dozens of new and enhanced capabilities as well as new
high-performance models that offer enhanced SSL and ECC-encrypted
traffic throughput as well as support for 40 GbE network interfaces.
Array's Network Functions Platforms are hyperconverged appliances that
are designed specifically to run networking and security virtual
appliances (VAs) while addressing the most difficult challenges of
network services virtualization that face enterprises and managed
service providers (MSPs).
The
hybrid architecture of Array AVX platforms is unique in the industry
and provides significant differentiation. AVX platforms (a) provide
software-centric agility of a COTS server while retaining guaranteed
hardware performance of a network appliance, (b) automate complex VA
provisioning tasks to reduce time from months to minutes, (c) provide a
vendor neutral platform that allows running any Array VAs, third party
VAs and OpenSource VAs at scale, and (d) drive down the cost of HW and
SW, as well as space, power, cooling and provisioning.
The
new AVX5800, AVX7800 and AVX9800 appliances offer up to 10x improvement
in ECC SSL processing and up to 2x performance increase across a number
of core metrics. The new appliances also offer optional 40 GbE network
interfaces. Existing AVX x600 Series appliances will remain available
for the foreseeable future.
The
AVX 2.7 software release allows flexible VA resource assignment,
allowing administrators to choose either one of the standard default
instance sizes as before, or fine-tune system resources for the specific
needs of individual VAs. For applications such as next-generation
firewalls and web application firewalls, the latest software also
supports promiscuous mode, port mirroring and other functions with
enhanced performance.
The
latest software release includes multiple other new features and
enhancements, such as the ability to backup and restore AVX
configurations and VA images via USB, a new online repository for VA
software images, support for DHCP relay, and more. AVX 2.7 software is
also backward compatible with existing AVX x600 Series appliance models.
AVX
2.7 also includes a plug-in for integration with OpenStack, a widely
deployed open-source software platform for cloud computing. Using
OpenStack, network administrators can create, instantiate, manage,
adjust and terminate VAs, allowing complete lifecycle management of
networking and security VAs in an OpenStack environment. Array's
platform serves as an OpenStack Compute (Nova) node through a new
hypervisor driver.
"Networking
and security teams, whether in the enterprise or the MSP space, must
become cloud-relevant, and the chief obstacles to attaining this goal
have been complexity, performance and cost," said Milind Kulkarni,
senior director of product management for Array Networks. "With this new
release, the AVX Series offers even more flexibility and simplicity in
deployment of networking and security virtual appliances as well as even
more robust performance, all while reducing costs for power, cooling
and space by consolidating multiple functions onto a single
hyperconverged appliance."