Arrcus announced a new release of its Arrcus Connected Edge (ACE) platform - ACE 2.0, supporting use cases spanning spine-leaf and TOR switching, multi-cloud networking, 5G edge and cell-site routing, as well as core virtual distributed routing. The ACE 2.0 platform enables the end-to-end network transformation required for enterprises and service providers to run new 5G and Web 3.0 applications such as telehealth, AR/VR gaming, autonomous driving, decentralized finance, and more. With this release, ACE is available also as a subscription service from Arrcus and select partners. Arrcus today also launched its new PACE ("Partner with ACE") program designed to assist ecosystem partners in speeding up their ability to integrate with the ACE platform and deliver routing and switching solutions faster to customers.

"Digital technology is transforming the world around us at an ever increasing pace, changing every aspect of business and consumer experience. You need high-speed, high-bandwidth, intelligently routed networks with ultra-low latency to make that possible," said Shekar Ayyar, CEO and chairman at Arrcus. "ACE 2.0 from Arrcus delivers these capabilities, providing enterprises and service providers with the comprehensive networking stack they need - via an easy-to-consume subscription model."

ACE 2.0 Makes Networking Agile, Massively Scalable, Seamless, and Ultra-Fast

Recent outages in major clouds and social networks highlight the need to have a dependable, low-latency network infrastructure. While the application landscape has evolved at a rapid pace towards Web 3.0, underlying networks are still a rigid and inflexible collection of legacy routers and switches - antithetical to the requirements of today's highly distributed, hyperconnected digital-first businesses. Enterprises and service providers need to embrace an agile, open systems, policy-driven, software-centric, virtualized approach to networking that enables massive scale and ultra-fast convergence.

ACE 2.0 from Arrcus enables such a seamless network transformation and creates a foundation for new Web 3.0 and 5G edge and access applications, while delivering immersive end user experiences by:

• serving up ultra-fast BGP route convergence combined with carrier-grade resiliency across physical, virtual, and cloud form factors
• enabling innovative, application-aware traffic engineering through an end-to-end EVPN control plane and SR-MPLS/SRv6 data plane
• powering 5G network slicing with an end-to-end independent logical network solving specific business use cases
• providing standards-based APIs to interface with third-party applications and services
  

"The pandemic has forced telcos to undergo a massive transformation to support the extremely high demand for broadband capacity," said Ray Mota, CEO and principal analyst at ACG Research. "This surge in demand is driving telcos to implement 5G infrastructure. Arrcus recently announced its ACE 2.0 flexible platform, which aligns with telcos' and enterprises' infrastructure requirements for 5G infrastructure that is agile, low latency, scalable, and secure."

ACE Is Now Available Via Subscription and Through a Growing Array of Marketplaces

ACE 2.0 is now available to customers in the form of an annual subscription license, and Arrcus offers the platform in Standard, Premium, and Advanced bundles. Enterprises and service providers can purchase one of these bundles or buy any component a la carte.

Components of ACE 2.0 include the following incremental features:

• Native NOS with ArcOS v4.3.1: VPN centralized gateway, VLAN-aware bundle service for EVPN, hitless upgrades, and SRv6 OAM process to track tunnel performance metrics
• SONiC-support with ArcOS-SX v2.3.1: MCLAG and FRR 8.1 - static routing
• Multi-cloud networking with ArcEdge + ArcOrchestrator v2.1.1: configurable NAT, site-to-site VPN peering with third-party devices, default NAT, route 53 integration for overlay network
• Virtual Distributed Routing with Arrcus VDR: Sub-interfaces, L2/L3 port channel, LACP, shaping, break out support, scheduling/queuing, AAA (TACACS, RADIUS), BFD, Mirror to CPU
• Route Reflection with ArcRR v4.3.1: ERPL support, GR enable/disable on per peer basis without resetting BGP session
• Intelligent Analytics with ArcIQ

Arrcus now makes it easier than ever to take networking to the next level. Customers can now access Arrcus solutions in a variety of marketplaces including AWS Marketplace, CoreSite, Equinix, PagerDuty, and TCS CUBO.

"We leverage Arrcus' ACE virtual routers in the CoreSite Open Cloud Exchange® to help enable our customers to quickly expand market reach and gain competitive edge while lowering TCO," said Chris Malatyer, Vice President of Network and Interconnection at CoreSite. "With just a few clicks in MyCoreSite, our service delivery platform, customers can quickly establish direct and secure virtual connections to multiple service providers and to the public cloud for rapid, automated provisioning."

The New PACE Program Makes It Easier Than Ever for Partners to Deliver Integrated Solutions

Today also marks the unveiling of the "Partner with ACE" (PACE) Program, a powerful combination of APIs, solutions, and ecosystem partners created to expedite customers' digital transformation. PACE enables partners - from hardware vendors to software, cloud, technology partners, and resellers - to build, validate, and certify their solutions with the ACE 2.0 platform.

PACE Program members have access to several benefits including:

• Early ACE SDK and API access
• Product integration verification and certification badges
• Co-marketing opportunities including internal and external webinars, website listing, and events

Arrcus offers two tiers, standard and advanced, for its PACE partner program. Ecosystem partners can choose the option that best enables them to meet their unique business objectives.

"Every day at Vapor IO we see the power of ecosystems to create novel integrations and deliver empowering solutions to customers, such as with our INZONE program in Las Vegas," said Matt Trifiro, chief marketing officer at Vapor IO.  "Arrcus' new PACE Program will provide ecosystem partners with the essential support needed to integrate the flexible and secure networking features of Ace 2.0 into customer solutions that truly move the needle."