Aruba Introduces Automation, Simplification Solution

By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, TMC

Aruba has come out with a family of enterprise core and aggregation switches based on an operating system that automates and simplifies important network tasks. The switches are called the Aruba 8400 line. The operating system is known as the ArubaOS-CX.

Together they enable IT staff to more easily monitor applications, the network, and security efforts. They allow that via automatic correlation of network activities and rules-based monitoring. And that, combined with the switches’ programmability, provides IT staff with network insights that enable them to more quickly resolve problems. That programmability, enabled by the solution’s baked-in Python interpreter and REST-based APIs, also allows for ease of integration and the ability to scale.

“In K-12 districts like ours, greater network automation and programmability means less need for us to devote time and valuable resources to maintenance and management,” said Thomas Brawley, director of technology services for Aruba customer Tomball Independent School District of Texas. “With the new Aruba 8400 core switch's monitoring and analytics capabilities, we can automate troubleshooting to resolve issues quickly and ensure a reliable, secure network experience for our users. The Aruba 8400 allows us to reduce manual ‘touches', so our IT team can focus on other critical activities.”

The Aruba 8400 switch and related operating system, says Hewlett Packard Enterprise company Aruba, “are purpose-built for emerging mobile-cloud business applications and changing traffic patterns that are being driven by the massive flood of data sources and growth in IoT.” That’s going to be important given there will be an estimated 20.4 billion Internet of Things devices connected to enterprise networks by 2020, according to Gartner (News - Alert).

“Networking is a lot like basketball,” Aruba’s Partha Narasimhan wrote on the company’s blog. “A network switch should be like a great passer, treating every connected device as an intelligent network player with a unique purpose.  And as in basketball, those network players are mobile -- moving swiftly across all parts of the court.” 

He goes on to write that “the Aruba 8400 has the orchestration capabilities needed to bridge a new world of end-user mobility and smart-building IoT. As it turns out, many of the innovations we created for wireless make the wired world work better too. A lot like Magic Johnson, the Aruba 8400 makes every network device better.”