Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Juniper's new 25.6 Tbps data center switch matched with Apstra automation

Juniper Networks unveiled its QFX5700 Series Switch, a midsize, 25.6 Tbps chassis-based system on Broadcom Trident 4 programmable merchant silicon.

The 5RU platform supports a mix of 10G/25G/40G/50G, 100G, 200G and 400G line cards supporting a variety of interfaces, all available with inline MACsec/IPsec. The QFX5700 is aimed at a variety of data center use cases, including those migrating to 100G/400G.

Michael Bushong, VP of Data Center Product Management at Juniper Networks, says the company is evolving its solution portfolio around the Apstra intelligence with the goal of connecting the elements of the data center into an intent-based, self-driving system. The idea is to leverage Apstra blueprints and telemetry to identify when a task needs to be invoked, how it should best be executed and whether it accomplished the desired intent. The company reports a strong uptake in Apstra deployments since acquiring the company earlier this year.

https://blogs.juniper.net/en-us/enterprise-cloud-and-transformation/juniper-networks-advances-data-center-operations-with-next-generation-modular-switch

Juniper completes Apstra acquisition

Juniper Networks completed its previously-announced acquisition of Apstra, a leader in intent-based networking and automated closed-loop assurance. 

The Apstra team is now part of Juniper’s Data Center business and Apstra CEO and co-founder, David Cheriton, joins Juniper as Chief Data Center Scientist.

Apstra offers an intent-based network operating system for simplifying the management of data center networks. Intent-Based Networking (IBN) is a closed-loop, continuous validation approach to designing, deploying and managing infrastructure. Apstra automatically generates and deploys full configuration of all devices based on a service description, and continuously provides assurance checks between the intended and operational state. Apstra’s multivendor integrations extend its closed loop automation and analytics to customers independently of their underlying infrastructure, including those running SONiC (Software for Open Networking in the Cloud). 

Juniper said the acquisition expands its commitment to open programmability, adding to its portfolio of solutions that includes powerful switching platforms with native SONiC integration and a deployment-hardened, cloud-native routing stack for the SONiC ecosystem.