Arista expands its OS stack with Network Data Lake

Arista Networks has expanded its EOS software foundation with the introduction of the EOS Network Data Lake (NetDL) and an AI/ML-driven Autonomous Virtual Assist (Arista AVA).

The big idea is to use the EOS stack  to provide a high-fidelity data lake capability to enable applications to interact, analyze, and enrich network data. Arista says its new NetDL provides a single source of network data ‘truth’ and a common sensor/collector architecture that enables forensics and analytics for threat hunting, network packet brokers, network detection and response, network performance monitoring, and application performance monitoring. EOS NetDL builds upon the established second-generation of the Arista EOS NetDB core publish-subscribe state model with datastores and analytics for network data sources such as alerts, flows, full packet capture, control plane traffic, and device state streaming. In addition to network-centric state from Arista devices, EOS NetDL also enriches network data with third-party and external data integrations, enabling a wide range of applications to process, analyze, and derive operational insights and predictions from this data set.

“Arista is entering the third generation of its flagship software stack. Developing a network-based data lake foundation from the ground up on our existing network state database makes Arista EOS NetDL a differentiated network and data-centric operating system. This compelling multi-tenant and multi-modal data stack is future-proof and engineered to enable customer innovation,” stated Ken Duda, Founder and CTO at Arista Networks.

Arista is collaborating with third parties to enable network data driven applications. Key integration examples with NetDL ecosystem alliance partners include: enhanced network segmentation and cloud security integration, Quality of Experience (QoE) with collaboration applications, validated designs and templated deployments, full inventory integration that verifies production devices are accurately tracked, and live chatops/bot integration enabling real-time data consumption and interaction.

https://www.arista.com/en/company/news/press-release/13399-pr-20211102

Blog from Jayshree Ulaal on Data Driven Networking - https://blogs.arista.com/blog/data-driven-networking