LAS VEGAS, USA: Arista Networks announced a data centre class gigabit Ethernet switch positioned for server access in the “leaf” layer of the network. The new Arista 7048 is a wire-speed multi-layer switch with forty-eight RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet ports and four 1/10Gb Ethernet uplinks delivering up to 40 gigabits of interconnect capacity to the “spine” of the network.

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Running the Arista extensible operating system (EOS), the Arista 7048 is the first switch to integrate Citrix Systems NetScaler VPX load balancing and application security software. Uniquely, the Arista 7048 switch offers very large buffering capability on every port in combination with a purpose-built architecture for congestion management.

Doug Gourlay, vice president, marketing , Arista, said: "As traffic loads increase, Gigabit Ethernet switches require more buffering and non-blocking performance between the leaf and spine. The Arista 7048 has been purpose-built to handle high traffic loads within the switch and with Citrix NetScaler VPX integration, load balancing across servers within a rack is now much simpler. Joining forces with Citrix has enabled Arista to set a new standard for data centre class networking.”

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Klaus Oestermann, group vice president and general manager, Networking and Cloud Group, Citrix, "Advanced load balancing and traffic management are critical services within any cloud data centre. Integration of NetScaler VPX and Arista 7048 switches makes NetScaler's market leading load balancing, acceleration and security functionality immediately available to any application connected to an Arista network."

Cloud Networking designs have been pioneered by Arista for 1/10GbE two-tier leaf and spine architectures. These can now be built on a combination of Arista 7048 and 7100 series switches providing non-blocking multi-terabit capacity and high-density configurations delivering from 1000 to over 10,000 server ports.

The high throughput and bursty traffic patterns of storage, video, market data feeds, and Web 2.0 applications require the network to cope with speed mismatches and reliably manage congestion with consistent performance. The Arista portfolio is optimally designed to provide a smooth migration to next generation two-tier cloud designs with predictable latency, non-blocking capacity and wire speed multi-layer capabilities.

The Arista 7048 is based on EOS, a purpose-built data center network operating system already shipping on the Arista 7100 Series of 1/10GbE switches. EOS offers open access to Linux tools, extensible network services and allows easy integration with 3rd party applications such as Citrix NetScaler VPX. EOS provides a single system-image across all Arista networking platforms delivering mission critical data center features such as Stateful Fault Repair and In-Service Software Upgrades.

The Arista 7048 switch is available now. The new switch will be on display at Gartner Data Center Conference, Las Vegas 2009 (Dec 1-4).