Stronger Cyber Defense with Advanced CISO-Level Protection
Stronger Cyber Defense with Advanced CISO-Level Protection
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Monitoring & Support
Deployment Options
Nationwide Coverage
The branch offices, warehouses, and remote sites are connected to the main network and cloud applications via SD-WAN and edge networking, which ensures that each byte of data doesn’t have to pass through a single point of centralization. Arista’s solution, dubbed the WAN Routing System, features EOS-based routers running a service called CloudVision Pathfinder that dynamically selects the best path for traffic and reroutes it around a break before anyone even realises what’s happened. It is based on standards-based routing, instead of the proprietary tunnels that many older SD-WAN vendors tie their customers into; and it uses carrier-neutral internet transit points that cloud providers use, rather than routing everything the long way around.
Netmate IT engineers build and test this WAN routing system in its Bur Dubai, UAE office, before it is deployed to any branch. Once again, Arista is Netmate’s go-to infrastructure partner, as the company’s efforts span the UAE first, but then across the GCC, Kenya, Nepal, and Africa for any business that wants to stop each outage being a surprise.
Pathfinder always tracks all paths between a site and its destination, and chooses the most optimal path, according to the actual situation, instead of a pre-established route that just has to be followed.
If a communication link fails or fails to maintain the bandwidth, the traffic is rerouted automatically. Don’t underestimate the extent to which a branch office can remain fully operational despite a poor afternoon with one ISP.
A new site’s hardware can be shipped directly to the location, turned on by anyone at the location, and automatically pull its full configuration through CloudVision.
It becomes crucial when a business opens a number of new shops simultaneously, and their engineer has to fly to each of them to perform the installation.
Built by Arista in collaboration with Equinix, this is powered by Network Edge, Metal, and Fabric services to provide customers with direct carrier-neutral access to key cloud providers.
This doesn’t route traffic around the way one ISP considers best, but rather to the location of the cloud workload.
A lot of SD-WAN vendors built their systems around proprietary tunneling technology that works great until something breaks and only their own specialists can troubleshoot it.
Arista’s system runs on standards-based routing underneath, which keeps a network easier to diagnose and less dependent on one vendor’s support queue when something does go wrong.
The lineup runs from compact CPE for a small branch office up to the Arista 5500 WAN System, built for aggregation and high-performance edge routing with support for up to 50 gigabits of encrypted traffic.
A business doesn’t have to overbuy for a small site or settle for underpowered gear at a large one. Entry hardware like the 5310 starts around $21,495, giving a concrete number to plan a rollout budget against rather than guessing.
Arista NDR and edge threat management can be inserted straight into the Pathfinder architecture, so threat detection happens at the WAN edge itself rather than as a bolt-on appliance at every site.
A branch doesn’t need a separate security box just to get the same visibility the main office already has.
Netmate IT designs and deploys Arista’s WAN Routing System from their Bur Dubai office and has engineers carrying out site surveys, Pathfinder configuration, and failover testing prior to the branch going live, and not after the client has realised they are missing something in their network during an outage. This test step is often foregone in the industry, and it’s typically the deciding factor between a failover that fails silently and one that fails the hard way.
Firstly, Netmate’s WAN and edge networking solution spreads across the UAE and then across the GCC, Kenya, Nepal, and Africa to provide reliable support to retail chains, logistics networks, and any multi-site enterprise that requires its branches to communicate with one another and the cloud. A client can deploy Netmate to their 3 stores or 30 warehouses in each country and enjoy the same site survey and configuration deployment process.
Store A in Umm Al Quwain could fail automatically if its primary internet connection fails over during a very busy weekend if it is part of a retail chain. A manufacturing business in Khobar may be linking a factory environment to inventory systems kept in the cloud and doesn’t have the budget to accept the lag time a badly routed WAN connection introduces with each deal. A logistics company in Sohar could open and close warehouses based on business growth and require more new warehouse locations that can be opened in a few hours rather than a few weeks.
A logistics company in Sohar may need to open and close warehouses as the business expands, and a warehouse location needs to be opened within a few hours instead of a few weeks. A bank in Eldoret may be connecting branch offices to a central data center, and all connections between the various points may be encrypted, end-to-end. The telecom reseller in Dharan could be responsible for WAN connections at dozens of client sites and prefers to have one dashboard as opposed to one login per site.
The trigger that typically leads to a business’s decision to rebuild its WAN is easy: The site crashes, support can’t figure out why for an hour, and then someone asks, “Why can’t the network just figure it out?
Most SD-WAN products focus narrowly on connecting branch sites through proprietary tunnels, which works but often locks a business into one vendor's ecosystem. Arista's WAN Routing System covers that same SD-WAN use case but builds it on open, standards-based routing, plus carrier-neutral internet transit and edge security, which gives it a broader reach than SD-WAN products built for branch connectivity alone.
Yes, for most standard rollouts. The hardware comes pre-programmed to contact CloudVision automatically after a power-up and connection to the network, and retrieve all its settings. The only exception is a site that has unusual cabling or network configuration requirements, which must be manually configured; this is still much less work than having to set up a router on-site.
CloudVision Pathfinder automatically tracks each path from a site, including the primary path, and knows which backup paths are healthy before a failure even occurs. If the primary connection fails, traffic automatically moves to the next best connection, and often happens so quickly that the end user does not realize that a connection failure occurred.
Hardware is sized to the site rather than applying one model everywhere. A small branch can run on compact CPE starting around $21,495, while a larger aggregation point or data center edge uses higher capacity platforms like the 5500 WAN System. A mixed deployment across different site sizes is the normal setup, not an exception.
It does not require traffic to be routed through a single ISP's preferred path to a cloud provider. The Equinix connection allows Arista's system to be connected to major cloud platforms via more direct connections, likely resulting in lower latency and fewer unpredictable detours than would be the case if all connections were made via one carrier's default path.
It depends on what's already in place, but a full rip and replace isn't always necessary. Most deployments begin with a new or growing site with Arista's system, leaving existing sites on the existing vendor system until the time of natural renewal of the hardware or contract, thereby distributing the switch, rather than forcing a single disruptive cutover.
Encryption is not a sold-on add-on, but is part of the WAN Routing System itself. For instance, the Arista 5500 WAN System comes with up to 50 gigabits of encrypted traffic as a standard. Questions about encryption are not really the key planning questions; they are more likely to be about throughput and site count.
