At AWS re:Invent 2020, Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, announced new capabilities for its SD-WAN portfolio – comprised of the Aruba SD-Branch and the recently acquired Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect solutions – designed to centrally monitor, manage, and automate connectivity from branch locations to Amazon Web Services (AWS). The Aruba SD-WAN portfolio integration with the new AWS Transit Gateway Connect greatly simplifies network operations and management and enables customers to apply consistent quality of service and security policies across branch sites when connecting to Amazon Virtual Private Clouds (Amazon VPCs). Branch office users benefit from consistent performance and a high quality of experience.
As organisations look to modernise their networks to meet the dynamic needs of distributed office locations, mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) environments, they need a simple way to deploy, manage and monitor branch networks across geographies in order to ensure security, compliance and application availability to users. The new AWS Transit Gateway Connect enables tighter, more streamlined integration between the Aruba SD-WAN portfolio, resulting in faster deployment, reduced operational costs and ready access to performance metrics and network telemetry data.
“When it comes to managing pathways to AWS, enterprises have a range of choices and can best balance their needs based on the types of applications used and where users are located,” said Mayumi Hiramatsu, Vice President of Amazon EC2 Networking at Amazon Web Services, Inc. “The announcement of Aruba’s integration with AWS Transit Gateway Connect represents a continuation of the work we’ve been doing with the Aruba team in the quest to further streamline IT and enable our shared customers to focus their attention on growth and digital transformation in the cloud era.”
Speed, security and simplicity are all benefits of using native integration between Aruba with AWS Transit Gateway. The new capabilities built into AWS Transit Gateway Connect deliver a range of benefits, including:
- Enabling IT to do more with less: Because the new AWS Transit Gateway Connect enables automated branch connectivity – automatically connecting to the nearest AWS Transit Gateway from each branch site – IT teams no longer have to manually configure routing for individual VPCs and have more flexibility in managing traffic and workflows. As a result, users experience improved application performance and availability and ultimately, higher levels of productivity.
- Automated branch-to-cloud connectivity at scale: Enterprise-class SD-WAN features, automation and orchestration deliver a consistent operational experience between VPCs when using the AWS Transit Gateway as the hub, saving time and resources. In addition, the AWS Transit Gateway serves as a cloud-to-cloud interconnect across the AWS global network to reach multiple Amazon VPCs across AWS Regions, and optimises the middle-mile for branch connectivity.
- Reduced set-up time of branch networks with lifecycle workflows and advanced visibility: Both Aruba Virtual Gateways and Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect virtual appliances along with centralised SD-WAN orchestration allows customers to easily extend their SD-WAN fabrics to AWS.
The acquisition of Silver Peak earlier this year presents additional options for customers seeking to or who are in the midst of transitioning to a cloud-first architecture. The Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN edge platform also integrates with AWS Transit Gateway Network Manager, giving network managers the ability to create a single consolidated global view of all sites and connections between AWS and their on-premise locations, gaining visibility into network changes, events, and health telemetry to deliver the highest quality of experience for users.
The new AWS Transit Gateway Connect capabilities for Aruba SD-WAN solutions are available now.
