Arista Networks Platform Reviews

We use three different models of the 7000 series switches to make up the network in one of our data centers. We use the 7060SX as an active leaf, the 7260 as a border leaf, and the 7500 series as the spines.

The most valuable feature is the Linux shell, which is useful for troubleshooting or capturing traffic. 

The documentation for this solution needs to be improved. In the documentation, it is not easy to find the exact solution which describes the configuration step by step. It means that we've had to ask our supplier how to use certain features, and which commands to use. We can find a simple description on the website, as well as a list of the features, but a more complete description is not available. It is not clear exactly how to configure and use each of the features. For other vendors, we can find the exact configuration, with examples, that we need to deploy for any new features.

The documentation did not explain that we could not vary the speed between ports that are in the same block. For example, we cannot have 1G and 10G on the neighboring ports. All four ports have to be 1G or 10G, which was very annoying for us when we realized that we needed to change the configuration and the cabling that we had already prepared.

In the next release of this solution, we would like the option to use two switches as one virtual switch.

The CVP management platform needs to be improved.

This solution is quite stable if the configuration is done according to the best practices. We found, however, that when we made some changes, we ran into problems.

These were temporary changes for test purposes. Nowhere was it explained that making these types of changes could lead to the problems that we observed, or that we would have any trouble. One such problem was that the utilization of links was very high because of an error in our test configuration.

Generally speaking, this is a very stable solution.

In our environment it is scalable. We can find the proper models to meet our requirements. I'm not sure how it would be in the case of very large networks, but in our data center there are a few hundred switches, so it is scalable.

We have thousands of users who use this network. This includes internal and external clients for our data center.

The technical support for this solution is quite good, but the deepness of the explanation in the documentation is not as good as I expect.

Most of the equipment that I have used is Cisco, although I have also used Juniper and Cumulus. For this new type of data center architecture, however, we did not use a solution prior to this one.

The initial setup of the individual switches is simple.

Using the Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) feature with the CloudVision Portal (CVP) is not simple, and it takes quite a long time.

Each of the switches can be deployed in about ten minutes, after several restarts, using the management interface. If I deploy using the command line then it will take a minute or two.

The CVP is supposed to be automated, but it is rather complicated and takes time.

For the initial deployment, we needed the help of our local supplier, the Arista representative. It was very helpful for us because we could not find good examples on the website. The best practices were descriptive from a very high-level view and did not contain detailed configuration examples.

I think that it would be very hard to prepare the whole configuration for the data center architecture without the help of our local supplier and Arista engineers.

This solution was my first experience with the new, modern data center architecture.

My advice to anybody who is implementing this series of switches is to carefully check the features that are supported on each model. Some new features are not supported on all platforms. I know that Arista still sells some old models that do not support the newest features.

This is a good solution, but the documentation needs to be improved. More detailed configuration examples are definitely needed.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

We use the solution for networking infrastructure and network detection.

Arista is a good performer in terms of networking and has been rated as one of the leaders in Gartner.

The solution’s pricing could be better.

I have been using Arista Networks Platform for two years.

The product’s stability is excellent.

The solution is scalable.

There are about four or five customers in my region.

Arista has excellent tech support distributed around the world.

The initial setup is easy and depends from scenario to scenario.

The product is expensive and has a yearly subscription.

Three people, including admins, are required for the solution’s maintenance.

I recommend the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

We use the solution to provide multi-layer switches for the networks in our client's data centers, the majority of whom are based in the banking sector.

We find the CloudVision switching feature of this solution really useful.

The UI for this product is also very good: user-friendly and familiar feeling.

The stability of this solution needs to be improved as part of the next upgrade.

We have been working with this solution for about one year.

We have found this solution to be mostly stable, but we have occasionally had issues with buffering of the switches.

This solution has very good scalability.

The technical support team for this solution are very good and respond to our queries quickly. 

The initial setup of this solution is easy to carry out.

We would recommend this solution to other organizations in the banking sector.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

We use the Arista Networks Platform for our data center features.

The most valuable features of the Arista Networks Platform are the EVPN and VXLAN. It has comprehensive features.

The overall price of the Arista Networks Platform is expensive. It should be reduced.

I have been using the Arista Networks Platform for approximately four years.

Arista Networks Platform is stable.

The scalability of the Arista Networks Platform is good.

I was satisfied with the technical support.

We used Extreme previously.

The initial setup of the Arista Networks Platform is straightforward. It took use approximately a half-day to complete.

We did the implementation in-house.

The price of the Arista Networks Platform could be less expensive for the hardware and license.

My advice to others is to learn from the Arista team to have better knowledge and understanding before deployment. It does help.

I rate Arista Networks Platform a nine out of ten.

What we're frequently using in Arista Networks Platform is CloudVision. It's what we found most valuable.

An area for improvement we see in Arista Networks Platform is its integration, e.g. it needs to have more integration with its new products. It should have good integration with multiple wireless, security, and other products they recently acquired. Everybody needs just one dashboard, e.g. we are looking at where we can monitor all the other products which Arista Networks Platform has recently acquired.

Incorporating more security and cloud in terms of the journey to digital transformation is also another area for improvement in Arista Networks Platform, because more and more companies would like to have the incorporation of both cloud and security into their firmware.

An additional feature we'd like to see in the next release of Arista Networks Platform has everything to do with permissions. If you're looking at interfacing with other vendors, they need to have open protocols like API, so that it becomes easier for threat backing integration.

We've been dealing with Arista Networks Platform over the last four years.

Arista Networks Platform provides good support.

The deployment of Arista Networks Platform was very straightforward.

We're using both Arista Networks Platform and Aruba switches. We use Aruba switches mainly for wireless and campus, while Arista Networks Platform we are using more for the data center.

We are a distributor for Arista and Aruba.

Deployment for Arista Networks Platform is on-premises, with a bit of public cloud, but most of the deployment is on-premises.

I would put Arista Networks Platform at a ten out of ten rating, particularly because of their support and their features.

If you have a large network, it's one of the easiest solutions to deploy and manage.

The best part is the single operating system that they have. Regardless of your model, it's the same operating system functioning across the board, which means you don't have to worry about backward compatibilities between your older switches and the new ones that you deploy, which is a big plus when compared to maybe Cisco, HP, or Juniper, where you get into these different operating systems based on the model. 

Against that, if you look at the competitors, you always have to worry about the operating system that the older units are running on, and the integration between the old and new, and what are the limitations and stuff like that. All those questions you simply don't have to worry about when you talk about Arista. Therefore, the deployment becomes pretty easy.

The solution is very stable.

Technical support is extremely responsive and helpful.

The solution is quite expensive. One of the negative aspects of it is the pricing. 

I've used the solution for a while. I was an employee at Arista for a couple of years. In addition to that, I have almost four customers who have been using Arista.

The solution is absolutely stable. If you look at the customer base, that itself is a testimony. They have a very, very good customer base, and it's a pretty stable solution. Rarely we have encountered any challenges with Arista.

The solution works well for large-scale organizations.

The nice thing about technical support from Arista is you don't have to go through multiple levels of check-ups where there is someone who collects your information and stuff and then passes on the baton to someone else. That's not how they work. It's an engineer on the call who would directly help you out, which saves a lot of time and headache. The whole time with the technical support of Arista is significantly lower than others. My experience has been that when you call Arista tech support, your call is answered within a couple of minutes. Compared to the rest, where it could be 15 to 20 minutes at least, it's great. Arista is very quick on the response time when it comes to assistance.

I also have an understanding of Cisco, HP, and Juniper.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward and simple. For roughly around 50 switches, you could deploy them in a day with the manpower of maybe two people.

Even for probably a network which is moderately sized, a couple of admins would do the job in terms of maintenance. They could deploy and just hold it. If you have a lot of changes to make every now and then they can handle it. That part would completely depend upon the operations that are carried out.

The product is fairly expensive. It's not a cheap option. Clients need to be ready to pay.

There's an annual license with Arista. Though the unit of calculation is monthly, the license has to be procured on an annual basis. It's an annual license, and again, it's pricy.

I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten. The only negative that applies to them is the price.

I would recommend Arista for enterprises considering their price point, however, I would not recommend it for the SME/SMB market. Although it's a wonderful product, the price is something that an SME or SMB cannot afford.

We use it more like a complete network operations center.

It provides telemetry and visibility for many metrics that are not supported by most of the other vendors. Out of the box, no third party solutions are needed.

CloudVision is the central management, and all the features installed are from the same vendor. I like that telemetry and metrics are available. Also, the provisioning feature and all these features are from the same vendor.

The cost of Arista Networks Platform is high; it is more expensive than other networking solutions.

Also, the community is good but is not good enough. It still needs to grow more.

Maybe, if they had out-of-the-box NetFlow features to integrate with third party solutions, it will be good.

I've been working with it for about 10 months now as a system integrator.

We sell physical appliances to our customers for their on-premises deployment.

One of our future customers will use Arista Networks Platform to support around 1,500 employees.

Two technicians would be sufficient for deployment because with Arista Networks Platform, you have the Zero Touch Provisioning feature. You have simple management, which reduces the number of hands needed to work with the solution.

Cost wise, Arista Networks Platform is more expensive than other networking solutions.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate this solution at nine.

The solution is primarily used for colocation services, as an extension for various platforms, and also mainly for new setups of data centers. They've played a role in top-of-the-rack features and also for data center extensions like VXLAN. 

We have users that use Arista for their financial software testing due to their low latencies.

The initial installation is very straightforward.

A company can scale the solution if it needs to.

The solution is very stable.

The solution needs to improve their product range. They've added a few items, however, they're a bit of a johnny-come-lately to a lot of other competitors in the space and they need to compete for more for the attention of various sizes of business. They basically need to include more models in their offering.

The one thing they lack is Microsegmentation solutions. In contrast, Cisco offers that. It has something called ACI, and we lose out on contracts due to the fact that Arista doesn't have a similar offering. Clients would like to have that on hand as when clients deal with the Cloud base, Microsoft segmentation can be managed with, in a sense, Analytics.

I've been dealing with the solution since 2017. It's been a few years now.

The solution is quite stable. We haven't had any stability issues with it for the most part. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's good.

The solution can scale if you need it to. 

Technical support has been very good. They're quite helpful and responsive. We're satisfied with the level of support we get. For solutions like Nutanix and Arista, I'm never disappointed with the service we get.

The initial setup is mostly straightforward. It just really depends on the scope. There are different discussions that need to precede the installation of it, so that might take a week or two. You still talk to the customer, you make a design, you get the approval, and all of that. However, once you have all of that, if you take that implementation, you're looking at probably, one day to one-and-a-half days just to configure everything. The configuration is very important. Once you have the configuration, putting it in with the switches take a minimum amount of time. 

You likely need two to three people to handle the implementation.

Arista is largely a cloud player catering to the Googles, the Facebooks and all the big players. Price-wise we have a disadvantage pitching Arista, especially against somebody like Cisco who has been in the sector for a long time. We are often fighting Cisco from the pricing perspective with their larger productions and licenses.

In terms of licensing, there are costs related to both licensing and support. We pay for licensing yearly.

We are a distributor of the solution.

I would recommend the solution. Overall, I would rate it at a nine out of ten.