Remote work and hybrid cloud computing are playing havoc with network security.

The data center parameter, once a clearly defined marker around a physical location, now extends to cover a nebulous and constantly shifting area. Traditional networking architecture needs a do-over, and providing it is the Aruba CX 10000.

“It’s a new category of a data center switch in the digital infrastructure because it includes or incorporates security,” said John Galatea (pictured), vice president of sales at Dasher Technologies, a Converge Technology Solutions Corp. company. “More specifically, it includes security around east-west traffic. It doesn’t eliminate your perimeter firewall, but it incorporates more functionality, which leads to better simplicity and easier use of management of a platform.”

Galatea spoke with Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the Aruba and Pensando Announce New Innovations event. They discussed what the Aruba CX 10000 announcement means from a systems integrator perspective. (* Disclosure below.)

A networking switch that simplifies the complexity of distributed systems

As sales VP for Dasher, which provides assessment, architecting, implementation and management of IT solutions, Galatea looks at what the Aruba and Pensando announcement means to companies undergoing digital transformation.

The CX 10000 is creating a “whole new category” because of its ability to deliver cloud-scale distributed services closer to where the applications live, according to Galatea. This saves costs and removes some of the complexities caused by hybrid cloud.

“It simplifies the network by putting security provisions and operations in a unified management platform,” Galatea said.

This allows companies to eliminate dedicated devices and embedded services, improves a company’s security posture by bringing zero trust out to the edge, and limits the appliance and vendor sprawl that many companies contend with in their existing networks.

“The CX 10000 provides a great alternative to embedding accelerated services into the [data center] fabric. It’s great for brownfield migration. … And it doesn’t necessarily replace the perimeter security, but it can cap and grow with [Dynamic Spectrum Sharing] and east-west firewall traffic,” Galatea stated.

Overall, the announcement brings companies “a massive opportunity to reduce complexity, enhance security and lower cost in the data center,” he added.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Aruba and Pensando Announce New Innovations event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the “Aruba and Pensando Announce New Innovations” event. Neither Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: John Galatea