Arista Networks will acquire the VeloCloud SD-WAN solution from Broadcom, a purchase that will support Arista’s growth in cloud-based SD–WAN and AI networking. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but industry experts indicate the deal is worth approximately $1 billion.
Among the valuable toolsets that Arista gains are the VeloRAIN and VeloBrain technologies, which will boost Arista’s AI networking solutions. VeloRAIN (VeloCloud Robust Artificial Intelligence Networking) is an AL/ML solution launched in November 2024 to automate enterprise networks and improve the security and performance of distributed artificial intelligence. VeloBrain is the AI operator for VeloRAIN, its command center that offers features like AI-based troubleshooting, an AI-powered chat interface, and an array of tools that streamline VeloRAIN’s operation.
Furthermore, the VeloRAIN platform will improve Arista’s existing network capacities by optimizing network operation and automating cybersecurity threat detection. It will play a key role in Arista’s autonomous virtual assistant.
The VeloCloud edge platform handles everything from 5G to Wi-Fi 6D/7 to IoT networking, which will enable Arista to service customers with extended networks like large retail outlets or industrial production facilities.
Additionally, VeloCloud will provide Arista with a larger range of hardware and software features that enhance cloud-based firewall deployment and monitoring, and application-optimized SD-WAN operation. This expanded range of offerings for Arista customers will allow global WAN services to connect far-flung networks, all while interoperating with Arista’s proprietary CloudEOS (Extensible Operating System) routing stack and its 7000-series WAN routers, which are high density data center hardware geared for enterprise WAN edge and aggregation.
VeloCloud seems like a far better fit for Arista’s portfolio than it was for Broadcom’s. Arista, unlike Broadcom, has gained a reputation as a leading campus and datacenter networking player. The company’s well-regarded 7000 series and the CloudEOS have helped it earn placement in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN as a visionary, and in the Data Center Switching category as a leader.
VeloCloud has had a dizzying array of owners over the last decade or so. Founded in 2012, it was snapped up by VMware in 2017, which was then owned by Dell. In 2021, Dell spun out VMware as a stand alone company, which was bought by Broadcom in 2023 for $69 billion. Now with Broadcom’s sale of VeloCloud to Arista, it’s likely that VeloCloud customers are hoping it finds a long term home with its new corporate parent.
Arista is a proponent of the so-called “leaf-spine cloud network” for data centers, which uses two layers of switches—leaf switches and spine switches—to simplify network management and improve scalability.
“With the completion of the VeloCloud acquisition, our customers will now have rich configuration choices such as leafs/spokes for branch sites,” wrote Arista CEO Jayshree Ullal. “This modern WAN architecture delivers multipathing, encryption, in-band network telemetry, segmentation, application identification, and traffic engineering into a single atomic identifier for WAN hub/spine and spoke/leaf applications.”
In the era of agentic AI, Ullal noted, what exactly counts as a user of WAN has fundamentally changed; AI agents will now access the WAN independently, adapting over time to better accomplish tasks and improve productivity.
“In today’s AI era, customers need more than traditional SD-WAN,” she opined. “WAN silos will no longer be viable, as traffic caused by generative AI in data centers (either on-premise or hosted in the cloud) will increasingly impact the WAN.” The combination of Arista and VeloCloud, she said, are now equipped to handle this new AI-based era.
