What is Aruba Edge Services Platform (ESP)?
Aruba Edge Services Platform (ESP) is a cutting-edge cloud native platform that literally operates on the edge. The system identifies and addresses issues at network edges, which is something more and more businesses will need as an increasing number of devices and applications are added onto networks. With this technology, businesses can utilize artificial intelligence to efficiently resolve problems before they have any actual impact.
The Silver Peak acquisition was finalized in September 2020 and couldn’t have come at a better time as enterprises across the world would grapple to accommodate their mobile workforce in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
What Is the Aruba Edge Services Platform?
Aruba Edge Services Platform (Aruba ESP) debuted at the company’s virtual Aruba Atmosphere 2020 event. At the event, Aruba Senior Director Patrick Laporte explained the simple proposition that lies behind this cloud native platform: “The network could and should do more.”
A network is the one common piece that all parts of an IT ecosystem share, and Aruba ESP leverages new innovations to enable the network so that it can do more. Specifically, Laporte asked, “Why can’t networks self-heal, self-optimize, even self-secure? And, why can’t they see beyond the horizon to address issues before they impact the business?”
In short, Aruba ESP uses AIOps, Unified Infrastructure and Zero Trust security to fix, optimize and secure the edges where users, devices and applications connect to a network.
How Does Aruba ESP Work?
Aruba ESP has the capability to analyze unstructured data that users, devices and applications provide across all of a network’s domains. This data is then used to curate contextual information about identity, location, applications in use and security posture to become hyper-aware of a network’s operations.
With this information, the platform is able to identify and fix problems at the network edge before they have a material impact on users, devices or applications. The platform can also optimize for efficiency, and it automatically secures unknown devices. In the same way that Infosight from HPE helps in the data center, Aruba ESP helps at the network edge.
What Features Does Aruba ESP Have?
Several features help Aruba’s Edge Service Platform accomplish all that it does for networks. Three of the platform’s main features are:
- AIOps: AIOps uses artificial intelligence and analytics to identify exact root causes and automatically address network issues. This is the main feature that’s responsible for preemptively resolving problems and continuously optimizing the network.
- Unified Infrastructure: Unified Infrastructure brings all switching operations together, uniting Aruba wireless, wired and SD-WAN connections together at a central point of command. This is the feature that unites data centers, campuses, branches and remote workers.
- Zero Trust Network Security: Zero Trust network security combines Aruba’s Dynamic Segmentation, identity-based intrusion detection and role-based access to simultaneously stop attacks, and authorize users and devices.
With these features, Aruba ESP is a highly scalable, full-stack and cloud-native platform for wired, wireless and SD-WAN environments. Compared to other networking solutions for these environments, Aruba’s new platform has several notable advantages including:
- Fully scalable to accommodate any size business or organization
- Simpler to monitor and manage, thanks to the unified infrastructure
- Faster to repair and optimize, thanks to the role of AI and automation
- More secure, thanks to the constant vigilance that automation provides
How Can Businesses Get the Aruba Edge Services Platform?
To learn more about the platform and what it could do for your organization, contact Comport. Comport has 30+ years of experience offering cutting-edge solutions, and the team here is a well-versed HPE Partner specializing in Aruba’s cloud-centric capabilities.
