There’s no cloud computing without real, live computers somewhere on Earth. Physical infrastructure is alive and well for builders of both public and private clouds. In fact, hardware vendors are innovating advanced gear specifically for cloud, with networking being a key area of new development.

“Cloud computing is changing the world, and the cloud data centers need a different kind of network infrastructure,” said Kenneth Duda (pictured), chief technology officer and senior vice president of software engineering at Arista Networks Inc. They require highly scalable networking technology that they can customize to integrate with management systems, etc.

Duda spoke with Lisa Martin (@LisaMartinTV), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the ACG Silicon Valley GROW! Awards 2019 in Mountain View, California. They discussed the demands of cloud networking and how improved management addresses them (see the full interview with transcript here). (* Disclosure below.)

Automated testing gets network gear into shape

Enterprise customers building “cloud-like” internal environments may have a tough time finding reliable networking gear, according to Duda.”The most important thing is the network has got to work. And it might sound strange, but networking gear isn’t always reliable,” he said.

To build reliable networks for clouds, network designers are shifting away from focusing on the control plane. Instead, they are now looking to network management to improve performance. “Management is actually the key to smooth operations,” he said.

Arista’s turnkey cloud-networking solution called CloudVision delivers this new level of management, according to Duda. Arista’s architecture is more resilient to software and hardware errors. “We’ve made a tremendous investment in automated testing, so that our product has gone through hundreds of thousands of tests before it ever sees a customer,” he said, adding that the company’s automated testing produces a highly reliable product that attracts enterprise customers.

Arista’s company culture also contributes hugely to the quality of the product, Duda explained. Arista is enjoying healthy earnings and stock-market success. The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recently upgraded Arista to Conviction-Buy.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the ACG Silicon Valley GROW! Awards. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the ACG Silicon Valley GROW! Awards. Neither ACG Silicon Valley, the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE