Arista Networks CloudVision Overview

Jeff Raymond, VP of EOS Software and Services at Arista, delivers an overview of the CloudVision offering with a focus on network-wide automation and orchestration, and its role within the broader SDN landscape. In the presentation at Networking Field Day 10, Raymond frames CloudVision as a pivotal product aimed at bridging the gap between highly automated, DevOps-style environments and more traditional, manual IT infrastructures. Arista recognizes a spectrum of network automation readiness in its customer base, ranging from DIY cloud giants with in-house tooling, to DevOps-driven organizations using scripts and tools like Ansible and Puppet, down to mainstream enterprises that still rely heavily on manual CLI configurations. CloudVision is designed to meet the needs of this last and largest group by offering turnkey automation solutions that simplify complex infrastructure management tasks.

CloudVision extends Arista’s EOS and leverages its SysDB database architecture, which provides real-time and historic state visibility across the network. By centralizing this data in a virtualized instance of EOS, CloudVision offers a holistic, network-wide platform that reduces the complexity involved in managing individual switches. This centralization also provides a consistent northbound interface for integration with third-party orchestration platforms and controllers. For example, rather than establishing individual OVSDB connections to each switch, a single connection via CloudVision can abstract and manage the entire infrastructure. This decouples the orchestration layer from hardware-specific configurations and drastically improves performance and scalability–Raymond cited a 10x improvement in MAC move detection speed as a result of this abstraction.

Moreover, CloudVision enhances operational efficiency by supporting automated network provisioning, simplified software upgrades, and robust change management processes. By capturing snapshots of the network at various points in time, the system allows operators to roll back to a known good state quickly, a feature particularly useful during maintenance. Change windows are streamlined with pre- and post-check comparison capabilities, reducing downtime and human error. CloudVision’s integration with external systems like ServiceNow and security platforms also enables proactive operations, such as notifying users of known bugs or vulnerabilities. Overall, Arista positions CloudVision not just as a controller or visibility tool, but as a comprehensive platform for evolving traditional network environments into agile, automated, and highly manageable infrastructures.