Broadcom Juices VeloCloud SD-WAN For AI Networking

VMware Explore Amid all the drama regarding Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, it's been easy to forget that the virtualization giant's SD-WAN outfit, VeloCloud, is now an independent business unit. Broadcom today put it back in the spotlight by revealing it's developed tech to improve networking for AI workloads on the edge.

The new offering is called the "VeloRAIN architecture" – RAIN stands for Robust AI Networking – and its headline feature is the ability to identify encrypted application traffic. Broadcom reckons that's previously been impossible to parse, and changing that means orgs deploying AI applications to the edge can better understand how to improve quality of service.

Given AI applications often involve proprietary info, and are latency sensitive, this sounds handy.

Many edge sites use wireless connections. VeloRAIN has them covered with "channel estimation intelligence" for 5G and satellite links that grooms traffic as network conditions fluctuate. The tech can also go to work when sites mix wired and wireless links.

Broadcom thinks this will improve performance, and help to build networks that span multiple sites.

The tech can also tweak networks to deliver quality of experience tuned to the needs of individual applications, thanks to dynamic application-based slicing. The service offered to each app is determined by policy. Admins could also set policies that determine network conditions for individual users. Let's hope that's used wisely.

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• XCP-NG thanks Broadcom for increased interest, swipes Citrix for not helping build an alternative

To make this work, VeloCloud has created two new appliances.

The Edge 4100 appliance offers up to 30 Gbps throughput and can connect up to 12,000 tunnels. It replaces and scales the models (3400, 3800, and 3810) it supersedes. The vendor says the VeloCloud Edge 5100 appliance will offer up to 100 Gbps throughput and can connect up to 20,000 tunnels.

To get this all to market, VeloCloud now has its own channel program that targets managed service providers. With that effort in operation, perhaps it will become easier to remember that VeloCloud is no longer tied to VMware. ®