Aryaka Rolls Out SASE Networking Targeted at AI

The rise of AI is going to have a huge impact on networking, a realization that is just coming to enterprises. As AI services boost the amount of bandwidth traversing the network and increase security risks, enterprises are going to have to take a second look at their networking services and architectures.

With that in mind, secure access service edge (SASE) provider Aryaka has pounced on the opportunity by announcing Aryaka AI>Perform, a networking service specifically designed for AI services. The service runs natively on the Aryaka Unified SASE as a Service, ensuring that customers have high-performance access to AI workloads, globally and at scale. The service is available now for early access customers and will be generally available in Q3 2024.

Aryaka says that AI>Perform will be the first in a series of initiatives targeting AI, which it calls AI>. The initiatives are designed to help businesses securely and efficiently leverage AI across their global networks with additional security and performance.

Can the Network Handle AI?

In launching the new AI efforts, Aryaka has pointed to a sea change in the impact on enterprise and cloud networks, brought about by AI.

According to research from Google, the use of GPUs and TPUs on Google Kubernetes Engine has grown more than 900%. Enterprises leveraging AI for innovation face significant networking and security challenges in delivering these workloads efficiently and securely at scale, Aryaka points out. Large language models (LLMs), for example, require massive data transfers, potentially straining network capacity and hindering business delivery, points out Aryaka.

“Organizations are rapidly moving to the next phase of Gen AI applications, often known as Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), connecting LLMs to their legacy applications and data stored across their networks,” said Renuka Nadkarni, Chief Product Officer at Aryaka. “RAG will absolutely raise the bar on the converged networking and security requirements needed for these applications to deliver value to organizations. Aryaka Unified SASE as a Service is ideal for enterprises looking to accelerate their AI initiatives while ensuring performance, agility, simplicity, and security.”

Building Secure, Private Networks for AI

Futuriom research indicates that networking concerns are indeed rising as enterprises look at new AI services, which demand new networking architectures and security controls. Some of the issues surfacing include securing personally identifiable information (PII) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) data as well as complying with sovereign regulations such as Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This will give rise to private AI.

Aryaka points out that traditional networks are limited in handling this, leading to unreliable and risky data movement. In addition, the rise of the use of the Internet as well as cloud networking means that not all enterprises know where their data is going, or even which networks they are traversing.

Aryaka has a unique position to deal with these problems because unlike some global SASE services, it maintains its own private, layer 2 and layer 3 networks. It can keep customer traffic on the same network, with full traffic visibility.

“By leveraging Aryaka’s single platform with Aryaka AI>Perform, organizations can unlock the full potential of AI workloads and applications without compromising on performance and reliability,” says Aryaka in its product release. “And, over the course of the next year, Aryaka will be adding more capabilities in AI Security and Observability across its Unified SASE as a Service offerings.”

Aryaka AI>Perform Includes the Following Features:

• Optimized Performance: Aryaka's global core network, the Aryaka Zero Trust wide-area network (WAN), ensures optimal network performance by leveraging a private, low-latency backbone. This backbone provides predictable performance for AI workloads, regardless of the user's location, ensuring that AI algorithms can process data rapidly and deliver real-time insights and deliverables.
• Global Reach: Enterprises often operate across multiple regions, making it essential to have a solution that can deliver AI workloads efficiently worldwide. Aryaka's global points of presence (PoPs) and optimized network routes ensure that AI workloads can be accessed from anywhere with consistent performance and reliability.
• Scalability and Flexibility: As AI workloads grow in complexity and scale, enterprises need a solution that can adapt to their evolving needs. Aryaka's cloud-based single-pass architecture, Aryaka OnePASS, enables organizations to expand their AI initiatives without worrying about infrastructure constraints.
• Simplified Management: Managing the global delivery of AI applications can be complex, requiring extensive expertise and resources. Aryaka simplifies this process with a centralized management portal (MyAryaka) that provides visibility and control over the entire network and security infrastructure. Enterprises can monitor performance and troubleshoot issues in real-time through intuitive dashboards and analytics, ensuring optimal and high-performing AI workload delivery.

Futuriom Take: AI will drive the next generation of network infrastructure and security requirements for organizations, and Aryaka has responded effectively by rolling out high-quality enterprise networking designed to handle AI.