In the times when mobile networking and computing is fastpacing for the Gen-next technologies beyond 5G and from cloud networking to multi-cloud networking, there is a company which goes beyond hyper-computing and claims to free the consumers from dependence on routers and ‘bloated’ legacy of vendors by converting routers and switches to software and promises about ‘edge’ networking.
When communication and data are the two things without which the world today literally has no meaning, Arrcus Inc has launched a technology which it says, can ‘transform’ the networking component of technology and can facilitate even the other key components of technology i.e computing and storage. Arrcus CEO Shekar Ayyer delves into details about the technology in an exclusive chat with ANM editor-in-chief Binny Yadav.
How many times in a year do you hear that ‘network is down’, ‘it is slow’ or there is ‘no connectivity’? At least twice or thrice if not a couple of times in a year isn’t it? In such situations our first concern is about data transfer and data security. No one is bothered when everything is going smooth but it is only during the breakdowns we question what sort of networking we have, why it breaks down and what we can do for the backup.
Based on the idea that networking is the very key to technology today, as across the globe, in every sector be it enterprise owned, government owned or consumer owned networking touches the communication in some or the other way Arcus Inc comes out with the technology which it claims has the potential to ease out all the networking woes from data transfer to data storage and much more. “What we are doing is fundamentally different from the hardware centric proprietary way of networking which is developed and delivered by companies like CISCO, NOKIA, Ericsson, Juniper etc. Our networking is very software driven. We kind of separate the pieces in some standardized hardware and then move this intelligence into the software which has multiple benefits”, says Shekar Ayyar.
Benefits of Software Driven Networking Technology
In a country like India which has huge potential of expansion and growth in connectivity, “it is super critical that the technology is cost effective”, emphasizes Shekar Ayyer elaborating that their technology is, “like breaking the software, distributing it and bringing it together”, for effective communication.
The software driven technology can do everything from core networking to edge networking, distributing networking and consolidated networking. Finally, it also promises to take care of the programming part, “you can create new services much faster on this infrastructure than you can do otherwise”, points out Shekar Ayyer.
Layman understanding of technology
All the problems we have today related to networking is because it is connected through pipes which have a lot of rigidity in terms of traffic movement i.e how it moves and where it moves to.
According to Arrcus, their networking is very dynamic where everyone can go anywhere based on software programming and these programs then control the traffic flows allowing a giant connectivity fabric across the globe. “That can be enabled because the fundamental component of networking i.e router and switches in our networks are converted into software”, explains Shekar Ayyar.
Taking into consideration the benefits of cloud networking, multi cloud networking and additional components of edge networking, 5G gives a lot of Bandwidth and allows for fast connectivity, fast uploads and fast downloads.
How is it different from existing technologies?
Every set of data is stored through the network. There is no need for switches. With the new software-driven technology the shape of data centers have changed.
Second use case is if one wants to become a cloud company-a typical cloud company, it will build a capacity and offer its services to other customers.
The third and most important difference according to Shekar Ayyar is when there is a need for expansion of technology, say from 5G networking to 6G. In the traditional networks available today it will be hard to switch over because of the hardware boxes in the network but with the Arrcus router one can overnight and easily program the new interface to do something different overnight.
Arrcus has already started doing substantial work in the US and Japan and some engagements have started in western Europe, India, Africa too. As far as the customers are concerned the company is looking for a larger base, “we do not serve small medium businesses etc because these are the customers which have large computing infrastructure which have larger need for networking etc”, says Shekar Ayyar, explaining further that, “ we will need providers who can build network”.
So what’s the timeline of hitting the road in India? “Before the end of the year we will have few prominent customers in India. During 2023 service providers will be putting the technology in their network and by early 2024 consumers can see the benefits of the technology”, reiterates Shekar Ayyar.
