Broadcom unveils VeloRAIN

To accelerate enterprises’ readiness to further connect and support AI and non-AI workloads, Broadcom has introduced major advancements across its VeloCloud product portfolio as well as a new partner program.

  • Wednesday, 6th November 2024 Posted 1 month ago in by Phil Alsop

This includes:

The launch of the VeloRAIN (Robust AI Networking) architecture that uses AI/ML to improve the performance and security of distributed AI workloads.

Unveiling the new VeloCloud Edge 4100 and 5100 appliances—high end AI-Ready edge appliances that scale to 100Gbps for large enterprises and complex use cases.

The introduction of Titan, the Broadcom Advantage Partner Program for VeloCloud Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to help grow their businesses in the age of AI adoption by their enterprise customers.

The publication of the “State of the Edge” report, new survey findings detailing what is propelling enterprise edge workload adoption and the implication on the network.

Vertical industry adoption of generative AI (GenAI) is expected to help enterprises ​​drive gains in productivity while reducing cost due from automation of manual-heavy processes. In manufacturing, 93% of respondents believe that AI will drive growth and innovation. (1) In retail, 80% of retail executives expect to use AI automation by 2025. (2) In telco, GenAI is expected to generate growth for AI adopters. (3) Broadcom continues to evolve its VeloCloud portfolio to help enterprises address the growth of AI workloads, both in new AI applications and embedded in existing enterprise applications. AI workloads are being used both in IT and OT (Operational Technology) use cases. Unlike traditional IT workloads, AI workloads across the distributed enterprise are also largely autonomous; they are orchestrated rather than administered; they consume data where it’s produced; and are driven by the lines of business.

“VeloRAIN is the foundation of our AI networking innovation, empowering our entire portfolio to better address the demands of enterprise AI workloads,” said Sanjay Uppal, vice president and general manager, VeloCloud Division, Broadcom. “By harnessing the advanced capabilities of VeloRAIN, AI workloads from distributed inferencing and agentic peer-to-peer applications to upstream heavy RAG transactions will see improved application-based QoE and security across all endpoints of the enterprise. We look forward to collaborating with our global partner ecosystem via Titan, our new partner program to provide more enterprises with the next generation of infrastructure necessary to support such current and future AI workloads.”

New VeloRAIN Architecture to Accelerate and Optimize Enterprise AI Workloads

Broadcom has announced a significant advancement in AI-powered networking delivered by the VeloCloud product portfolio. The new VeloRAIN innovations will enhance how enterprises build and manage AI-driven networks, with smarter application and traffic prioritization. Capabilities will include:

Detection of AI Applications through AI and Machine Learning (ML): VeloRAIN will introduce new intelligent capabilities to identify encrypted application traffic that has been previously unparsable for network optimization solutions. This simplifies the process of identifying and prioritizing new edge AI applications, and enables enhanced quality of service (QoS) and experience for modern applications.

Enhanced Network Efficiency and Traffic Optimization: VeloRAIN will introduce new channel estimation intelligence for networking over wireless links including 5G and satellite. Whether the wireless link is used as the primary link or in conjunction with a primary wired link, these innovations help to enable fiber-like QoS in the face of dynamically changing network conditions. Additionally, enterprises will benefit from an accelerated networking set up time in a branch office or remote site.

AI-Driven Dynamic Policy Framework for Application Prioritization: New applications will be automatically assigned business priorities, streamlining network management, and assuring critical applications get the necessary attention without manual intervention. Dynamic Application-Based Slicing, or DABS, that assures quality of experience (QoE) per application across multiple disparate underlying networks, whether they support network layer slicing or not. DABS includes the addition of user profiles, allowing traffic prioritization based on a user’s identity and attributes. This will help ensure that key users receive the QoE they need, enhancing overall performance and user experience. In addition, the policy framework will be able to utilize the user identity to further prioritize traffic.

These latest innovations in AI-driven networking enabled by VeloRAIN will deliver unprecedented visibility, prioritization, and automation for enterprise networks—allowing organizations to operate more efficiently and deliver superior user experiences.

New VeloCloud Edge Appliances Maximize Performance, Resiliency and Support Workloads at Scale

Broadcom has unveiled the new VeloCloud Edge 4100 and 5100 appliances. Designed for large branch sites, regional hubs, and data centers, the VeloCloud Edge 4100 and 5100 appliances will offer a rich set of SD-WAN, security, and AI networking capabilities to help enterprises support their most demanding environments:

The VeloCloud Edge 4100 appliance will offer up to 30 Gbps throughput but can connect up to 12,000 tunnels—up to a 300% improvement in performance and scalability over its predecessors (3400 & 3800/3810). (4)

The VeloCloud Edge 5100 appliance will offer up to 100 Gbps throughput and can connect up to 20,000 tunnels—introducing a net-new entry for super high-performance, and scalable deployments.

The VeloCloud Edge 4100 and 5100 appliances will simplify the network architecture by requiring the deployment of fewer devices to scale network and security services to support growing business needs. These platforms will support clustering technology to scale beyond 100 Gbps with ultra-low latency as needed. In addition, the appliances will deliver robust resilience and fast failover using VeloCloud’s proven technology in the enterprise to help customers better support edge AI and non-AI workloads at scale. Read more in the blog post, “Revolutionize Your Network: Unleash the Power of VeloCloud SD-WAN Edge 4100/5100 for Large Campuses and Data Centers.”

Broadcom Invests in Partner Ecosystem Success with New Program for MSPs

Broadcom has announced the new Broadcom Advantage Partner Program for VeloCloud Partners—Titan—which replaces the legacy VMware VeloCloud Partner Program. The Titan partner program is built for MSPs and introduces three tiers (Pinnacle, Premier, and Registered) with benefits designed to help partners grow their businesses through these key elements:

Performance-based rewards, including joint solution development, market recognition, and stable and predictable business growth.

Exclusive access to innovative technology and routes to market.

New licensing model allows for portability of licenses, simplicity of management, and price stability.

Service creation program focused on core value drivers, vertical alignment, and higher margins.

New ‘White label’ offering to allow our top tier partners to grow their VeloCloud base through regional and specialized channel partners.

Partners will deliver the VeloCloud SD-WAN portfolio as managed services to a broad set of enterprise customers globally. Partners can deliver innovative services to their end users by establishing or expanding their wide area network practice by leveraging the proven VeloCloud portfolio. Customers will benefit from the expertise, value, and resilience of partners to better support their highly distributed, latency-sensitive workloads, applications, and devices at the edge. Additionally, customers will gain from new VeloRAIN enhancements to the VeloCloud product portfolio—providing the requisite connectivity, deployment, runtime, and lifecycle management capabilities to support customers’ AI and non-AI workloads at the edge.

“State of the Edge” Report Reveals Momentum of AI Workloads at the Edge

According to new research by Broadcom, the driving factor for the adoption of edge solutions and AI workloads at the distributed edge is network connectivity issues across locations (57%). And when organizations implement these edge solutions, the top benefit they plan to achieve is faster response times for latency-sensitive applications (68%) and improved bandwidth/reduced network congestion (65%). By providing faster bandwidth and more reliable connections at the edge, enterprises can more efficiently process data leading to faster, smarter decision-making and further encourage edge and AI workload deployments. This “State of the Edge” report is based on VeloCloud Edge telemetry and a survey of 192 respondents across North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Broadcom conducted the survey in September and October of 2024.