ESG Validation

Co-Author(s): Tony Palmer, Senior Validation Analyst; and Bob Laliberte, Senior Analyst

Introduction

This ESG Technical Validation documents hands-on testing of the Arista Cognitive Campus solution, comprised of the Arista campus spline switches, PoE access/leaf switches, Arista WiFi access points, and CloudVision network management software. We validated that the Arista solution provides the functionality customers expect in campus networking solutions, such as IP Phone support and integrated wired and wireless network management leveraging a single software platform. Furthermore, ESG tested Arista’s Cognitive Campus for flow and device visibility, management, and security.

Abstract

This ESG Technical Review documents hands-on validation of Forward Enterprise, a solution developed by Forward Networks to help organizations save time and resources when verifying that their IT networks can deliver application traffic consistently in line with network and security policies. The review examines how Forward Enterprise can reduce network downtime, ensure compliance with policies, and minimize adverse impact of configuration changes on network behavior.

Introduction

This report documents ESG’s audit of compression and performance testing of the Dell EMC Isilon F810 all-flash file storage array.

Abstract

ESG examined how Devo can help organizations overcome the multiple challenges of data silos, the skills gap, and the high cost of analyzing machine data for IT and security operations use cases.

Introduction

This ESG Technical Validation documents evaluation of Dell EMC Ready Solutions for AI: Deep Learning with Intel. We focused on understanding the performance, ease of use, and total cost of ownership (TCO) of the solution. To validate the full stack performance, we measured the number of tokens per second processed when training the Token2Token Big Transformer model and evaluated how Nauta, an open source initiative by Intel, accelerates deep learning model training. We also compared how Nauta simplifies the deep learning training process, and how the TCO of Deep Learning with Intel compares to running the same tasks on a leading public cloud AI service.

Introduction

This report documents an ESG Lab audit and validation of Cisco HyperFlex hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) performance testing, comparing the performance of the new Cisco HyperFlex All NVMe nodes utilizing Intel Optane Data Center (DC) SSDs to HyperFlex All Flash nodes, while servicing mission-critical workloads.

Cybersecurity Challenges

The ever-increasing volume and velocity of threats has made cybersecurity one of the top IT concerns. However, IT’s drive to improve the business’ security posture is complicated by the global cybersecurity skills shortage. As a result, organizations evaluating their options for strengthening cybersecurity are seeking more efficient and effective tools. Indeed, according to ESG research, 46% of surveyed IT and cybersecurity decision makers ranked effectiveness as the most important consideration when investing in cybersecurity products or services—by far the most often cited consideration.²

Co-Author(s): Tony Palmer

Introduction

ESG recently completed testing of IBM Watson Studio and Watson Machine Learning, which are designed to enable organizations to accelerate the value they can extract from AI more easily. Testing examined how IBM Watson Studio and Watson Machine Learning collect data, organize an analytics foundation, and analyze insights at scale—with a focus on the ease of operationalizing AI and data science to improve trust, simplify compliance, and speed monetization.

Abstract

This ESG Technical Review documents our validation of the Lenovo ThinkSystem DM and DE storage solutions with a focus on end-to-end NVMe over Fabric performance and price-performance.

Introduction

This report documents an ESG Lab audit and validation of Cisco HyperFlex hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) performance testing, which focused on comparisons of Cisco HyperFlex fully engineered all-flash solutions on Cisco UCS against two software-only HCI offerings from leading vendors independently validated to run on Cisco UCS hardware servicing mission-critical workloads.