networks
NetAdmins can stay in the loop while they learn to trust AI to tackle some scutwork
HPE has delivered
the first fruits of its Juniper acquisition: Wi-Fi access points that users can
manage with either Aruba Central or the Mist platform, and “self-driving” tools
that use AI to allow some autonomous operations.
The access
points are the prosaically named HPE Networking 723H, a three-radio Wi-Fi
7 machine
the company recommends for hospitality, branch, and teleworker deployments.
The APs
also represent HPE’s first application of AI-powered autonomous networks.
Mittal
Parekh, HPE’s marketing lead for campus and branch networking, told The
Register one self-driving scenario HPE provides is scanning the local
RF environment to detect any frequencies Wi-Fi should avoid because they’re required
or in use by military or other organizations that have priority. Self-driving
means networks will automatically steer clear of those frequencies when it
makes sense to do so.
He also pointed to “dynamic capacity optimization,” which he said will see HPE Wi-Fi
networks detect a gathering of users for events like an all-hands meeting, and
adjust itself as necessary to ensure connections remain strong and steady.
Detecting mismatched or missing VLANs, and rebuilding networks before traffic drops,
is another self-driving capability.
Parekh said
those scenarios currently require IT teams to do manual work that might not be
possible to complete before the meeting ends, or a military user vacates a
frequency.
HPE’s tech
will also detect and de-fang rogue
DHCP servers before they become a problem.
Parekh said
HPE’s tech allows humans to remain in the loop if they choose but hopes that
NetAdmins begin to develop sufficient trust that they let networks take care of
their own affairs and spend their time on higher-value tasks.
The
application that delivers self-driving capabilities runs in the cloud, and uses
oodles of data HPE and Juniper collected over decades, plus the Marvis AI Juniper
offered when it was an independent outfit.
Jeff Aaron,
marketing lead for HPE’s networking business unit, pointed out that HPE has delivered
a unified product within months of closing its Juniper acquisition, and snarked
that Cisco took years to do likewise when merging its own-brand Wi-Fi with Meraki’s.
Competitive
sniping aside, Aaron said the self-driving tech and Wi-Fi APs show how HPE plans
to cross-pollinate its Aruba and Juniper portfolios, without forcing users of
either brand to make a jump.
HPE is not
alone in pursuing agentic network operations, or merging networking brands:
Cisco is combining its Catalyst and Meraki management tools, and is betting
on AI to detect network issues and automate fixes. ®
