Versa delivers high-performance SASE connectivity

Aiming to reach enterprises with large branch, campus or data center operations, Versa Networks is rolling out new secure access service edge (SASE) devices that promise high-speed throughput for WAN routing, firewall processing, and direct internet access SD-WAN links.

New to Versa’s portfolio are the CSG5000 and Dell PowerEdge R7515, which the networking vendor says can support up to 120 Gbps of firewall throughput, 100 Gbps of SD-WAN throughput, and 40 Gbps of next-generation firewall (NGFW) throughput. It’s a significant upgrade to Versa’s former top-end box, the CSG2500 series appliance, which offers 20+ Gbps throughput for WAN routing, stateful firewall processing, and SD-WAN direct internet access.

Versa’s new CSG5000 units feature 16 x 10/25 GE and 4 x 100GE interfaces. Other interfaces, such as 10/25GE SFP+/SFP28 and QSFP28-based 100GE, can also be mixed in depending on customer needs, Versa stated. The devices offer built-in hardware acceleration and the ability to offload certain processing functions to internal hardware engines, saving processor cycles for stateful firewall or network processing.

The Versa CSG5000 boxes run the Versa Operating System (VOS), which integrates networking and security services into a platform that supports cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. Versa SASE includes VPN, secure SD-WAN, edge compute protection, NGFW, firewall as a service (FWaaS), secure web gateway (SWG), advanced threat protection, data leak protection, zero-trust network access (ZTNA), and cloud access security broker (CASB).

The driving idea behind the new Versa boxes is to reduce the amount of hardware necessary to support growing SASE operations while offering the throughput capacity to handle those communications, according to Versa’s director of product marketing, Rajoo Nagar.

“Unified SASE promises the true convergence of many networking and security products into a single gateway at the edge, to deliver a simplified, secure, and high-performance solution. In reality, many SASE solutions today consist of point products integrated under a SASE umbrella, not unlike the purpose-built approach of legacy infrastructure solutions,” Nagar wrote in a blog about the new devices.

“While it is possible to build SASE with a portfolio of point products, that does not reduce operational complexity, nor does it deliver on the promise of higher performance. This is because each SASE function is its own software image that performs its own packet processing and applies policy, which is service chained with other networking and security functions in the SASE portfolio,” Nagar wrote.

In contrast, a truly converged SASE solution is designed from the OS up to be converged. Such a SASE solution provides a single software image, a single policy and data lake, and a single pass, parallel processing architecture. Every packet is opened only once, and all relevant network and security policies applied, Nagar stated. With the new boxes, the level of performance and capacity delivered makes it possible to consolidate as many as 32 servers into a single converged node at the edge, Nagar stated.

Versa is vying for prominence in the single-vendor SASE arena where it competes with a slew of vendors including Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto, Cato and others.

“The SASE market is not just growing; it’s transforming how enterprises approach their network and security architecture. As businesses adapt to the new normal of hybrid work and distributed applications, integrating networking and security into a cohesive, cloud-native solution becomes paramount. SASE is not a trend; it’s the future of enterprise connectivity and security,” said Mauricio Sanchez, senior director, enterprise security and networking at Dell’Oro Group, in a statement.

In particular, Dell’Oro predicts growing interest in the single-vendor SASE segment, which is expected to grow at a faster 17% revenue CAGR and represent a more significant portion of the overall SASE market than multi-vendor SASE solutions. This trend reflects a shift in enterprise preference towards streamlined, one-stop solutions that align with the market’s growing emphasis on efficiency and integrated security, Sanchez stated.

The Versa CSG5000 and Dell PowerEdge R7515 are available now.