From Defense to Resilience: How CX10K Redefines the Secure Network Fabric

[Dhiman1]

The modern data center faces a dual imperative: to deliver the extreme performance and agility demanded by AI, cloud-native, and mission-critical workloads—while remaining resilient against ransomware, data corruption, and advanced persistent threats. To meet these challenges, the network fabric must evolve beyond merely forwarding packets into an intelligent platform for observability, enforcement, and resilience. This is why HPE Networking places security at the very heart of the fabric itself. The HPE Aruba CX10000 (CX10K) Distributed Services Switch integrates AMD Pensando DPU technology to combine high-performance top-of-rack (ToR) switching with near line-rate microsegmentation, Layer-4 stateful inspection, and DDoS protection—embedded directly in hardware.

Building on this foundation, HPE introduced the CX10040—its next-generation Distributed Services Switch (DSS) featuring 32 × 100 GbE and 6 × 400 GbE ports. It extends the same Security-First architecture into the era of AI fabrics and high-density workloads. Together, the CX10K and CX10040 form a continuum of distributed intelligence—from today’s enterprise data centers to tomorrow’s AI-driven infrastructures.

In contrast to many solutions that depend on software overlays or host-level agents—approaches that introduce additional complexity, consume compute resources, and enforce policies one step removed from where traffic actually flows—the CX10K takes a different path. Unlike software overlays or host-level agents—which add complexity, consume host CPU cycles, and enforce policies outside the data path—the CX10K enforces microsegmentation and security inline, directly in the switch ASIC and DPU. Microsegmentation, L4 inspection, and DDoS protection are embedded directly in the switch hardware, operating at the Top of Rack where workloads connect. This eliminates dependency on host resources or overlay constructs and enforces security closer to the VM and application traffic itself.

When combined with HPE VM Essentials (VME), these capabilities extend even further. VME provides a lightweight virtualization platform with full VM lifecycle management—provisioning, migration, high availability, and role-based governance—while natively integrating with Aruba CX Distributed Services Switch (CX10K) for microsegmentation. This means that segmentation policies defined in VME are enforced directly in the Top of Rack switch hardware, bringing security closer to workloads without the overhead of software overlays or host agents. For enterprises navigating the uncertainty of the VMware ecosystem, HPE VM Essentials (VME) offers a future-ready path that unifies virtualization and network security without the complexity of hypervisor-bound overlays or kernel-level agents.

By aligning ToR enforcement with VMs, containers, and application boundaries, organizations gain consistent protection across environments. This approach reduces operational complexity and provides a clear foundation for Zero Trust, with security that is embedded, automated, and performance-resilient. Embedding enforcement in the fabric is only the first step; integrating it with detection and recovery platforms completes the resilience loop.

Microsegmentation, Reimagined

At the heart of this approach is the HPE Aruba CX 10000 (CX10K), the industry’s first distributed services switch that unites high-performance switching with hardware-accelerated security services. It delivers near line-rate microsegmentation, L4 stateful inspection, and DDoS protection—all at the Top of Rack (ToR).

Now, with the introduction of the HPE Aruba CX 10040, that vision extends even further. Offering 32 x 100 GbE and 6 x 400 GbE ports, the CX10040 brings the same distributed services architecture to the scale and bandwidth requirements of AI-driven, cloud-scale, and high-density data centers. With CX10K and CX10040, you can handle the demands of today’s workloads while building in the performance and security headroom your future applications will require.

Traditionally, microsegmentation relied on hypervisor controls or overlay software, which added complexity, consumed host resources, and enforced policy one step removed from application traffic. With HPE VM Essentials (VME) integrated into the CX Distributed Services Switch family, microsegmentation is now achieved directly at the Top of Rack, aligning enforcement with VMs, containers, and application boundaries.

If you’re navigating the uncertainty of the VMware ecosystem, HPE VM Essentials gives you a future-proof virtualization path. It lets you align security with application agility—without tying you to hypervisor-dependent overlays or kernel-bound agent models that limit flexibility.

From Detection to Containment: Closing the Loop on Ransomware

Zero Trust is more than access control—it is about designing for breach and minimizing its impact. In this model, the network fabric becomes a decisive control point. Through ecosystem integration, CX10K microsegmentation can now be combined with Zerto’s ransomware detection, orchestrated by OpsRamp.

Zerto identifies suspicious activity by continuously monitoring the statistical behavior of data blocks during replication. When ransomware begins encrypting files, the underlying data suddenly becomes more random in structure. By measuring this increase in randomness—known as entropy—Zerto can detect encryption activity as it happens, long before traditional signature-based tools would react. A sharp rise in entropy thus becomes an early and reliable indicator of a ransomware attack in progress.

The workflow is illustrated below, showing how CX10K, Zerto, and OpsRamp work together to detect, isolate, and recover from ransomware events.

Figure 1. End-to-end ransomware containment: Zerto detects, OpsRamp orchestrates, and CX10K enforces network isolation.

Once an event is detected, OpsRamp automation dynamically enforces isolation policies on the CX10K fabric. The affected workload is quarantined instantly, preventing lateral spread and buying critical time for response.

This tight integration of detection, orchestration, and network-level enforcement transforms ransomware from a business-halting crisis into a contained and recoverable event. By pairing Zerto’s journal-based recovery with CX10K’s hardware-embedded microsegmentation, organizations achieve both operational continuity and security confidence.

How It Works in Practice

This solution delivers value through tight integration across the stack, as shown in Figure 2. It creates an automated chain of defense that progresses through five steps:

1. Detection: Zerto monitors block-level changes and uses entropy analysis to identify encryption patterns characteristic of ransomware.
2. Alerting: When suspicious behavior is detected, Zerto generates an encryption detection alert.
3. Orchestration: OpsRamp ingests the alert and triggers a pre-defined automation workflow.
4. Policy Enforcement: Through lightweight scripts and API calls to the CX10K Policy Services Manager (PSM), OpsRamp dynamically updates segmentation policies, instantly isolating the compromised workload.
5. Recovery: With the threat contained, Zerto’s journal-based recovery rolls workloads back to a clean state, minimizing downtime and data loss.

Figure 2. Integrated ransomware defense workflow: Zerto provides early detection, OpsRamp orchestrates the response, and CX10K enforces isolation in the data center fabric.

This end-to-end flow ensures ransomware is not only detected, but also contained, remediated, and recovered from automatically—reducing response times from hours to seconds and preserving business continuity.

Security-First, Future-Ready

In today’s climate, resilience is not optional—it is the baseline expectation. Outages, ransomware, and shifting virtualization landscapes demand an infrastructure that is secure by design and agile by default.

By embedding advanced security services directly in the switch fabric, extending them through virtualization with VM Essentials (VME), and integrating with Zerto’s journal-based recovery orchestrated by OpsRamp, HPE Aruba Networking delivers an architecture purpose-built for enterprises that refuse to compromise on security or agility.

This is not about adding another layer of defense—it is about redefining the network as the foundation of cyber resilience. With CX10K and CX10040 enforcing microsegmentation at the Top of Rack, HPE VM Essentials aligning policy to application boundaries, and Zerto + OpsRamp closing the detection-response loop, enterprises can now evolve from reactive defense to proactive recovery.

In this architecture, the fabric itself becomes self-protecting, self-observing, and self-healing—ensuring continuity, performance, and trust in an unpredictable digital world.

With CX10K, CX10040, VME, OpsRamp, and Zerto, you’re not just defending against ransomware—you’re strengthening the continuity of your applications, protecting your data, and reinforcing the trust your business depends on in a digital-first world.