SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwired – June 01, 2016) –
The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit advancing professional open source management for mass collaboration, today is announcing the OpenSwitch Project is becoming a Linux Foundation project. OpenSwitch is an open source, Linux-based network operating system (NOS) designed to power enterprise grade switches from multiple hardware vendors that will enable organizations to rapidly build data center networks that are customized for unique business needs.
Members and participating organizations include Barefoot Networks, Broadcom, Cavium, Inc., Edgecore Networks, Extreme Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, LinkedIn, Marvell, Mellanox Technologies, Nephos Inc., P4.org, Quattro Networks, Inc. and SnapRoute.
Enterprise-grade switches power the Internet by moving data packets among cloud service providers, Internet service providers, corporate intranets and VPNs, datacenters, civil infrastructure and the Internet of Things. Traditional switches and network operating systems follow a proprietary and vertically integrated model, which does not allow vendors, operators or users the flexibility to innovate and tailor networks to meet specific business needs.
“OpenSwitch brings another important ingredient of the open networking stack to The Linux Foundation,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. “We’re looking forward to working with this community to advance networking across the enterprise.”
OpenSwitch allows developers to build networks that prioritize business-critical workloads and functions by removing the burdens of interoperability issues and complex licensing structures that are inherent in proprietary systems. OpenSwitch is developed collaboratively, allowing users and network operators to achieve advanced performance, flexibility and security throughout network protocols.
OpenSwitch’s elegant design enables seamless interoperability with critical enterprise-scale open source technologies such as Ansible and OpenStack, and is able to integrate with other open source technologies including Broadcom Broadview, Grommit, LLDPD, P4, OpenVSwitch, and Quagga.
OpenSwitch also includes optional integration with SnapRoute’s open source L2/L3 stack. The SnapRoute stack is designed with the principles of a modern network stack and safe software design, is built for developer use and includes extensive operator control and instrumentation.
The OpenSwitch Project operates with an open governance model and accepts contributions from all interested companies and developers. Developer releases are currently available for prototyping, experimentation, and implementing on reference hardware. Documentation, source code and engagement instructions can be found at https://openswitch.net/
Comments from Founding Members
Barefoot Networks
“As one of the first contributors to OpenSwitch, Barefoot Networks is excited to enable a fully open networking stack that includes an open data plane. Barefoot has integrated a P4 driver plugin into OpenSwitch, ushering in a new era of programmable networking down to the wire.”
Martin Izzard, CEO at Barefoot Networks
Broadcom
“Broadcom is proud to support the OpenSwitch Project by contributing its BroadView agent software to the ecosystem. The OpenSwitch network operating system paired with BroadView software, enables greater network visibility for applications that run on Broadcom-based network equipment designed to improve data center efficiency.”
Eli Karpilovski, Director of Product Marketing, Switch Products Group, Broadcom Limited
Cavium, Inc.
“Cavium continues to support the OpenSwitch project and its initiative to address rapidly evolving needs of the networking industry. The combination of the modern OpenSwitch NOS and the flexible XPliant switch architecture, exposed via OpenXPS APIs, delivers a modular, scalable and extensible solution, meeting the challenges of next generation data center requirements.”
Albert Fishman, Senior Technical Marketing of the Switching Platform Group, Cavium, Inc.
Edgecore Networks
“As a leading provider of open networking solutions including OCP-accepted switches that support OpenSwitch software today, Edgecore welcomes the movement of the OpenSwitch project to The Linux Foundation. We look forward to increasing our contributions to the project, and enabling the OpenSwitch NOS on a broader set of our open networking switches, providing greater choice, automation, and analytics capabilities for network operators, all based on fully open hardware and software technology.”
George Tchaparian, CEO of Edgecore Networks
Extreme Networks
“Extreme Networks is pleased to be a founding member of The Linux Foundation’s innovative OpenSwitch Project to support increased agility in the network through Linux and open source software development. As a company that already makes extensive use of the Linux code base and other open source software in our product portfolio, this engagement was a natural extension of our current development philosophy. The OpenSwitch project aligns well with our ExtremeSwitching product line, and complements our goals of delivering flexible, secure and efficient switching platforms to enterprises worldwide.”
Eric Broockman, CTO and EVP, Engineering, Extreme Networks
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
“Transitioning OpenSwitch to The Linux Foundation is a major step forward and testament to the maturity of OpenSwitch and realizing the promise of creating stable and agile network infrastructures that can adapt to changing business requirements. As a catalyst in creating the source code, HPE will continue to actively participate in the OpenSwitch community to help make OpenSwitch the leading open source data center network operating system and the choice for demanding cloud data center business applications.”
Dominic Wilde, VP/GM Data Center Networking Business Unit, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
LinkedIn
“We are excited that OpenSwitch is becoming a Linux Foundation project; this is great news for the OpenSwitch community. We are looking forward to actively participating in the development of OpenSwitch, sharing end-user requirements, and contributing innovations back to the community.”
Zaid Ali Kahn, Senior Director of Global Infrastructure Architecture and Strategy at LinkedIn
Mellanox Technologies
“Mellanox is committed to open networking architectures, and to providing customers the flexibility to independently choose the best switch and best Network Operating System (NOS) for their environment. Open initiatives that provide a choice at every level including the switch ASIC itself, enables customers to access more predictable, powerful, cost-effective, and differentiated solutions and will accelerate the adoption of open platforms. OpenSwitch is a great example of such a platform, and we are proud to be a founding member of the OpenSwitch Project hosted at The Linux Foundation.”
Trevor Caulder, Sr Staff Technologist, Mellanox
Nephos Inc.
“Nephos Inc., Mediatek’s network switching silicon company, is excited to join the OpenSwitch Project. Along with the community of industrial leaders who focus on accelerating innovations, we are also fully committed in delivering true open source solutions for enterprises and web-scale businesses of the future.”
Joe Lin, Director of Product Line Management, Nephos Inc.
P4.org
“P4.org is excited to see the OpenSwitch Project adopt a P4 data plane as its platform for feature development, testing and conformance. Together we are enabling a more robust, thriving open developer ecosystem for the networking industry.”
Nick McKeown, Board Member at P4 Language Consortium (P4.org)
“Fully open and easy-to-program data planes and control planes put end-users in the driver’s seat, giving them full control over the network. P4.org is pleased to see OpenSwitch add support for P4 data planes, unleashing new possibilities for innovation in networking.”
Jen Rexford, Board Member at P4 Language Consortium (P4.org)
Quattro Networks, Inc.
“OpenSwitch hosted at The Linux Foundation will unleash a renaissance in data center networking. It will allow companies like Quattro Networks to focus on creating innovative data center networking solutions rather than recreating the basic network OS.”
Chuck Hudson, President, Quattro Networks, Inc.
SnapRoute
“The OPS network operating system paired with SnapRoute’s Layer 2/3 stack illustrates the market demand to bring the benefits of open networking, including simplicity, control, complete lifecycle automation and deep analytics, once reserved for hyper scale data center operators to the enterprise.”
Jason Forrester, CEO, SnapRoute
The OpenSwitch Project is an independently funded software project hosted by The Linux Foundation. The Linux Foundation’s projects span the enterprise, mobile, embedded and life sciences markets and are backed by many of the largest names in technology. For more information, please visit: http://collabprojects.linuxfoundation.org/.
About The Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.
Media Contact
Whitney True
The Linux Foundation
wtrue@linuxfoundation.org