One of the founding fathers in this area of networking, Pica8 have 2 different flavors of NOS. As always with the Linux foundation, the goal is to create a community based on collaboration and innovation that benefits everyone. Big Switch’s Switch light OS is based on ONL.Īnother open source Linux-based NOS with this one coming from the Linux Foundation. The OCP mainly deal with hardware in the open networking world, but ONL acts as a foundational layer on top of the hardware which in turn allows end users to build their own NOS on top of whitebox switches. Open Network Linux (ONL) is a completely free, open source NOS for bare metal switches from the Open Compute Project (OCP). OcNOS’s ability to provide extensive protocol support for MPLS is proving invaluable. IPI have been very successful in recent years in their endeavors, partially down to their ability to leave the data center behind and tackle other markets.
IPI went on to sell ZebOS as an OEM product up until creating their own version of NOS called OcNOS.
The company is around since 1999 and they originally created ZebOS from open source routing software called Zebra. IPI as they are generally known, have an interesting story in th is domain. Cumulus also offer a network operations tool called NetQ which gives you operational intelligence about the health of your data center in real time. Based on Debian, Cumulus Linux is primarily a Data Center NOS which allows you to automate, customize and scale the network with ease. Probably the most well-known of the NOS vendors, Cumulus are a well-respected and a very well-run software company. They also offer Big Monitoring Fabric which is an end-to-end visibility and security solution for applications. This allows for management and automation at scale for hybrid cloud using an SDN controller. It is a Linux based, thin switching software solution which is one of the key parts to Big Switch’s cloud fabric solution. In alphabetical order, here are the runners and riders Big Switch Networksīig Switch Networks have developed Switch Light, a NOS based on ONL (which is covered later in this article). This in itself creates a degree of complication when selecting the best fit to accompany your Edgecore, Quanta or Delta whitebox switch. The market has come a very long way in the 10 years since Pica8 launched one of the first network operating systems for whitebox in 2009, with every use case catered for and multiple options within each use case. Today we are going to look at the movers and shakers in the NOS vendor world.
In previous blogs in the open networking series we have discussed the basics of SDN, edge networks and also beginner’s Kubernetes. It is this choice that has driven creation, innovation, price and also keeps everyone in this market on their toes. Consumer choice in this sphere is essential as every network requires something a little different to suit their very specific environmental demands. This is known as the paradox of choice and rings true when buying a packet of crisps (or chips for my US friends), one of Heinz’s 57 varieties or selecting a NOS that best suits your needs.
The more choice we have, the less satisfied we become however we do need choice to feel freedom and autonomy when decision-making.