Two of the three companies promoting white box, now more commonly known as bare metal, switching are Cumulus and Big Switch Networks. There has been coverage on each of these companies, but the question always arises, “does Cumulus support OpenFlow?” I had the chance to talk to JR Rivers, Cumulus CEO, at the last Open Networking User Group (ONUG) during a Tech Field Day video and heard the answer from him then, but hadn’t seen anything documented publicly.
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In the previous post, I talked about a common programmable abstraction layer (CPAL). To better understand the thought process behind having a common PAL, it makes sense to review some of the work Jeremy Schulman has been doing. Jeremy often refers to the Python interactive shell as the new CLI for networking. When you watch him give a demo using the Python shell as a CLI, it is second nature and looks exactly like a network CLI. It makes perfect sense. In late January, there were some big names on stage at the latest Open Compute Summit. I’d like to focus on one keynote panel that was called, “Opening Up Network Hardware.” The panelists for this session included Martin Casado (VMware), Matthew Liste (Goldman Sachs), Dave Maltz (Microsoft), and JR Rivers (Cumulus) and was led by Najam Ahmad (Facebook). If you haven’t watched the session already, it’s definitely worth it. You can check it out here. In a recent post, I wrote about some Python work I was testing on the Nexus 3000. The end conclusion was that open Linux platforms will offer more flexibility --- for the consumer of the technology, ultimately the customer. In this post, we’ll take a look at an example that integrates Python with the native Linux operating system. While Software Dominates Hardware, Upstart Pluribus Networks Launches New Switching Platforms2/4/2014 If you haven’t heard, there is a new switch vendor in town – Pluribus Networks. That’s right. In the new world where hardware is being dominated by software, there is an upstart that is trying to sell ASICs (along with their value added software, of course). This actually isn’t too common these days. Since Software Defined Networking (SDN) became the latest craze, the only startups going after major incumbents have been Plexxi and Pica8. Before them, Arista. Note: I am not including software only companies that can run on bare metal switches such as Cumulus Networks. |
AuthorJason Edelman, Founder of Network to Code, focused on training and services for emerging network technologies. CCIE 15394. VCDX-NV 167. Top PostsThe Future of Networking and the Network Engineer Categories
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