Re: Free Open Source Network Operating Systems

[John Hay <jhay () meraka org za>]

What about SONiC?
https://azure.github.io/SONiC/


On Sat, 9 Mar 2019 at 18:39, Jason Lixfeld <jason+nanog () lixfeld ca> wrote:

> I could be making this up, but my understanding is that the Broadcom SDK
> is not free, and without the SDK, hardware interaction is limited.
>
> At one time ONL was a free ONIE NOS but sans SDK.
>
> https://github.com/opencomputeproject/OpenNetworkLinux ?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Mar 9, 2019, at 11:08 AM, Colton Conor <colton.conor () gmail com> wrote:
>
> What free, opensouce, network operating systems currently exist that run
> on whitebox broadcom or other merchant silicon switches?
>
> I know Cumulus is very popular, but I don't believe they have a free
> version that runs on whitebox switches right? Only on a virtual machine
> from what I can tell.
>
> I think if one of these vendors would release a free and truly opensource
> network operating system, with the option for paid support if needed, then
> whitebox switching would really take off. This would be similar to the
> Redhat model, but for the networking world.
>
> Right now, the cost of the whitebox plus a paid network operating system
> seems to equal the same cost as a discounted Juniper, Cisco, or Arista. I
> am not seeing the savings on paper.
>
> If we could just buy the whitebox hardware, and have a free operating
> system on there, then financially whitebox switches would be half the cost
> of a similar Cisco switch after discount.
>
> Am I missing something?