Wind River Accelerates Development of SDN-Optimized Data Center Switches

With the exponential growth of data and traffic, network resources and connectivity needs are being pushed to new limits. The promise of software defined networking (SDN) offers a vision for more centralized and agile network control via virtualization of data center resources. Open Network Software enables the separation of the data plane and control plane so that companies can begin to manage network services through abstraction as virtual services, and embrace technologies such as SDN and cloud computing.

A network switch software environment for true SDN switching, Open Network Software provides the tools and resources to create, modify, and update network layers' L1, L2+, and L3+ functionality. Open Network Software is designed with a flexible and modular open architecture with standard interfaces for management and control.

A future-proof solution, Open Network Software is highly extensible and allows for the seamless addition of third-party applications. It also supports an extensive suite of networking protocols. The software is well matched for use cases such as top-of-rack (ToR) switches in large data centers, blade and micro-servers, and as a platform for a variety of network appliances.

Open Network Software supports the Intel® Open Network Platform (ONP) Switch Reference Design and has been optimized for Intel hardware to provide high performance and flexibility. Additionally, Open Network Software is backed by a world-class global support organization.

“As a technology that goes hand-in-hand with cloud computing, SDN can centralize and simplify control of a network, allowing companies to increase flexibility, efficiencies, and cost and energy benefits,” said Ricky Watts, general manager of switching solutions at Wind River. “By using our comprehensive, extensible, ready-to-use software, customers can easily integrate SDN switching functionality into their products and get to market faster while saving on effort and expenses.”