SAN JOSE, Calif., March 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today at the Open Compute Project Global Summit, Cumulus Networks, the leader in building open, modern and scalable networks, announced that Cumulus Linux is the first network operating system to fully support the Minipack, a next generation modular switch platform. Developed by Facebook and contributed to the Open Compute Project, Minipack empowers organizations of all sizes to architect, design and scale their infrastructure with unprecedented flexibility, capacity and interoperability.
“Cumulus and Minipack will power the next generation of data center architecture,” said JR Rivers, co-founder and CTO of Cumulus Networks. “The modular design of Minipack brings a more open approach to hardware, complimenting what Cumulus has been doing on the open networking side for years with over 100 different cost-effective hardware options. We’ve always believed that hardware is an important part of the open ecosystem, and through our close work with the teams at Facebook, Edgecore and Broadcom, the availability of Minipack with Cumulus Linux is a market-leveler – bringing a new level of control over cost and operations that was previously only accessible to the largest network operators.”
Minipack is the industry’s next generation open modular switch, and combined with Cumulus Linux, offers enterprises the flexibility required for deploying the next generation of modern architecture that supports higher-bandwidth, scalable applications. Based on Broadcom’s StrataXGS Tomahawk© 3 Switch Series, Minipack is more powerful, occupies a smaller footprint and is more cost effective than traditional chassis platforms.
“We are excited to work with the community to develop an ecosystem around Minipack, the next generation of open, modular switch platforms that is more flexible, scalable and efficient for modern data centers," said Hans-Juergen Schmidtke, Director of Engineering at Facebook. “Cumulus Networks is the industry standard in open networking, and Cumulus Linux will be a critical part in enabling Minipack to reach its true potential in the community. Openness and collaboration help organizations scale faster, and by building our data centers with fully open and disaggregated hardware and software, we continue to drive innovation and give these designs to the community for others to use.”
“Cumulus Linux running on Edgecore Minipack will provide a simple, scalable solution for network operators who need greater efficiency and scale. The platform caters to those that are eager to realize the benefits of disaggregation and need a fully-supported solution that is easy to procure and deploy,” said George Tchaparian, CEO at Edgecore Networks. “Minipack and Cumulus are ideal for deploying the next generation of high capacity data center fabrics, Internet exchanges, and high bandwidth service provider infrastructures with the flexibility and interoperability benefits of open networking.”
“Open capacity networks offer tremendous opportunity for increased scale and innovation and it's great to see the industry support this movement. With Cumulus Linux running on Minipack, enterprises can increase their data center capacity and bandwidth while reducing their hardware footprint," said Ram Velaga, SVP and GM Switching Products Division, Broadcom. "The StrataXGS Tomahawk 3 Switch Series – the industry’s highest performing switch silicon – enables network operators to deploy networks that achieve next level of performance with the cost economics of merchant silicon.”
Together, Cumulus Linux with Minipack is bringing modular design to modern data centers that was once only available to the largest enterprises. Additional benefits and features include:
- Scalability - Cumulus Networks EVPN is a next generation control-plane solution for VXLAN – deployed in L3, it’s more agile and allows simplified troubleshooting, clear upgrade strategies, and multi-vendor support. Minipack follows the disaggregation principles that allow customers to maintain consistent automated provisioning across all their switches of different form-factors (fixed or modular).
- Flexibility - Cumulus Linux allows for a single operational model that spans across more than 100 fixed and modular platforms, allowing for hardware and software to be managed independently and at scale, with fully supported tooling and automation. Minipack delivers flexibility on the hardware side by supporting a mix of 100G and 400G Ethernet interfaces up to a maximum of 128x100G or 32x400G ports.
- Operational Efficiency - Standardizing on Cumulus Linux and Minipack allows organizations to take advantage of automation to limit demands on network engineers enabling them to focus on higher value priorities, mitigate errors and help operators manage more switches effectively. By leveraging Tomahawk 3 chips, the industry’s highest performing switch silicon, network operators can deploy more efficient networks with the next level of performance and take advantage of the cost economies of merchant silicon.
Visit Cumulus Networks at booth C12 to see Cumulus Linux running on Minipack at the OCP Global Summit. Pre-order Minipack with Cumulus Linux from Cumulus Networks or from an authorized channel partner.
About Cumulus Networks
Cumulus Networks provides networking software to design, run, and operate modern data centers that are simple, open, agile, resilient, and scalable. Cumulus Linux is the only open networking software that allows you to affordably build and efficiently operate your network like the world’s largest data center operators, unlocking vertical network stacks. Combined with Cumulus NetQ, an operational management tool, organizations can take advantage of deeper analytics and advanced telemetry to increase visibility across the network and reduce mean time to resolution. Cumulus Networks has more than 1,500 customers globally and has received venture funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Telstra Ventures, Peter Wagner, four of the original VMware founders, among others. For more information, please visit www.cumulusnetworks.com.
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