Cumulus Network’s Cumulus Linux is the first network operating system to fully support the Minipack, Facebook’s next generation modular switch platform.
Developed by Facebook and contributed to the Open Compute Project, Minipack empowers organisations 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 centre 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 centres,” 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 organisations scale faster, and by building our data centres with fully open and disaggregated hardware and software, we continue to drive innovation and give these designs to the community for others to use.”
George Tchaparian, CEO at Edgecore Networks added, “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 realise the benefits of disaggregation and need a fully-supported solution that is easy to procure and deploy.”
“Minipack and Cumulus are ideal for deploying the next generation of high capacity data centre fabrics, Internet exchanges, and high bandwidth service provider infrastructures with the flexibility and interoperability benefits of open networking.”
Ram Velaga, SVP and GM Switching Products Division, Broadcom concluded, “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 centre capacity and bandwidth while reducing their hardware footprint.”
