Throughout this white paper, we will analyze the three most popular open source Network Operating Systems (NOS) on the market – SONiC, Stratum and DentOS – based on the following aspects: their ecosystem, functional overview (supported features), internal design key details and use cases (scale of adoption).
white paperThroughout this white paper, we will analyze the three most popular open source Network Operating Systems (NOS) on the market – SONiC, Stratum and DentOS – based on the following aspects: their ecosystem, functional overview (supported features), internal design key details and use cases (scale of adoption).
Contents
Explore our new in-depth review of open network operating systems, diving deep into the conquest of the enterprise realm by SONiC and DentOS in 2023.
Learn how these NOSes differ in terms of functionalities, hardware requirements, target markets, and potential for future wide-scale adoption.
The choice of possibilities
With a growing number of Network Operating Systems (NOS) entering the market, businesses can choose the option that best fits their needs, whether proprietary or open source. The variety of available NOSes is rapidly evolving, with competition driving the multitude of innovations. Traditional proprietary NOS options like Cumulus offer the promise of impeccable support and additional features/extensions added by the vendor, but are associated with high licensing costs.
Though many manufacturers use the terms NOS (Network Operating Systems) and SDN (Software-Defined Networking) interchangeably, NOSes run on a physical switch hardware. In contrast, SDN is an approach to control plane implementation for networking, while NOS is a piece of the SDN puzzle. PLVision, a NOS integration service vendor, provides implementation, support, and extension, as well as substantial expertise in integrating customers’ switches with SONiC and Stratum, and, now, with DentOS.
The SDN transformation
The latest wave of Open Networking technology began a decade ago, when the SDN concept was introduced with its initial implementations — forwarding plane configuration protocols like OpenFlow, as well as open NOS like Switch Light OS and OPS. This network transformation has been empowering users to capitalize on flexibility, control, and scalability like never before.
A new and effective way to build software
Organizations like ONF, OCP, TIP, and Linux Foundation, are built from industry players and united to create open source software. At the same time, the new features and functionalities must be agreed upon with the open source community they constitute. Open source has recently become a new and effective way to build software within and across diverse industries while eliminating licensing costs associated with proprietary systems. The desire is for open source projects to expand, with the issue of collaboration between producers, service providers, and users strongly emphasized.
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Chief Technology Officer at PLVision
Leonid Khedyk is Chief Technology Officer at PLVision. He has been working in the networking and embedded systems domains for over 15 years. With diverse technical background formed at the intersection of legacy networking approach and SDN, Leonid is leading PLVision’s contribution to open source and its commitment towards driving networking innovation. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and contributor to PLVision’s tech blog. Leonid received his Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Lviv Polytechnic University.
