vSphere with Cumulus Linux

I presented my first webinar on VMware vSphere with Cumulus® Linux® last week, which was really exciting for me. VMware has been around for 17 years and counting while Cumulus® Networks® came out of stealth mode only in June 2013. We all know that VMware vSphere works with a variety of network architectures, so I wanted to take a slightly different approach while presenting the webinar and writing this blog:

•  What does Cumulus Networks bring to vSphere that others don’t?
•  Does Cumulus Linux work well with vSphere?  How can we test it?

VMware vSphere and Cumulus Linux

Cumulus Linux and VMware vSphere are both software solutions that run on a variety of hardware platforms. This allows customers to build and use platforms from a range of suppliers for compute, storage and networking. The software defines the performance and behavior of the environment, which allows the administrator to exercise version control and programmatic approaches that are already in use by DevOps teams. Today, switches with Cumulus Linux can be treated as servers.

Cumulus Linux with ONIE, ZTP and Automation

How does Cumulus Linux just work on top of bare metal switches? What is so different? Why can’t we do this with any switch out there Continue reading