Internet router using merchant silicon
SDN router using merchant silicon top of rack switch and Dell OS10 SDN router demo discuss how an inexpensive white box switch running Linux can be used to replace a much costlier Internet router. The key to this solution is the observation that, while the full Internet routing table of over 600,000 routes is too large to fit in white box switch hardware, only a small fraction of the routes carry most of the traffic. Traffic analytics allows the active routes to be identified and installed in the hardware.This article describes a simple self contained solution that uses standard APIs and should be able to run on a variety of Linux based network operating systems, including: Cumulus Linux, Dell OS10, Arista EOS, and Cisco NX-OS. The distinguishing feature of this solution is its real-time response, where previous solutions respond to changes in traffic within minutes or hours, this solution updates hardware routes within seconds.
The diagram shows the elements of the solution. Standard sFlow instrumentation embedded in the merchant silicon ASIC data plane in the white box switch provides real-time information on traffic flowing through the switch. The sFlow agent is configured to send the sFlow to an instance Continue reading



SDN is an ideal methodology to push policies to campus networks.