SONIC Part III: SONiC Introduction
SONiC
is a vendor-neutral, Linux-based network operating system (NOS) that uses a
database-driven architecture. Its software components run in multiple
containers and exchange information through Redis. In SONiC, several named
databases are defined for different functions, and these databases are mapped
to Redis logical database IDs. Through this design, configuration data,
application state, operational state, and ASIC-related state move between
software layers by means of specialized processes.
Different
hardware vendors may add their own platform integrations, transceiver support,
monitoring utilities, or management workflows. However, the core SONiC
architecture remains the same. This is one of the main reasons why SONiC
knowledge, troubleshooting methods, and automation practices are transferable
across different hardware platforms.
Vendor
neutrality does not mean that every SONiC-based implementation behaves exactly
the same in every operational detail. It means that different implementations
follow the same architectural model. To organize information clearly, SONiC
defines several named databases, each of which is mapped to a Redis logical
database ID:
·
CONFIG_DB (Redis DB 4):
Stores the user’s intended configuration.
·
APPL_DB (Redis DB 0):
Stores application-level objects that are ready for processing by lower
software layers.
· STATE_DB (Redis DB 6): Stores operational state information about system Continue reading

For years, enterprise cloud networking was built around a simple assumption: pick a primary cloud provider, connect the data center to it, and expand from there.