SONiC (operating system)
SONiC (Software for Open Networking in the Cloud) is a free and open source network operating system based on Linux and developed by Microsoft and the Open Compute Project.[1][2][3] SONiC includes networking software components required to have a fully functional L3 device[4] and was designed to meet the requirements of a cloud data center. It allows cloud operators to share the same software stack across hardware from different switch vendors.[3][4]
Developer | Microsoft, Open Compute Project and community |
---|---|
Written in | C |
OS family | Unix-like (Linux kernel) |
Working state | Current |
Source model | Open source |
Initial release | 2017 |
Repository | github |
Marketing target | Network devices |
Kernel type | Monolithic |
License | Mix of open-source licenses including the GNU GPL and the Apache License |
Official website | azure |
Overview
SONiC was developed and open sourced by Microsoft in 2017.[2] The software decouples network software from the underlying hardware and is built on the SAI switch-programming API.[1] It runs on network switches from multiple vendors and ASICs.[2] Notable supported network features include Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), remote direct memory access (RDMA), QoS, and various other Ethernet/IP technologies.[2]
The SONiC community includes cloud providers, service providers, silicon and component suppliers, as well as networking hardware OEMs and ODMs. It has more than 850 members. Companies using and/or contributing to SONiC include Alibaba Group, Arista Networks,[5] Broadcom,[3] Dell,[3] Cisco Systems, Comcast, Juniper,[6] Nokia, Nvidia-Mellanox[7] and VMware.[2] SONiC is used in Microsoft’s Azure networking services.[2]
The SONiC network operating system was presented at the ACM SIGCOMM 2nd Asia-Pacific Workshop on Networking 2018 (APNET 2018) in Beijing, China.[8]
The source code is licensed under a mix of open-source licenses including the GNU General Public License and the Apache License and available on GitHub.[9][10]
SONiC needs Linux kernel 3.16.[4]
See also
References
- Branscombe, Mary (July 22, 2019). "Is SONiC, the Open Source Network OS, Ready for Mainstream?". DataCenter Knowledge.
- Cooney, Michael (October 8, 2020). "Meet SONiC, the new NOS (definitely not the same as the old NOS)". NETWORKWORLD.
- Hardesty, Linda (March 3, 2020). "Microsoft Provides Open Source Cloud Switch Software". sdxcentral.
- Verma, Adarsh (March 10, 2016). "SONiC — Microsoft's Debian Linux-based Operating System For Networking". FOSSBYTES.
- "Arista Extends Open Cloud Networking Software Leadership". investors.arista.com.
- "Juniper Networks Integrates with 'Software for Open Networking in the Cloud' Platform -". Virtualization Review.
- "Full ASIC-to-Protocol Support for SONIC on Mellanox Spectrum". www.mellanox.com.
- "APNET 2018". conferences.sigcomm.org.
- Foley, Mary Jo (March 9, 2016). "Microsoft submits new open-sourced networking components to Open Compute Project". ZDNet.
- Williams, Chris Williams (March 9, 2016). "Microsoft has crafted a switch OS on Debian Linux. Repeat, a switch OS on Debian Linux". The Register.
Further reading
External links
- Official website
- SONiC on GitHub – Documentation
- sonic-buildimage on GitHub – Scripts which perform an installable binary image build for SONiC