...

Overview

OpenSwitch (OPX) – an open source network operating system (NOS) and ecosystem - is an early adopter of emerging concepts and technologies (hardware and software disaggregation, use of open source, SDN, NFV and DevOps) which disrupt how networks and networking equipment are built and operated. Designed using a standard Debian Linux distribution with an unmodified Linux kernel, OpenSwitch provides a programmable high-level abstraction of network components, such as switching ASICs (Network Processors) and optical transceivers. Architected as a scalable, cloud-ready, agile solution, the open source OpenSwitch software implements a flexible infrastructure to enable both network operators and vendors to rapidly on-board open source Networking OS applications. OpenSwitch provides a YANG based programmatic interface, that can be accessed using Python, thus providing an environment well-suited for DevOps.

...

• L2 protocols: LLDP, LACP (link aggregation interfaces), 802.1q (VLAN interfaces), STP and bridge interfaces
• L3 protocols (e.g. BGP)
• ACL and QoS network functions (through CPS / YANG API's)
• Instrumentation: sFlow, telemetry
• Orchestration and management

Programmability and AutomationAutomation 

OpenSwitch supports a rich ecosystem for automated deployment, for instance:

• Ansible – various modules are already defined for OpenSwitch
• Zero-touch provisioning (ZTP) allows provisioning of OpenSwitch ONIE-enabled devices automatically, without manual intervention
• Puppet

North-Bound Programmatic Interfaces

The OpenSwitch CPS programmatic interface is defined using YANG models, and in combination with Python, provides support for programming the network functionality, automation and DevOps. While the CPS API is the native OpenSwitch API, a REST API can be added as well, by mapping REST requests to CPS.

In addition, a set of OpenSwitch specific commands are available and can be invoked from a Linux shell (e.g. display the current software version, hardware inventory etc.).

...