PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pica8, the leader in open systems for software defined networking (SDN), today announced the availability of a new open SDN switch platform for environments operating 10GbE over copper network backbones. The announcement demonstrates Pica8’s ongoing commitment and effort to leverage white box economics and lower the barriers to entry for SDN by offering the new open SDN switch platform over existing networking infrastructure. In doing so, Pica8 also expects companies of all sizes to be able to take advantage of SDN by either starting with a smaller deployment within a larger data center or seamlessly integrating into a legacy copper environment.
According to Crehan Research, 10GBASE-T is forecasted to grow significantly faster than all other 10GbE data center switch technologies with a forty-fold increase over the next five years. “To capture data center switch market share and have broad appeal for their software defined networking solutions, vendors need to have compelling products for both SFP+ and 10GBASE-T deployments,” said Seamus Crehan, president of Crehan Research. “With a list price of less than $280 per 10GBASE-T port, Pica8 is offering a compelling value proposition.”
Additionally, open network switches are now available through a growing roster of original design manufacturers (ODM) now qualified to operate Pica8’s Linux-based open network operating system (OS), PicOS™ over their hardware. PicOS includes both standards-based Layer 2 / Layer 3 protocols with industry-leading OpenFlow 1.3 / Open vSwitch (OVS) 1.10 integration. OVS runs as a process within PicOS, and provides the OpenFlow interface for external programmability.
“Our approach has always been to disrupt the supply chain of switch manufacturers and traditional pricing models, while not providing solutions where customers are simply locking into something else,” said Lin Du, vice president of engineering, Pica8. “Our partnership with our roster of ODMs is a great example of how together, we can improve network performance while leveraging existing copper infrastructure.”
Pricing starts at $17,900 for a 64-port switch (48 10GBASE-T +16 10GbE) and is now available.
About Pica8, Inc.
Since 2009, Pica8 has been transforming the data center by providing the world’s first open switching system, which can be personalized to fit any application environment. A pioneer in the software-defined networking (SDN) revolution, Pica8’s PicOS™, its externally programmable switching operating system runs on commodity, bare-metal switches made by ODM partners to provide the ultimate in cost savings. In a single package, costs are slashed, and customization for the data center becomes a promise fulfilled. Pica8 is a global company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. For more information, visit www.pica8.com.
