In this blog, I will cover the basics of White box switches, current software models in White box switches, architecture overview of popular White box vendors(Cumulus, Big Switch, Pica8), popular Opensource projects related to White box switches and some final thoughts on the future direction.

In the current Networking switches, hardware and software are tightly coupled and it is not possible to change the software from 1 vendor to another keeping the hardware as same. This is different from Server space where hardware and software are decoupled completely.

The term White box Switch refers to a Networking Switch where hardware and software are loosely coupled and it is possible to change 1 of them keeping the other as same.

Following are some of the advantages of White box switches.

• Multiple choices and no vertical lock-in to a single vendor.
• Can increase speed of innovation.
• Can reduce capex and opex.

Following are 3 models that seems to be emerging among White box switches.

Continue reading White box switches – Overview and current models →