This is the second in a series of posts highlighting members of the DENT Project. We continue with a spotlight on Edgecore Networks, as explained by Edgecore Networks’ Head of Engineering Larry Ho.
Please tell us a little about your organization:
Back in 2020 when Edgecore joined DENT as a founding member, we were convinced that open source NOS, like dentOS, can play a key role in the next-generation technologies of open networking. Obviously, we still are as of today. A key component of Edgecore’s solution is an open source NOS.
Why did you join DENT, and what impact do you think DENT has on Network Operating Systems?
When Edgecore joined DENT, it was the only open source NOS that was architected and designed for enterprise edge and retail. Today, it remains the only NOS that is dedicated to this space.
What do you see as the top benefits of being part of the DENT community?
Since 2021, there has been growing interest by operators in enterprise edge and retail domains to deploy Open Source software. DENT is a proven technology in deploying to retail stores. Its community plays a pivotal role in ramping up DENT and its related technologies. It also serves as the messenger to educate operators who may be interested in DENT.
What sort of contributions has your team made (or plans to make) to the DENT community?
Edgecore started as a switch hardware contributor. While we plan to continue contributions in this area, we also participated in DENT’s test subgroup to help solidify DENT’s community development and testing infrastructures and processes. Edgecore was also instrumental in supporting DENT to adopt SAI in 2022. If and when DENT adopts switch hardware based on Broadcom’s silicon, we will look at opportunities for SAI contributions.
What sets DENT apart from other industry alliances?
DENT is now a 4+ years open source project. It is still gathering participation and interest. During this journey, DENT has shown its willingness to adjust from its original purely switchdev base architecture to include a SAI base architecture. In Edgecore’s view, SAI will increase the choices of silicon and switching platforms available which is key to DENT’s ultimate goal: broad commercial deployment.
How will DENT help your business?
A key element of Edgecore’s solution is open source NOS.
What advice would you give to someone considering joining DENT?
Like any open source community, there are several key factors to ensure its success. One is broad deployment in commercial environment: adoption; The other is continuous evolution of its technologies with contributions from broad segments of the community. There are actually more factors. Joining DENT implies you are preparing to help in one or more of these factors.
Edgecore Networks DENT Representatives:
Nanda Ravindran, Vice President of Product Management
William Chiang, Project Software Manager