Amazon Leads Linux Foundation’s Edge NOS Project

The Linux Foundation’s latest open source project DENT targets enterprise edge networking software with support from Amazon, Cumulus Networks, and Mellanox, among other member companies. The Linux Foundation’s latest open source project DENT targets enterprise edge networking software with support from Amazon, Cumulus Networks, and Mellanox, among other member companies. The group aims to bring together silicon vendors, original design manufacturers, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturers. Its goal is to build a new standardized network operating system (NOS) for distributed enterprise, campus, and remote and branch office locations with the retail industry as its initial use case. DENT will use the Linux Kernel, Switchdev, and other Linux-based projects as the basis for the open source NOS, and Amazon will lead the effort to develop the initial seed code. The new open source project follows Amazon’s own commercial push into edge computing. Earlier this month, the cloud giant announced two edge services at its AWS re:Invent conference. One, called AWS Local Zones, essentially sets up AWS Outposts — this is Amazon’s new on-premises infrastructure — in other, non-customer locations where Amazon Web Services doesn’t currently have a region. AWS also announced another edge computing service called AWS Wavelength at the event. Remote campus locations and retail stores need a simple networking OS stack without abstractions that is low cost and Linux-based, the group says. This approach will allow developers to treat networking ASICs and silicon like any other hardware, and Switchdev, a Linux driver for Ethernet switch ASICs, plays a key role in this. Amit Katz, VP of Ethernet switches at Mellanox Technologies, says that Switchdev exposes the hardware innovations in the Mellanox Spectrum family of Ethernet Switches. “DENT promotes network disaggregation, which benefits customers by eliminating vendor lock-in, and allows hardware vendors to compete on a level playing field where the very best switch ASICs and systems can win by delivering the highest ROI possible,” Katz said in a statement. In addition to Amazon, Mellanox, and Cumulus, other founding members include Delta Electronics, Marvell, and Wistron NeWeb. “Open source is in Cumulus’ DNA, and we’re excited to be the first software platform to contribute to DENT,” said Partho Mishra, president and chief product officer at Cumulus Networks. “We are looking forward to partnering on the DENT project to extend open source in kernel networking capabilities from the data center to the campus edge.” DENT is the latest example of the Linux Foundation’s growing focus on edge computing. This started with the launch of LF Edge in January. That organization initially housed five projects, and it added two new ones in September. DENT, however, is not housed under LF Edge. “DENT is a high-level project at the LF with its own governance structure, board, and TSC,” a Linux Foundation spokesperson said in an email. “It’s currently not under any of the LF umbrellas.”