The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, today announced Arthur -- the first code release of DENT, a project to enable the creation of Network OS for Disaggregated Network Switches in campus and remote enterprise locations. Since launching the DENT project in December 2019, the Linux Foundation has signed several general members including Innovium, Archadyan, and Alpha Networks who are joined by DENT premier members Amazon, Cumulus Networks, Delta Electronics Inc, Marvell, Mellanox, Edgecore and Wistron NeWeb (WNC).  

The Arthur release -- aptly named after Arthur Dent, the protagonist character of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- uses the recently released Linux 5.6 Kernel and leverages SwitchDev as a way to simplify integrations; eliminate complex abstractions and SDK change management; and support existing Linux tool chains. In addition to providing the industry's widest range of hardware options, the Arthur release includes over 25 key features to enable enterprise infrastructure teams to safely transition to disaggregated networks.  

The networking industry is moving away from customized, proprietary solutions for telecom, cloud and enterprise data center markets towards open standards. However, these open advancements have failed to meet the specific needs of distributed enterprise edge networking such as a simplified networking OS stack that is low cost and Linux-based. DENT enables an open community to build this solution without complicated abstractions. It uses the Linux Kernel, Switchdev and other Linux-based projects to allow developers to treat networking ASICs and silicon like any other hardware. This simple disaggregated Linux/SwitchDev-based switch ultimately simplifies integration across the ecosystem and encourages application developers to adopt this new standard.  

"With the Arthur release, we're witnessing the makings of an open network operating system, control plane and management plane that will transform how enterprises address their distributed edge challenges," said Arpit Joshipura, GM of Networking at The Linux Foundation. "The DENT community has grown quickly and executed on this first major code release at a time when the entire industry is rethinking the future of retail and campus environments."  

For more information, please visitdent.dev 

"Open networking is the future, and Delta is proud to be a part of the momentum with the DENT project," said Honda Wu, Vice President of Solutions and Open Source at Delta. "Our goal is to support the initial users of DENT with our deep knowledge and expertise in networking."   

"As a leading provider of open networking solutions for data centers and enterprises, Edgecore is pleased to see the release of dentOS for next-generation retail and campus networks through the open community ecosystem. Disaggregated hardware and open source enables more enterprise and campus network customers to enjoy the benefits of open networking." Michael Ward, VP Business Development, Software, Edgecore Networks  

"As a leading silicon provider in access networking, we remain committed to supporting industry standard application interfaces on our switch portfolio, allowing our customers to leverage the full network operating software ecosystem. DENT is a key component to our offerings," said Gavin Cato, vice president of product management and marketing at Marvell. "The Arthur release is running on multiple 1G and 10G platform deployments incorporating Marvell's feature-rich Prestera®Ethernet switches. This milestone demonstrates our commitment to bringing innovative solutions for automated and personalized experiences within the borderless enterprise across the smart edge and retail networking."  

"DENT's Arthur release is a major step towards accelerating the open source networking revolution that NVIDIA has spearheaded for years," said Amit Katz, Vice President of Ethernet Switches at NVIDIA Networking. "DENT OS, an open source network operating system, leverages the wide Linux ecosystem to provide freedom of choice for modern data centers and edge deployments. By providing the industry leading ASIC and software innovations such as FRRouting, SwitchDev, and several other kernel networking contributions, we look forward to pushing the advancement of DENT."  

"The Arthur release incorporates intelligent wireless and wireline capabilities critical to any enterprise's decision to embrace open software architecture," said Larry Lee, EVP and GM of the Networking BG at WNC. "We and other industry leaders supporting DENT worked closely together to tackle distributed switching for the initial retail use case."