In the rapidly evolving world of networking, Micas Networks is making waves as a leader in delivering open networking solutions tailored to hyperscalers, cloud data centers, and OEMs. Based in San Jose, California, Micas leverages a deep investment in R&D, an owned factory, and a strong partnership with Broadcom to provide innovative, scalable, and cost-efficient network switches. As a relatively new player, Micas has already made significant strides, including launching a cutting-edge 51.2T Co-Packaged Optic switch and a conventional switch powered by Broadcom’s Tomahawk 5.

In this exclusive VMblog Q&A ahead of OCP 2024, Mitch Galbraith, COO of Micas Networks, discusses the company's recent achievements, innovations, and future plans. From deploying its groundbreaking products to growing its team and customer base, Micas is poised for significant growth as it continues to advance the future of open networking.

VMblog:  Please provide a quick overview of Micas Networks for our readers who aren't yet familiar with you.

Mitch Galbraith:  Micas Networks is a San Jose, California-based leader in networking solutions that cater to hyperscalers, cloud data centers, and OEMs. We offer a full portfolio of open network switches that support various operating systems, including  SONiC. We invest heavily in R&D, we own our factory, we have a robust supply chain, and we have a strategic partnership with Broadcom, all of which enables us to deliver cost-effective and cutting-edge solutions at scale.

VMblog:  At last year's OCP event, Micas was brand new to the industry, but you previewed some exciting plans like a 51.2T switch and a Co Packaged Optic switch. Have you able to get either of those devices to market yet?

Galbraith:  So glad you asked. We've been busy this last year, and I'm proud to report that we delivered on both projects. On the CPO front, Micas was first to market with a 51.2T CPO switch. We developed it jointly with our partner Broadcom and it is powered by their Baily ASIC. It offers 128, 400G ports, and runs at 1400 watts, which is about half of what a conventional switch with pluggable optics runs at. We've delivered boxes to several tier-one hyperscalers and OEMs for trials. By the way, OCP attendees can check it out at the Micas Booth on the show floor in booth A5.

We were also very early to market with our Broadcom Tomahawk 5-powered 51.2T conventional switch. It also has 64, 800G ports. We also have one running in our OCP booth.

VMblog:  Besides port density and throughput, what makes a CPO switch different and better than a conventional switch?

Galbraith:  CPO switches offer some important advantages over conventional switches that are especially critical for high-performance networking in data centers and AI applications. You already mentioned two of the big ones: speed and port density. The biggest one is lower total cost of ownership. A big part of that is reduced power consumption, which can be 40+% less than conventional switches with pluggable optics. Other factors include lower latency by reducing the electrical-to-optical conversion distance, improved reliability, and a smaller physical footprint.

VMblog:  What else is new at Micas Networks since last year's OCP?

Galbraith:  One big thing was that Broadcom certified its enterprise SONiC on Micas white boxes, which we're excited to make available to our customers.

Another big development is that our team has grown a lot. We're over 100 people now, including several executive additions. I'm one of them. As you know, I'm Micas' COO and came to the company with over two decades of experience leading high-growth tech businesses. I've been a founder, first employee, and C-level executive at six different startups, backed by venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, and Temasek. I've had the good fortune to see three of my companies through to transactions as CEO. In addition to startup experience, I also have public company experience, having served as Executive Vice President and General Manager at Ziff Davis and as Senior Director of Business Operations at Yahoo.

Micas also hired Andrew Qu as its CTO this year. Andrew brings tremendous expertise and experience related to architecting large-scale, high-speed networks. He was the Chief Network Architect at Tencent, the Sr. Director of Solutions Architecture at Intel, and spent 16 years in software management at Cisco. He and his team have been the driving force of Micas' big investment in R&D to put us at the leading edge of open networking.

VMblog:  Are you demonstrating anything in your booth this year?

Galbraith:  Here's what we'll be demoing at Micas booth #A5 on the show floor this OCP:

• A live demonstration of interoperation between Micas' Broadcom TH5-Bailly (BCM78909) Co-packaged Optics (CPO) switch and our 51.2 Tb/s Tomahawk 5 Ethernet switch silicon.
• Micas Switch + Server in Rack , with a 100G to 400G Conventional Data Center Network Architecture
• Our transceivers for Data Center Switches
• A preview of our next generation 100T switch
• An introduction to Broadcom SONiC
  

VMblog:  That's great!  And is there anything exciting you want to share from your roadmap?

Galbraith:  We're already hard at work on a 102.4T switch that we'll be previewing in our executive suite. We don't yet have timing to share, but we're committed to being very early to market with the platform.

VMblog:  Has Micas made any progress in acquiring new customers?

Galbraith:  We now have customers purchasing thousands of switches and growth is accelerating quarter after quarter. We look to be on pace to grow between 5 and 10X in the next 12 months.

Some customer examples include: a leading AI server provider, several Cloud Service Providers including a GPU as a service provider, a content delivery network (CDN), and a social network.

VMblog:  And how has the market response been to Micas' product solutions?

Galbraith:  All of the scale and growth we just talked about gives us confidence that our solutions are resonating with hyperscalers, cloud data centers, OEMs and more. We consistently hear from our customers that they appreciate our leading-edge technology, cost-effective pricing, fast turnaround times, commitment to open-source network operating systems, and full service & support.

To hear more, OCP attendees should check out one of our talks on Wednesday, October 16 at 1:10 p.m. on the Concourse Level - Expo Hall Stage. My colleague Jason Pan, VP of Business Development; Daniel Pfeiffer, COO & VP Partnerships of OrionVM; and Dave Driggers, Chief Technology Officer at Cirrascale Cloud Services will share their experiences in deploying SONiC and white box switches in their GPU clusters.

VMblog:  This has been fantastic, thank you.  Are there any last thoughts you'd like to share with the audience?

Galbraith:  I would just sum up by saying that the Micas Networks mission is to accelerate our customers' adoption of disaggregated, AI-enabling networks. To do that, we focus on innovation, customer needs, and operational excellence. And we leverage world-class partnerships and open-source software to deliver solutions that are both leading-edge and cost-effective.

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