D-Link teams up with Pluribus Networks as part of open networking partnership
In an effort to gain footing in the enterprise market, D-Link, a networking equipment manufacturing company based in Taipei, Taiwan, recently debuted a new line of bare metal switches based on open networking standards.
Bare metal is a term used to describe an operating system (OS) that does not have a hypervisor separating it from physical hardware. Bare metal servers are popular among small businesses due to their affordability and agility. According to a recent report by Research and Markets, the global bare metal cloud market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40.3 % between 2016 to 2023.
D-Link said its switches can help service providers save money by decoupling software from hardware. With open source standards, users can choose a third-party OS of their choice. The company said its bare metal switches are best suited in a data center or enterprise network for Top-of-Rack (ToR) applications, or as part of a 10GbE/40GbE leaf-spine architecture.
Topping the series is the D-Link’s DXS-5000-54S 10 GbE Open Network Switch, which supports line rate layer 2 and layer 3 switching across 48x10GbE SFP+ ports and 6x40GbE QSFP+ ports. Models are available for both front-to-rack and back-to-front airflow.
In addition, DXS-5000-54S has been certified by Pluribus Netvisor Operating System (OS) as part of an open networking partnership. As a result, D-Link will add and resell the Pluribus Netvisor network OS with its switching platform. The Netvisor OS runs on Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) hardware compliant switches. ONIE is an open source initiative that has helped standardize bare metal switches. The project provides administrators with a framework to launch various OS’s.
“We are excited to partner with D-Link to create a market-leading open networking solution that powers the scalable infrastructure needed to meet ever increasing data demands,” said Kumar Srikantan, president and chief executive officer of Pluribus Networks, in a statement. “The Pluribus Netvisor OS and our Adaptive Cloud Fabric architecture provides a scale-out network foundation that enhances the value of D-Link Open Networking hardware to deliver the elasticity, performance and resiliency needed to achieve a rapid time-to-value with a low TCO.”
The partnership isn’t a one-way street, however. By partnering with Pluribus Networks, D-Link can occupy a playing field with other distributors that have embraced open source initiatives. The D-Link DXS-5000-54S will be available this September.
