Open Compute Project accepts Mellanox open Ethernet switches

Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX) says the Open Compute Project (OCP) has accepted a pair of its 10 Gigabit Ethernet/40 Gigabit Ethernet switch systems.

As its name implies, the Facebook-inspired OCP seeks to promote the collaborative development of open source software and hardware for data center, computing, and related applications. Vendors can submit their products for acceptance into the program.

The OCP-accepted switches include the MSX1710OCP spine switch system; its 36 QSFP+ interfaces make it the highest density OCP spine switch, Mellanox asserts. The other switch is the MSX1410OCP leaf/top-of-rack (ToR) switch system, with 48 SFP+ interfaces and 12 QSFP+ interfaces. It is the only non-blocking OCP leaf switch, the company says. Both switch systems are based on the SwitchX-2 IC, which supports non-blocking 2.56-Tbps full wire speed forwarding with cut-through latency and deterministic zero packet loss performance.

"It is exciting to see organizations such as Mellanox take an active role in shaping the future of open networking through not only its open collaboration and participation in the OCP Networking Project, but through its willingness to open the specs and designs around in its SwitchX-2 product line," said Amber Graner, operations director for the Open Compute Project Foundation, via a Mellanox press release. "The Mellanox switch contributions are another great example of how OCP through member participation is accelerating the future of open hardware in the networking ecosystem."

The Ethernet switch systems offer a choice of application programming interface (API). Mellanox is a co-author of the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI), designed to enable applications and Ethernet protocol stacks to operate seamlessly over any open Ethernet compatible switch hardware platform. Mellanox says it was the first to integrate the SAI layer and to offer its free download as an open-source.

The switches also offer integrated ONIE support or Mellanox open-source its switch Software Development Kit (SDK) API.

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