Aviz Reports SONiC PlugFest Findings on Readiness and Cost

Industry leaders, including Aviz Networks, Keysight Technologies, and World Wide Technology (WWT), gathered at the SONiC PlugFest to evaluate the Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC) for scalability and interoperability. The event featured participation from multiple vendors including Cisco, Celestica, Edgecore, and Wistron. The 2025 SONiC PlugFest successfully demonstrated that SONiC is ready for enterprise deployment, facilitated a platform for collaboration between users and vendors, and advanced SONiC’s integration into modern data center. In total, 48 companies spanning various sectors such as retail, healthcare, telecommunications, and cloud service providers contributed to the event by providing real-world use cases and facilitating thorough testing of SONiC’s performance and scalability. The PlugFest validated five deployment use cases crucial for large-scale networking environments: VxLAN/EVPN for virtualized networking, RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Fabric for AI workloads, L3 Internet Protocol (IP) Clos for scalable architectures, Layer 2 Leaf-Spine topologies, and Power over Ethernet (PoE) capabilities. One key finding was SONiC’s support for PoE-enabled whitebox switches, extending SONiC’s applicability into broader enterprise environments. The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis indicates that enterprises utilizing SONiC can expect:

• Up to 40% lower TCO compared to proprietary solutions
• Reduced costs by eliminating vendor lock-in
• Lower operational expenses due to no licensing costs and minimal support fees
• Scalability for AI workloads without the expenses associated with closed networking systems

Vishal Shukla, CEO of Aviz Networks, commented, “The success of the 2025 PlugFest highlights that Community SONiC is no longer just for early adopters—it’s now an enterprise-ready NOS backed by real-world results across industries.” Keysight provided automated traffic generation, enhancing the validation process. Manodipto Ghose, Senior Product Manager at Keysight, noted the importance of large-scale traffic testing in verifying SONiC’s capabilities. Furthermore, WWT emphasized the significance of the event for enterprises. Justin van Schaik, Technical Solutions Architect at WWT, remarked on the importance of seeing SONiC in action to validate its capabilities. As a follow-up to the PlugFest, Aviz Networks, Keysight, WWT, and 650 Group held a webinar to discuss the results and implications for enterprises considering SONiC. Alan Weckel, Founding Analyst at 650 Group, reflected on SONiC’s steady adoption. As interest in AI workloads increases, SONiC’s role is crucial in offering a scalable, cost-effective option for networking solutions. The PlugFest results support the feasibility of using SONiC in enterprise collaboration moving forward.