DriveNets appears across 3 sources on Decision Insights, most recently in coverage of Sector Intelligence: Enterprise AI Infrastructure and Developments (Apr 2025).
Who is DriveNets?
DriveNets is a networking software company that provides cloud-native, disaggregated routing platforms for service providers and large-scale network operators.
- Cloud-native network routing software for service providers and hyperscale environments (network infrastructure)
- Disaggregated architecture separating networking software from white-box hardware (network infrastructure)
- Distributed, cluster-based routing platform designed for core, edge, and aggregation use cases (network infrastructure)
- Support for standard networking protocols and carrier-grade routing behaviors (network infrastructure)
- Automation, orchestration, and lifecycle management for large-scale IP networks (network operations)
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More About DriveNets
DriveNets focuses on software-based routing platforms that run on clusters of white-box switches, targeting service providers, cloud providers, and large enterprises that operate large-scale IP networks. Its core offering is positioned as a cloud-native network operating environment that consolidates routing functions onto a shared, disaggregated infrastructure, instead of relying on traditional, chassis-based routers. In typical deployments, the software operates across multiple white-box devices acting as a single logical router for core, edge, and aggregation roles.
The company’s architecture is built around disaggregation, where the control and data planes are implemented in software running on merchant silicon-based hardware supplied by third-party Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) or Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partners. This approach aligns with broader industry practices in which network operators use open hardware platforms and standardized interfaces. DriveNets software is associated with support for common routing protocols and technologies such as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), IS-IS, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Segment Routing, and Ethernet Virtual Private Network (VPN) (EVPN), commonly used in carrier and data center networks.
Within an enterprise or service provider environment, DriveNets is positioned in the routing category (network infrastructure) and targets applications such as 5G transport, broadband network aggregation, Data Center Interconnect (DCI), and IP core networking. The platform is designed to scale by adding additional white-box devices into a cluster, which allows capacity to be increased without replacing an entire chassis system. This clustering model uses a fabric of interconnected devices, with software that coordinates forwarding, resiliency, and management across the cluster.
DriveNets also provides capabilities for network automation and lifecycle operations (network operations), including provisioning, monitoring, and orchestration of large-scale clusters. These capabilities are intended to integrate with existing OSS/BSS and network management frameworks used by carriers and large enterprises. The software-centric model is aligned with cloud-native principles, making use of microservices and containerization for routing functions, with APIs that can be used to tie into external automation tools and Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) workflows.
In a marketplace taxonomy, DriveNets fits into categories such as carrier-grade routing (network infrastructure), disaggregated network operating systems (network infrastructure), and network automation and orchestration (network operations). It is comparable in role to traditional high-capacity core and edge routing platforms, but delivered as software running on standardized white-box hardware with a cluster-based design. This positioning is relevant for organizations evaluating alternatives to proprietary chassis routers and seeking alignment with disaggregation and cloud-native practices in their IP transport and backbone networks.