Linux Foundation and OCP take over SONiC development from Microsoft

Recent coverage traces how early software-defined networking (SDN) network operating system (NOS) vendors changed or exited the market and argues that SONiC now underpins disaggregated switching deployments across hyperscalers and other vendors.

Research Overview

The article frames SDN’s early promise as a move toward a disaggregated Network Operating System (NOS) supported by silicon diversity and carrier-class performance goals.

It links NOS evolution to the growing use of programmatic interfaces, command-line workflows, and infrastructure-as-code practices influenced by DevOps, including overlay approaches such as VXLAN.

Key Findings

The article lists early NOS players and describes their outcomes: Vyatta as acquired, Pica8 in receivership with assets acquired, Pluribus as acquired, and Cumulus as acquired with Broadcom support discontinued.

It states that SONiC is maintained under Linux Foundation and Open Compute Platform (OCP) stewardship after a handoff from Microsoft, with the goal that SONiC remains open source rather than being acquired or end-of-lifed.

Technical Breakdown

The article describes SONiC as “Azure Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC)” and characterizes it as bridging NetOps and DevOps use cases through programmatic capabilities and modularity.

It also asserts that SONiC supports standardized APIs, modular architecture, and automation-ready tooling intended to align with infrastructure-as-code workflows, including VXLAN overlay integration.

Operational Impact

The article cites a 650 Group report projecting worldwide SONiC revenue for data center switching to exceed $4 billion by 2025 and says the forecast includes growth for SONiC use outside hyperscalers.

It also notes a forecast of 40% market share by 2025, mentions Cisco adopting SONiC on its 8000 series hardware, and describes Aviz Networks as providing support, automated validation, test reporting, and orchestration tied to ONES.

Conclusion

Overall, the piece connects the outcomes of early disaggregated NOS vendors with SONiC’s current governance and adoption path, while pairing that narrative with Aviz Networks tooling for validation and migration. This “Blog Signals brief” is a fact-based summary of the vendor blog.