Aricent has announced its advanced Software Defined Network (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) software based on Intel reference design hardware.

Aricent’s SDN and NFV software is now available for customer trials. This solution will help Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) to quickly build high performance datacenter switches including top of the rack (ToR) switches, blade switches, and other hardware accelerated datacenter fabric switches.

Intel’s Open Network Platform (ONP) Switch Reference Design is designed for emerging SDN and NFV switching and routing requirements. It is based on the Intel Xeon processor and Intel Ethernet Switch FM6764.

“We are delighted to introduce our SDN and NFV software on Intel’s reference design. “The solution will help OEMs and ODMs to quickly introduce new and advanced switching solutions for the SDN and NFV market, while reducing their R&D costs significantly”, said Sridhar Raju, assistant vice president at Aricent.

Aricent’s comprehensive software suite for SDN architectures includes - Layer 2 switching suite including Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN), Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) and Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP); Layer 3 routing suite including Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) protocols, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP); and the Openflow data plane software running on the Intel Ethernet Switch FM6764 and Intel Xeon processor.

“The Intel ONP switch reference design provides a high performance and scalable platform for software partners such as Aricent to innovate on for multiple switch form factors. Aricent’s software suite running on top of Intel’s reference design can accelerate the path to market for OEMs and ODMs looking to deploy SDN and NFV solutions”, said Rene Torres, Director of Marketing for Intel’s Software Defined Networking Division.