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Introducing “6-pack”: the first open hardware modular switch

code.facebook.com

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Re: Introducing “6-pack”: the first open hardware modular switch

#11

Post by rustyconover »

dsr_ wrote: post #8
rustyconover wrote: post #4

I get the feeling this is a bit like Bugatti building the Veyron, its super cool and impressive but the vast majority of us will never be able to or have a need to drive it. It is still fun watch this switch go around the proverbial track, but I'm happy knowing that I'll never have to configure, build and test a switch of this complexity unless I really absolutely have to, with my largest caveat being AWS disappearin…

One of the great things about computing is that stuff which was insanely high-end N years ago is high-end of affordable now and will be commodity in another N years. And N years after that you get that functionality for free along with your new TV.

If the people who brought me HDCP[1] are the same people that will give me a networking switch inside my television, maybe I will consider using this Facebook switch after all.

[1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_...

Re: Introducing “6-pack”: the first open hardware modular switch

#12

Post by juliangoldsmith »

dsr_ wrote: post #8
rustyconover wrote: post #4

I get the feeling this is a bit like Bugatti building the Veyron, its super cool and impressive but the vast majority of us will never be able to or have a need to drive it. It is still fun watch this switch go around the proverbial track, but I'm happy knowing that I'll never have to configure, build and test a switch of this complexity unless I really absolutely have to, with my largest caveat being AWS disappearin…

One of the great things about computing is that stuff which was insanely high-end N years ago is high-end of affordable now and will be commodity in another N years. And N years after that you get that functionality for free along with your new TV.

I'm not entirely sure what I'd do with 1.28 Tb/s of switching power.

Though, 30 years ago, in Neuromancer, William Gibson wrote about the city of Los Angeles transferring megabytes (yes, whole megabytes) of data each second, so he probably couldn't have imagined what someone would do with the gigabit switch on my desk.

Re: Introducing “6-pack”: the first open hardware modular switch

#14

Post by VLM »

I was expecting a link to something like this, but more advanced

http://opencores.org/project,mac_layer_switch

and some links to digilent dev boards for hardware, however the linked project is a bit more ambitious, all full of custom ASICs and such.

An open source switch made out of COTS FPGA dev boards would be interesting. So you'd use something like

http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,400...

But what to use as a COTS "just unpack it all, plug it all together, upload the firmware and go" backplane?

Re: Introducing “6-pack”: the first open hardware modular switch

#15

Post by es09 »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #7
rustyconover wrote: post #4

I get the feeling this is a bit like Bugatti building the Veyron, its super cool and impressive but the vast majority of us will never be able to or have a need to drive it. It is still fun watch this switch go around the proverbial track, but I'm happy knowing that I'll never have to configure, build and test a switch of this complexity unless I really absolutely have to, with my largest caveat being AWS disappearin…

You're not the target market. You shouldn't be making an analogy with a Veyron, which remains a luxury car for an individual. You should rather be comparing it with a firetruck, a vehicle custom-built for a purpose you as an individual you will never need. I currently work in the network hardware industry (think Cisco, Juniper, etc). Our boxes sell in the 6-figure price range, each [1]. We sell to your ISP, wireless…

Good points. I doubt if they are aiming at any competition. Their stated goal is to reduce the cost of the hardware for themselves by standardizing it. Their hope is that the other big guys (amazon, google etc) will pick this solution up driving up adoption and lowering the cost. If this happens, Cisco, Juniper et al gets disrupted and that's just a side effect.

Re: Introducing “6-pack”: the first open hardware modular switch

#17

Post by wmf »

fidotron wrote: post #16

Isn't this just wrapping for the COTS switching ASICs or am I missing something big? Almost all "open" projects seem to hit a point where the line between open and closed is quite arbitrary, even if they choose not to see it that way.

"Wrapping commodity ASICs" is worth $4B: http://www.arista.com/

If Facebook wants to give me that value for free I won't complain.

Re: Introducing “6-pack”: the first open hardware modular switch

#18

Post by gdooraccess »

aristus wrote: post #13
gdooraccess wrote: post #10

Does anyone know which team in FB is building software for these products? I did glance FB company info but could not get the information.

I no longer work there but I can ask the usual suspects. Email is in my profile.

Thanks and sent you an email. For anybody who is looking for similar details on the team who are behind these products, just FYI - there is not much info on FB site or on the internet. If I get any info later, will report back.

Re: Introducing “6-pack”: the first open hardware modular switch

#19

Post by korethr »

This is rather cool, and I'm glad to see some work being done in the networking gear space utilizing open designs and firmware like this. Unfortunately, unless I find myself needing to network a datacenter in the near future, it's not immediately useful to me.

That said, I do hope other developments in network gear that will be useful in other markets emerge from this effort.

From my perspective, there's a gap in network gear between the unmanaged, low port-count switches in plastic enclosures, targeted to home and small office consumers, and the lower tiers of Cisco's catalog, targeted toward top-of-rack or wiring-closet-of-a-larger-building type uses. I would love to see a managed switch with say, 8-24 ports, supporting features such 802.11Q VLANs. I would love to be able segment my network at home so different devices with different performance and security needs aren't all stepping on each other's toes. And I'd like the firmware and hardware designs to be open source, so it can readily patched when bugs are found, and easily adapted to new use cases.

I realize that I'm an outlier and that my needs are not common, or there'd probably be equipment on the market that met them. But it is my hope that as a result of Facebook's work here, and similar efforts, that building such a device will become feasible.

Re: Introducing “6-pack”: the first open hardware modular switch

#20

Post by gonzo »

rsync wrote: post #3

I very much want to transition to open hardware models for networking gear - for both my own home use and for rsync.net. However, at no single site (especially my home) do I need a 6U chassis full of switch ports. Is there a 1U version of this on the horizon ?

You probably don't need 16 40Gbps channels at home, either.
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