EOS: An Extensible Operating System for Cloud Computing
By Arista Networks
Performance and stability of the network is a business requirement for datacenter networking, where a single scalable fabric carries both network and storage traffic. Management processes must be scalable for successful deployment and operation, requiring a high degree of automation and integration into the customer’s unique environment. The design and architecture of the network operating system provides the foundation for meeting these requirements. The monolithic software architecture that runs on almost all of today’s network switches presents a fundamental design limitation to high network reliability. The stark reality is that a single bug or defect anywhere in the OS exposes the entire system to disruption since there is no mechanism for software fault containment. At the same time, with no isolation between multiple tasks it is difficult to scale these systems from a performance perspective or to add new functionality. In fact, making any significant changes to a code base that is measured in millions of lines of code will reduce product stability and reliability. The fragile monolithic approach inherently prevents extending the network operating system to implement new features such as integration with customer specific management processes.
Arista’s Extensible Operating System (EOS) leapfrogs traditional network OS designs. Learn how by downloading this paper.
