Pica8 open networks


Pica8 OS for Open Switch

The 1st Open, Hardware Independent Network Operating System

Pica8™ is the first to offer hardware-independent open switches. Physical “white box” switch hardware run PicOS™, an open network operating system that supports standards-based Layer 2/Layer 3 protocols with Industry-leading OpenFlow 1.4 support.

What makes PicOS open?

  • PicOS is hardware independent: the operating system is not tightly coupled to switching ASICs, CPU or memory hardware
  • We expose Linux, so you can use your existing tools for programming and optimizing Pica8 open switches to support your network
  • PicOS has the only OpenFlow 1.4 support, through Open vSwitch (OVS) v2.4 integration. OVS runs as a process within PicOS, and provides the OpenFlow interface for external programmability

Pica8 Network Operating System Overview

Leverage Pica8′s operating system — PicOS — with two powerful modes of operation to suite your needs. The Open vSwitch (OVS) Mode and L2/L3 Mode of the open switch

L2/L3 Mode Open vSwitch (OVS) Mode
Open
  • Switching platform with Linux on board and accessible
  • Programmable and customize by leveraging vast high-quality Linux tools
  • Industry-leading OpenFlow 1.4 support through Open vSwitch (OVS) 2.4 integration
  • Leverage production ready OVS switches for your CloudStack / OpenStack projects
Flexible
  • High-performance Layer 2 / Layer 3 switching platform for both IPv4 and IPv6 networks, seamlessly integrating into existing architectures
  • Tune the fabric to meet your application needs, selectable store-forward or cut-through switching modes for ultra-low latency
  • Interoperable with multiple open-source OpenFlow controllers (Ryu, Floodlight, NOX, Trema)
  • Leverage different controllers and reference architectures
Adaptive
  • PicOS, a multiprocess OS, ensures each process has independent memory space, thread control, and interrupt handling for improved feature scaling
  • Seamlessly add new protocols to PicOS, a multiprocess OS
  • Investment protection as your application needs change