INTERCONNECTS

The NetBSD Foundation today announced that Force10 Networks, the pioneer in building and securing high performance networks, has leveraged NetBSD as the foundation for the Force10 Operating System (FTOS). Based on the open source UNIX-like system, FTOS provides the software scalability and resiliency that powers the Force10 TeraScale E-Series family of switch/routers. “Our customers require a high level of scalability and resiliency to build networks that can expand as new applications are added while maintaining predictable performance,” said Sachi Sambandan, vice president of engineering at Force10 Networks. “The unique kernel structure of NetBSD allows us to provide our customers with a best-in-class software architecture that supports carrier class resiliency and accelerates development of new features.” As a UNIX-like operating system, NetBSD provides unparalleled protocol maturity and stability. Process modularization allows control plane functions to be separated and given fair CPU scheduling while memory protection minimizes corruption across process boundaries. Together, these two features enable Force10 to provide its customers with a high performance, fault tolerant system that isolates switching, routing and management functionalities from each other in a multi-processor control plane architecture. Additionally, NetBSD supports 17 microprocessor families, enabling a high degree of portability that allows Force10 to easily port FTOS across multiple hardware architectures. “Industry leading networking companies recognize that system scalability and resiliency are built upon a secure, solid and portable software foundation,” said Alistair Crooks, president of the NetBSD Foundation. "We're delighted with Force 10's endorsement of NetBSD as the basis of its high performance operating system, which will result in benefits for both organizations." The Force10 TeraScale E-Series provides leading resiliency and scalability. Based on a system architecture that distributes switching, routing and management functionalities between three distinct processors, the TeraScale E-Series protects against unplanned network downtime. Additionally, fully redundant power supplies, processor modules and switching fabrics guarantee maximum uptime.