Cisco Opens SONiC to All Nexus 9000 Customers: A Game Changer?

Top Summary

• What happened: Cisco will soon allow customers to run the SONiC network operating system on its Nexus 9000 series datacenter switches.
• Why it matters: This move democratizes access to open-source networking, previously dominated by hyperscalers.
• What changes: Customers gain flexibility in choosing NOS, potentially reducing vendor lock-in and optimizing for AI workloads.
• Who is affected: Cisco's Nexus 9000 customers, network engineers, and organizations exploring AI infrastructure.

SONiC for Everyone

Cisco is expanding support for the Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC) to its flagship Nexus 9000 series data center switches.

SONiC, a Linux Foundation project, offers an open-source network operating system (NOS) compatible with diverse switches and silicon. It originated at Microsoft, derived from their Debian-based Azure Cloud Switch.

Why Now?

Hyperscalers widely use SONiC due to its customizability. Now, Cisco is making it accessible to all N9000 customers.

Organizations are increasingly running AI outside of cloud environments. SONiC on standard data center hardware is becoming a necessity.

Cisco's Approach

Cisco has supported SONiC on its routers for years. They recently announced extending that support to N9000 data center switches.

 

"The N9000 Series is expanding to include a foundation for SONiC, built on Cisco Cloud Scale and Silicon One..."

 

 

"Our open choice model will extend this flexibility to the N9000, giving customers the future option to run SONiC for AI or non-AI clusters..."

 

This provides customers with a consistent hardware layer for various topologies.

Benefits and Integration

Cisco's SONiC support includes hardening the stack and backing it with Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC). Integration with Nexus Dashboard provides familiar tools.

Benefits include:

• Automated bring-up
• Health monitoring
• Investment protection
• Simplified lifecycle management

What to Watch Next

The general availability date for SONiC on Cisco's Nexus 9000 series is yet to be announced. Keep an eye out for further details on pricing and specific feature support as Cisco rolls out this new capability.