Cumulus Networks offers fully
functional free version of its switch
software
Analyst: Peter Christy 5 Aug, 2015
Cumulus Networks, the vendor of network systems based on Cumulus Linux running on 'white box' switches, has introduced Cumulus VX, a free virtual appliance based on the same software.
Cumulus VX is intended to provide potential customers and partners with a means of getting familiar with the product, as well as a platform with which to prototype network operations and develop custom applications prior to deployment into a production environment, without the need for a bare-metal switch or specialized hardware.
The 451 Take
Cumulus VX is a valuable addition to Cumulus Networks' marketing and sales tools, as well as an excellent example of the potential value of virtual appliance versions of network devices. Cumulus VX is likely to prove to be an important tool as Cumulus Networks tries to extend its market footprint beyond the initial Linux sweet spot and into more traditional network
markets.
Context
Cumulus Networks markets a software image – Cumulus Linux – that, when run on selected white-box switches, implements a production-quality datacenter switch. The product is based on Linux networking, with support for merchant packet-forwarding ASICs (Linux networking run on a server does not incorporate ASIC acceleration).
Cumulus has found market traction, especially with IT shops with a high degree of Linux
competence (e.g., financial services) because the IT team is already familiar with Linux and Linux networking, and because the orchestration tools that are used (e.g., Puppet and Chef) can be adapted to provide software-defined networking (SDN) orchestration, as well. Cumulus Networks plays the role of a traditional network vendor (product assurance, problem resolution, bug fixes). Because the customer is typically Linux-knowledgeable, and because the Linux network stack is open source, the customer is able to participate constructively with problem resolution and feature development beyond what is typical with other 'closed' network software stacks.
Cumulus Networks is a market pioneer and leader in the area of 'disaggregated' network hardware and software, taking advantage of the open networking advances driven by the Open Compute Project. Cumulus was an early partner of Dell, the commercial IT leader in providing open switches capable of running multiple software images (a Dell switch commands a price premium over an ODM switch, with Dell's worldwide logistics and support a compensating benefit, especially for a global customer). HP, Supermicro and others also provide open switch hardware.
Company
The two Cumulus Networks founders, JR Rivers (CEO) and Nolan Leake (CTO), worked together at Cisco's Nuova, which created the Nexus 5000 top-of-rack switch platform, as well as the UCS server system. Rivers had previously helped develop merchant-silicon switch platforms for internal use at Google, while Leake had roots in virtualization at VMware. Both founders are proven, well-respected technologists with multiple large projects and platforms to their credit.
Rivers and Leake bootstrapped Cumulus Networks for nearly two years before raising angel funding from VMware founders Ed Bugnion, Diane Greene and Mendel Rosenblum, followed by a seed round in late 2011 from top-tier venture firms Andreessen Horowitz and Battery Ventures; a16z and Battery then doubled-down in August 2012 with a $15m series A round. Sequoia Capital led a $36m series B round in January to bring the total investment to $52m. The company now has more than 130 employees, mostly in Silicon Valley, but with a growing presence in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, as well.
Products
Cumulus VX is a free virtual appliance (a binary virtual machine executable) that runs on all popular hypervisors and includes all of the Cumulus Linux functionality, with the exception of
that it is not suitable for any production network, nor does Cumulus Networks provide support, but with that caveat, Cumulus VX can be used as a fully functional network device at low throughput rates, with features of a hardware-accelerated switch or a virtual appliance optimized to run on a modern multi-core CPU (e.g., Brocade/Vyatta vRouter).
Arista offered a similar packaging of its EOS software for similar purposes: examination,
experimentation, and testing outside of production and application development. More recently, Arista introduced a product adaptation where an EOS-based server acts as a centralized controller for multiple Arista switches.
Marketing
Cumulus Networks sells a datacenter networking offering that competes with hardware vendors such as Cisco and Arista. Compared with those traditional vendors, the strength and weakness of the Cumulus offering is that it's server-oriented, not network-oriented, so it's a very attractive way for a server team to attack network automation (as if the network devices were servers), but a quite foreign approach for a network team. Cumulus Networks has found initial traction in large IT shops with deep Linux competence (e.g., large computational resources used in financial services) because the technology is familiar (Linux networking) and the server automation systems already in place easily adapted to manage the network (creating a software-defined network). The
challenge is getting a broader market to consider the approach, and in that context, Cumulus VX is a valuable addition since it removes all practical barriers to examining and experimenting with the Cumulus Networks offering.
Cumulus Networks has a valuable partnership with Dell. The Cumulus Linux software runs on Dell Open Switches, and Dell provides logistics and support for a Cumulus network; over time, Dell directly markets the offering, as well. HP, Supermicro and other vendors all offer open switches. Competition
Cumulus Networks competes most directly with Cisco, Arista, Juniper, HP and Dell, which all sell conventional datacenter switching products (Arista is a company that has disrupted this market most visibly as a newcomer). At the same time, Cumulus Networks partners with Dell and HP, co-marketing Cumulus Linux software with their open switches. Cumulus Networks competes with Big Switch as a software vendor in the emerging disaggregated switch market, and is a leading vendor of software that runs on open (commodity) switches. Unfortunately for all software vendors, the largest take-up of commodity switches has been with the mega-scale cloud providers
(specifically AWS, Google, Microsoft and Facebook), all of which have their own internally developed software.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
Cumulus Networks is a market leader in disaggregated switch software and the use of 'open' switch hardware. It has found important early market niches. By leveraging
server-automation tools, Cumulus Networks and its customers have developed effective SDN offerings in support of datacenter automation.
Cumulus Networks' switch competitors are much larger. Open networking is still nascent. Cumulus' business model doesn't capture hardware revenue or profit, in contrast to Arista, which says the hardware profit stream fueled R&D investment beyond what would have been possible selling only software.
Opportunities Threats
Datacenter networking and network automation are topics still growing in importance. Cumulus Networks is well-positioned to participate in these new market opportunities.
The legacy network vendors seem increasingly comfortable with the disaggregation of network software, and are happy to use this to focus the discussion on the value provided by their network software. If this trend continues, Cumulus Networks could find some of these legacy vendors as direct competitors.
Reproduced by permission of The 451 Group; © 2015. This report was originally published within 451 Research's Market Insight Service. For additional information on 451 Research or to apply for trial access, go to: www.451research.com
