Asterfusion SONiC Gigabit Switches: Powering the Next-Gen Campus Network

 

Understanding SONiC

What is SONiC?

SONiC (Software for Open Networking in the Cloud) is an open-source network operating system based on Linux, developed by Microsoft and contributed to the Open Compute Project (OCP). It is designed to run on network switches and provides a robust, scalable, and flexible platform for managing network infrastructure.

Why SONiC is a game-changer in the networking industry

Prior to SONiC, the networking industry relied heavily on proprietary network operating systems from major vendors (e.g., Cisco, Juniper Networks), and vendor lock-in resulted in a high TCO and difficult to integrate and customize solutions.The emergence of SONiC breaks the mold.As an open source network operating system, modular architecture and hardware-agnosticity allow for separation of hardware from software, giving users the freedom to customize and extend the network fabric and to choose the vendor according to reality.It drives the ecosystem and accelerates innovation in network operating systems and infrastructure.

The Importance of Gigabit Switches in Today's Networks

What is gigabit switch?

A gigabit switch is a network device with Gigabit Ethernet ports capable of transmitting data at speeds of up to 1,000 megabits per second (Gbps).

The role of gigabit switches in network infrastructure

Gigabit switches are vital components in modern network infrastructure due to their ability to handle high-speed data transfer, support numerous connected devices, and ensure reliable and scalable network performance. Here are the key roles they play:

High-Speed Data Transfer: Gigabit switches provide data transfer rates of up to 1 Gbps, which is essential for bandwidth-intensive applications like video streaming, cloud computing, and online gaming.

Device Connectivity: They support a large number of connected devices, making them ideal for both enterprise and home networks where multiple devices need simultaneous high-speed access.

Network Reliability: Gigabit switches enhance network reliability by reducing latency and minimizing data packet loss, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted network operations.

Scalability: These switches are designed to scale with growing network demands, allowing for easy expansion and integration of additional devices and services without compromising performance.

Cost Efficiency: By providing high performance at a reasonable cost, gigabit switches offer a cost-effective solution for upgrading network infrastructure to meet modern demands.

Do I Need a SONiC Gigabit Switch?

There is a wide range of switches available and the choice of a SONiC Gigabit Switch depends on your current network requirements and future plans, here are some factors to consider:

1. Throughput

Considerations: If your network needs to maintain near wire-speed throughput during peak hours or in data-intensive applications, the SONiC Gigabit Switch is an ideal choice because of its ability to maintain a consistent throughput of 950 Mbps to 1 Gbps under high load.

2. Latency

Considerations: If your network needs to maintain low latency under a variety of load scenarios, SONiC Gigabit switches are able to operate within a latency of less than 1 millisecond, ensuring timely data transfer and fast network response, ideal for these scenarios.

3. Frame Dropping Rate

Consideration: If your network needs to maintain an extremely low frame loss rate under high load, SONiC Gigabit switches are able to provide a frame loss rate of less than 0.01% to ensure high reliability and data integrity, suitable for applications with stringent frame loss rate requirements.

4. Stability

Consideration: If your network needs to maintain stable performance over long periods of continuous operation, SONiC Gigabit switches are ideal for business-critical networks as they have been tested over weeks of continuous operation and still maintain stable performance with no noticeable performance degradation or failure.

5. Programmability and Flexibility

Considerations: If your network needs to be customized and optimized for specific needs, SONiC's modular and programmable design allows network administrators the flexibility to adjust network functionality, providing greater flexibility and scalability, ideal for network environments that require frequent changes and optimization.

SONiC Gigabit Switch Selection Recommendations

For environments that require high reliability of data transmission, such as enterprise core networks; business-critical networks that require long-term stable operation, such as enterprise production networks; and networks that require a high degree of customization and flexibility, such as research and development labs, educational institutions, and cloud service providers, SONiC Gigabit switches can provide high-performance networks.You can build high scalability and reliable campus network with 2-3 commodity single chip SKUs.

For example, For example, the AsterfusionCX204Y-24GT-M SWP2 is an enterprise-class SONiC gigabit switch supporting L2/3 access with 24 1G RJ45 ports and 4x25Gb/10Gb SFP28 uplinks.The switch supports POE++ standard, MLAG, VXLAN, QoS, BFD, IPSG, IPv6, etc. It utilizes Marvell chipset and provides 180Gbps switching capacity, 184.5 megapixels per second forwarding rate, and is suitable for scenarios such as enterprise core networks and enterprise production networks.

https://cloudswit.ch/product/24x1g-rj45-access-switch-4x25gb-uplinks-enterprise-sonic/#Connectivity%20Solutions

Introduction to Asterfusion SONiC Switches

The CX-M series cloud campus switches are access and aggregation products designed for next generation cloud campus network. They run with the enterprise-ready SONiC version (AsterNOS). Based on Marvell Prestera switch ASIC, CX-M series switches provide large table entry size, wire-speed forwarding and low power consumption, and support comprehensive L2 and L3 functions, have rich security features.

Sportlight

Open Network Operating System

• AsterNOS is an enterprise network operating system developed with SONiC and SAI as the kernel.
• Integrated rich L2/L3 network features, complete support for network virtualization, QoS policies and other services.
• Advanced functional containerized & event driven system architecture to accelerate network service development/customization.
• Provides an open Rest API interface that can be centrally managed and invoked by third party applications such as cloud management platform.
• Provides KLISH command line for traditional network engineers.

Cloud-based Campus Network

• Asterfusion is the first vendor that runs SONiC in campus switches. Spine-leaf architecture is introduced into campus networks, so that we just need a few suitable SKUs to build a campus network from tens to hundreds of thousands access ports.
• All layer-3 networks can avoid some problems in traditional campus networks like broadcast storm and ethernet loop.
• Leaf switches have the same configuration, so one profile can be used to configure all the leaf switches with ZTP.
• With distributed gateway deployed, wireless terminals can achieve lossless roaming with an average roaming switching time of 10ms by connecting a new gateway before disconnecting the former one.
• Virtualization features like VXLAN, BGP EVPN are also migrated from data center, which can meet the growing requirements of campus network.

Rich Features	Extensible Cloud Cluster	Comprehensive Network Security
Full layer-3, Leaf-Spine architecture IPv6, ECMP, IGMP, GRE, VXLAN, EVPN 802.1x, DHCP Snooping, DAI, IPSG	2304 ports capacity in single cloud cluster and 147k ports as a campus capacity Without proprietary stacking cable ZTP and cloud cluster as single switch	TACACS+802.1x and MAB authentication Security features Ingress and egress AC Layer 2 port isolation DHCPv4, v6 Snooping ND Snooping Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI), IP Source Guard v4, v6.

Optional DPU for Multipurpose

CX102S-16GT-M-SWP has an option to add at most 2x4-core DPU. Customer can choose to pre-install OpenWRT to play the role as a router or a firewall, or OpenWiFi controller to manage WLAN. It can also be left blank as pure Linux, customer can run applications they need, such as management tools or radius server.

These switches offer a variety of benefits to meet the needs of organizations looking for reliability, flexibility, and security, while enabling unified management of wired/wireless networks with a single controller, making it more affordable for organizations to meet their needs.

	CX102S-8GT-M-SWP	CX102S-16GT-DPU-M-SWP	CX204Y-24GT-M-S	CX204Y-24GT-M-SWP2
GE(RJ45)	8	16	24
SFP	2个10GE SFP+		4个25GE SFP28
POE	8 PoE++ interfaces PoE Budget 150W	8 PoE++ interfaces PoE Budget 150W	-	24个PoE+ interfaces（8 of these are PoE++ interfaces）
Switching Capacity	72Gbps		180Gbps
Forwarding Rate	41.6Mpps	53.5Mpps	184.5Mpps
Management Layer	L2/L3

	CX204Y-48GT-M-S	CX204Y-48GT-M-SWP4	CX206Y-48GT-M-H	CX206Y-48GT-M-HWP4	CX206Y-48GT-M-HWP8
GE(RJ45)	48
SFP+	4 x 25GE SFP28 interfaces		6 x 25GE SFP28 interfaces
PoE	-	48 PoE+ interfaces (8 PoE++ interfaces) PoE budget740W	-	48 PoE+ interfaces (8 PoE++ interfaces) PoE budget740W	48 PoE+ interfaces (8 PoE++ interfaces) PoE budget 1440W
Switching Capacity	210Gbps
Forwarding Rate	220.2Mpps		294.6Mpps
Management Layer	L2/L3

Conclusion

For organizations that rely on large amounts of data and are growing fast, SONiC Gigabit switches can unlock vendor lock-in and provide better performance. Asterfusion SONiC Gigabit Switch is a premium choice for all those who want to ensure the reliability and scalability of their enterprise campus network.

With its open network system, Clos networking design, high performance, easy scalability and stability, Asterfusion guarantees a next-generation campus network with better network performance, more automated operation and maintenance, and a better price/performance ratio.

For more: https://cloudswit.ch/blogs/sonic-gigabit-switch-overview-asterfusion/