Asterfusion SONiC -based Data Center Switches Overview & FAQ

Asterfusion provides low latency data center switches that range from 2 Tbps -12.8 Tbps, all based on Marvell Teralynx chip and preloaded with the SONiC enterprise distribution. This distribution offers users an easy, plug-and-play deployment and turnkey solution that boosts data center performance and enhances network reliability and flexibility.

Asterfusion SONiC -Based Low Latency Data Center Switches At A Glance

The table below shows all data center switches offered by Asterfusion. Each of them provides high performance, low latency, and a rich set of features for today’s data centers.

Why?Asterfusion SONiC -Based Data Center Switches?

Feature Rich Enterprise SONiC Distribution–AsterNOS

AsterNOS is an enterprise-level SONiC distribution self-developed by Asterfusion, which is stable and compatible with almost all mainstream commercial switching chips, with tens of thousands of commercial deployments around the world. Compared to the community version, the commercial SONiC-based AsterNOS provides a wider variety of features and simple usability that can be leveraged right away.

25/40/100/200/400 GbE Switch Ports for Multiple Scenarios

Asterfusion data center switches offer high-density 25/40/100/400 GbE multi-speed interfaces, which supports a switching capacity of up to 12.8Tbps to meet the flexible development needs of multiple data center scenarios.

Building Low latency Data Center Network,Latency as Low as 400 Nanoseconds

Asterfusion CX-N offers leading-edge capabilities, with latency as low as 400 nanoseconds in most scenarios. This makes it ideal for latency-sensitive applications, like high-performance computing, NVME, Ceph, big data analysis, and AI (machine learning) among others.

Moreover, CX-N data center switches come with key technologies like?RDMA?over Converged Ethernet (RoCEV2), PFC, ECN, and DCBX. These technologies enable efficient, low latency, and lossless data transport, helping you establish highly efficient and cost-effective data center networks.

Easy Management & Automated Operation Maintenance.

We’ve integrated?AsterNOS?with Python and?Ansible?to support automated operation maintenance, thereby greatly improving O&M efficiency. Additionally, our switches support?INT?(In-band Network Telemetry), which provides real-time network telemetry information, including port interfaces, packet latency, and packet queue lengths. This information can help you build efficient, intelligent, and highly resilient data center

Astefusion SONiC NOS Support?BGP-EVPN,?VXLAN, MLAG, Features

Astefusion data center switches provide cutting-edge stacking technology through MLAG (Multi-chassis Link Aggregation Group), enabling logical peer-links between switches. These features enhance network resilience and streamline network management for efficient operations.

Furthermore, AsterNOS offers robust virtualization capabilities with?VXLAN/BGP-EVPN, expanding the potential for multi-tenant hosting and virtual machine migration across numerous Layer 2 domains. These features are essential for modern datacenter applications, keeping your infrastructure up-to-date and versatile.

FAQs About Asterfusion Low latency Data Center Switches

SOFTWARE

Q:Does AsterNOS can run on other vendor’s hardware?

A:Our SONiC based AsterNOS can perfect run on our own hardware, in theory it can run on other vendor’s hardware, there will be a problem on verify the compatibility between our software and other vendor’s hardware,you can email us?[email protected]?arrange a meeting call discuss specially. But we strongly suggest you to use our own hardware, which supports the best software compatibility, tech support, hardware stability and of course with very good cost.

Q:How Asterfusion SONiC NOS is differ from SONiC Community ?

• AsterNOS provides turnkey solution, has more advanced features than community version
• Compared to community version with half-year version, AsterNOS has faster response, we doquarterly Version Release
• A good user experience :Provides Klish CLI, REST API and unified op-style across multipleASIC vendors
• 100+ Software Developers: Strong R&D team with flexible and comprehensive service support abilities

Q:How Your AsterNOS Is Differ From Other SONiC Software?

• AsterNOS work on both Teralynx, Intel Tofino and Marvell. Making SONiC be able to run these switch chips smoothly, which is our value to help people who want to use innovated features on today’s new switch chip other than broadcom.
• Asterfusion also made system support for?ARM architecture?a major technical goal. More and more applications are based on the ARM architecture to meet the needs of users in terms of performance, power consumption, price, etc. After adapting and optimizing the ARM architecture, AsterNOS can run smoothly on entry-level ARM cores like A53.
• Even on?campus access layer switches?and POE switch, where the control CPU is built into the switch chip,AsterNOS also support and is continuous adding new features . Asterfusion creates more possibilities for open and ferture rich SONiC NOS runs on?campus switches?.?AsterNOS is the?first?commercial SONiC NOS on the market to support Campus Access& Aggregation Layer 2/3 switches.

Q: Is there any license fee or software support fee we need to pay for Asterfusion SONiC NOS?

A:Usually our AsterNOS runs on our own hardware (for?Teralynx?,Tofino?and?Marvell) we provide either bare metal hardware, or hardware with AsterNOS, there is some amount of software cost if you choose H/W and S/W bundle, but this bundle should be more cost effective than today’s White box and NOS from another vendor.

Q:Is it easy for us to change and use the functions (Software) provided by Asterfusion, or to add functions related to the packet control and management function (OAM)?

A:It depends on your application, in general you can easily start from either SDE or SONiC to all the functions about data plane and management plane.

Q:Does Asterfusion SONiC NOS support Vxlan and BGP-EVPN ?

A:Yes. Yes,Our AsterNOS fully support Vxlan and BGP-EVPN

Q:Does Asterfusion SONiC NOS Support Multi-Homing ?

A:Yes. In the new version updated this month, Multi-Homing will be added soon, so stay tuned!

Q:?Please introduce the network management software (function) supported by your AsterNOS?

A:Our AsterNOS provides SNMP V1/V2/V3 gateway functions and also the switch ASIC supports?INT?(in-band network telemetry) without the participation of the management CPU. In addition, automated operation and maintenance tool?ansible?to help simplify operation and maintenance. Management Tools/Platforms such as Mib browser and Zabbix is also supported.

HARDWARE

Q:Besides SONiC & AsterNOS, can your hardware run third-party software?

A:Theoretically yes, since we deliver a one-stop solution, we encourage our customers to use our SONiC enterprise version, which supports the best software compatibility, tech support, hardware stability and of course very cost-effective price. For other third-party software compatibility issues, it is recommended to contact?[email protected]

Q: Could the FANs of your CX-N series switches support custom airflow direction?

A：The fans of our CX-N series data center switches support custom airflow direction. It can provide both rear-to-front airflow (air enters from the back of the switch) or front-to-back (air exits from the back of the switch). For more information please [email protected]

Q:?Is there a 48 volt DC power for your data center switches?

A：Now, Asterfusion offers hot-swappable AC power supplies (1+1 redundancy) by default. But we can also customize DC power supply for our customers. For more details on custom products, please [email protected].

COMPARISON

Q: I am very interested in both CX206P-48S-M-H and CX308P-48Y-N switches. Could you provide a comparative analysis?

A: They have the following differences:

CX206P-48S-M–H?comes with 48 x 10Gb SFP+,6 x 100Gb QSFP28 ports and designed for core switch for the campus network. It also runs with our SONiC NOS and supports rich 2-layer and 3-layer functions. Data center functions such as MCLAG, VXLAN, and BGP-EVPN are also supported, but the original intention of our design is the core switch for the campus instead of the data center, so more advanced functions of the data center, such as ROCE V2, DCBX, etc. are not supported. But it has a very good cost performance in the core switch of the campus.

The CX308P-N?series is a leaf switch with 48 x 25Gb SFP28, 8x 100Gb QSFP28?interfaces ,designed for data centers, and it includes many advanced functions of the data center, which cannot be achieved by the CX206P-48S, so the CX308P-N is more expensive, and the CX308P-48Y-N-V1 has a lower latency which is ideal for latency-sensitive applications.

The choice of these two depends on your application scenario and budget

Q:What is the difference SONiC and P4, and also tell us the difference of your NOS and those similar.

A:?SONiC?(Software for Open Networking in the Cloud) is a free and open network operating system based on Linux and developed by Microsoft which nowadays has attracted a large number of industrial chain partners, forming a comprehensive SONiC ecosystem. our SONiC -based AsterNOS work on both Teralynx ,Tofino,Marvell makes SONiC be able to run these switch chips smoothly, which is our value to help people who want to use innovated features on today’s new switch chip other than broadcom.

P4?is another approach for today’s network disaggregation, it has pretty good usability in niche markets like gateway, load balance or NPB, in these market when people also want to be part of cloud ecosystem, they need a way to combine P4 with SONiC, that’s what we are doing, we help people to implement these applications in SONiC way.

WARRANTY

Q: How Long Is The Warranty Period For Asterfusion Data Center Switches?

A:Asterfusion CX-N series switches come with 2-year Basic H/W service and warranty, preloaded perpetual licensed AsterNOS and 1-year AsterNOS upgrade subscription.