Cumulus supports TIP's Voyager Open Optical Routing Platform

Cumulus Networks is working to make its Linux implementation available on Voyager, the open transponder and routing platform of the Telecom Infra Project (TIP).

Voyager is an Open Packet DWDM system that disaggregates hardware from software and that can fulfill multiple use cases in metro and long-haul fiber optic transport networks. Facebook contributed Voyager to TIP to address operator needs for scalable, cost-effective backhaul infrastructure.

Voyager with Cumulus Linux is expected to be generally available for production use in early 2018 through partner ADVA Optical Networking.

The collaboration on the Voyager platform marks Cumulus Networks’ expansion beyond the data center networking market and into the Data Center Interconnect (DCI) market. More than 800 customers, including over a third of the Fortune 50, use Cumulus Networks technology to enable web-scale networking in their data centers. The combination of Cumulus Linux and Voyager extends the benefits of the Linux networking model – including increased operational efficiency and lower costs – to optical networks. Through Cumulus Linux, IP + optical networks reap the benefits of an open and flexible full-featured protocol stack that offers reliability, automation, programmability, telemetry based capabilities, and VXLAN support.

“Opening up closed, black-box systems enables innovation at every level, so that customers can meet the challenges facing their networks faster and more efficiently,” said Josh Leslie, CEO of Cumulus Networks. “We’re excited to work with the TIP community to bring open systems to networks beyond the data center.”

“Open approaches are key to achieving TIP’s mission of disaggregating the traditional network deployment approach,” said Hans-Juergen Schmidtke, Co-Chair of the TIP Open Optical Packet Transport project group. “Our collaboration with Cumulus Networks to enable Cumulus Linux on Voyager is an important contribution that will help accelerate the ecosystem’s adoption of Voyager.”