Software-defined networking (SDN) startup PLUMgrid released version 5.0 of the company’s OpenStack Open Networking Suite yesterday, software that features its CloudApex network visualization platform. In addition, ONS 5.0 supports Docker containers and OpenStack releases Kilo and Liberty.

According to PLUMgrid, ONS 5.0 with CloudApex has an updated drag-and-drop configuration along with analytics and tools for troubleshooting problems. Dan Conde, analyst with Enterprise Strategies Group, says the CloudApex platform is key because it allows customers to visualize how things operate and also search across different services. “It’s a sophisticated UI [user interface],” he says.

Last September, PLUMgrid first made the CloudApex platform available. The UI provides real-time status updates in OpenStack and works with ONS to monitor selective third-party virtual and physical assets across OpenStack, hypervisors, and servers.

On the container side, the company has posted a plug-in for connecting Docker containers to a PLUMgrid network. In ONS 5.0, specifically, the company has added support for Kuryr, an OpenStack project aiming to link container networking to OpenStack Neutron.

PLUMgrid also touts the fact that ONS 5.0, when used in multitenant data centers, will allow microsegmentation for OpenStack clouds using private virtual domains that enforce network policies for traffic separation and control. Microsegmentation, according to Conde, is important because it creates separate virtual domains and keeps customers from seeing each other's traffic when they are sharing data centers.

In addition, ONS 5.0 will enable data centers with containers and bare metal architectures to use SDN overlays for traffic isolation.

PLUMgrid says it powers more than 70 OpenStack clouds, and its customers include NTT, AT&T, SoftBank, and Swisscom. The startup, which launched in 2012, has investments from firms such as U.S. Venture Partners, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Swisscom Ventures, and Longworth Venture Partners.

Earlier this year Rackspace announced that it would resell PLUMgrid’s SDN for its Rackspace private cloud.