Big Cloud Fabric from Big Switch Networks
Big Cloud Fabric (BCF) is a next-generation data center switching fabric inspired by the design principles hyper-scale operators like Facebook and Google have developed to build intelligent, agile and highly flexible networks. It leverages software-defined networking (SDN) principles to architect a redundant logical switch architecture consisting of hundreds of switches. Its single pane of glass management delivers intent-based networking workflows to streamline and accelerate IT operations.
Brochure/Datasheet: go.bigswitch.com/rs/974-WXR-561/images/BigCloudFabric_Datasheet.pdf
| Category | SDN Controller/Network Virtualization Solution |
|---|---|
| Applicable Verticals | Cloud Service Providers, Financials, Communication Service Providers (Telcos), Government and Education, Healthcare and Retail |
| NG Data Center Networking Relevancy |
BCF is a data center switching fabric delivering network automation & operational simplicity for SDDCs & cloud-native applications. It reduces TCO by leveraging hyperscale-inspired principles: SDN controller, leaf/spine CLOS fabric & open network HW. |
| Value Proposition |
Big Cloud Fabric is a data center switching fabric delivering operational velocity, network automation and visibility for SDDCs & cloud-native applications, while staying within flat IT budgets. Benefits realized w/ BCF: Physical network intelligence via ‘one logical switch’ and fabric visibility; physical network agility via automation, zero-touch fabric, controller-coordinated upgrading, faster troubleshooting; deployment flex via open network HW & scale-as-you-grow options, for all workloads. |
| Areas of Deployment | Intra-Datacenter |
| Orchestration Integration | Kubernetes and OpenStack |
| Orchestration Integration Details |
VMware vSAN, VMware NSX, Nutanix Enterprise Clouds, Dell EMC ScaleIO, Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat Ceph |
| Open Compute Project (OCP) Support | Yes |
| Supported OCP Initiatives | Networking |
| Linux Foundation (LF) Support | Yes |
| Supported Linux Foundation Initiatives | LFN (CORD, DPDK, FD.io, FRR, IOVisor, ONAP, ONOS, OpenDaylight, Open Security Controller, OpenSwitch, OPNFV, OVS, PNDA, SNAS.io) |
| Key Customers | https://www.techvalidate.com/portals/bcf |
| Key Partners | https://www.bigswitch.com/partners/technology-partners |
| Differentiation |
BCF is the industry’s first data center fabric built using SDN controller software and open networking hardware and delivers: Intelligence by simplifying network operations and providing fabric-wide telemetry; Agility by enabling network automation to rapidly deploy application and services; Deployment flexibility powered by a scale-out architecture and open network hardware. Applications can take advantage of high east-west bisectional bandwidth, secure multi-tenancy, and workload elasticity natively provided by BCF. The BCF Controller provides single pane of glass fabric management, which enhances operational simplicity by providing a centralized dashboard for fabric management |
| Container and VM Support |
BCF is the ideal fabric for containers with a BCF plugin for container orchestrators including: Kubernetes, Mesosphere, Docker, Red hat OpenShift and VMware Integrated Containers. BCF delivers simplified network operations, visibility and telemetry of containers and their hosts, and network automation for rapid application and microservices deployment and its scale-out architecture accommodates future growth in east-west traffic, caused by an increase in microservices deployment. |
| API Support |
The BCF Controller is highly programmable due to its “API-first” design principle and can be implemented as a closed loop feedback system. For example, security applications can dynamically detect threats and program the BCF controller for mitigation. The BCF GUI and CLI utilize the underlying REST APIs—hence are by definition consistent and hardened. |
| Pricing |
Big Cloud Fabric’s scale-out fabric architecture leverages disaggregated software/hardware pricing to provide appreciable CAPEX savings to the customer. For more information, please reach out to: info@bigswitch.com |
| Performance and Scalability |
Big Cloud Fabric is highly scalable. One BCF Pod can support support up to 128 leaf switches, with 16 spine switches (racks) per SDN controller. |
| Visibility & Troubleshooting Capabilities |
The BCF Controller acts as the single pane for provisioning, which allows data center admins to benefit from streamlined application deployment workflows, enhanced analytics and simplified troubleshooting across physical and virtual environments |