Juniper Networks Introduces OpenContrail: An Open Source Solution to Foster Innovation and Adoption of Software-Defined Networking

09/16/2013

SUNNYVALE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/16/13 -- Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), the industry leader in network innovation, today introduced OpenContrail, a new initiative that makes the source code library for Juniper Networks® Contrail available through an open source license. OpenContrail is an open source project committed to fostering innovation in software defined networking (SDN) and helping drive adoption of the cloud.

OpenContrail is based on proven and stable network protocols, giving developers the opportunity to innovate, adopt and experiment with SDN technology that seamlessly integrates with existing network infrastructures. By making OpenContrail freely available, service providers and enterprises can now rapidly test and build SDNs that fit their unique needs and accelerates the move from lab environments to full scale production.

The cloud technology ecosystem is increasingly dominated by open source software -- including open source orchestration systems, operating systems and hypervisors. To provide a complete stack of validated data center solutions that includes software and hardware components, Juniper Networks is working with industry leaders such as Apache CloudStack, Cloudscaling, IBM, and Mirantis. This collaboration will create an open cloud architecture that supports a wide range of hypervisors, orchestration systems including OpenStack or CloudStack, as well as a broad choice of underlying physical infrastructure.

The use of OpenContrail is available today via an Apache 2.0 License. OpenContrail will provide all the components necessary to run a data-center overlay including an SDN controller, virtual router, orchestration API, analytics and management console. The source code and documentation are available at www.opencontrail.org.

Juniper Networks firmly believes that open source and open standards lead the way to greater levels of innovation, and Juniper continues to actively participate and contribute to key standards bodies associated with SDN including OpenDaylight and the Open Networking Foundation. As such, we plan to work with IBM to submit the OpenContrail source code to OpenDaylight. project. Today's announcement reinforces Juniper's commitment to open, industry collaboration while continuing to deliver on our clear 4-step SDN roadmap.

News Highlights:

  • OpenContrail provides unparalleled access to all aspects of the Contrail source code, providing customers with the following benefits:
    • Easy integration with existing physical infrastructures because it is based on proven protocols such as XMPP and BGP and leverages the standards work from ETSI and IETF.
    • A stable platform for developers that is not dependent on emerging standards and is more reliable than proprietary networking stacks due to community collaboration.
    • Production-ready codebase that has already been trialed by more than 40 service providers and enterprises worldwide.
    • Integration with a wide range of hypervisors, orchestration systems and physical networking equipment including:
      • Hypervisor support for KVM and XEN
      • Most industry switches and routers including Juniper Networks MX, EX and QFX Series
    • Compatibility with both CloudStack and OpenStack, enabling the seamless deployment of private and public clouds.

In related news, Juniper Networks today announced the production-ready availability of Contrail, a standards-based and highly scalable network virtualization and intelligence solution for SDNs. Both Contrail and OpenContrail are based on the same code. Full press release with details can be found here: Juniper Networks Launches Production-Ready Software Defined Networking Solution to Bring Networking Into the Cloud Era.

Supporting Quotes:

"Software defined networking is a key area of interest for China Mobile Research Institution to evaluate agility, utilization and scalability in cloud deployment for our customers and ourselves. We have worked closely with Juniper and the Contrail team to understand their innovations in this area and are currently testing the platform satisfactorily in our environment. We are pleased with Juniper's decision to open source Contrail as we believe this will accelerate SDN developments and the creation of new applications."
- Lu Huang, technical manager, China Mobile Research Institute

"Telstra is investigating software-defined networking as a potential enabler for service innovation and acceleration. We have been working with Juniper Networks to better understand how we can leverage emerging technologies such as service chaining without the risk of being locked into a specific technology or architecture. The OpenContrail product is an open standards-based solution designed to eliminate barriers to commercial SDN adoption."
- Crispin Blackall, director enterprise and business product engineering, Telstra

"The Apache CloudStack community has been a longtime proponent of the value of open source software, and embraces the contribution of open source infrastructure solutions to the broader industry. We welcome products such as Juniper's OpenContrail giving users of Apache CloudStack open options for the network layer of their cloud environment. We believe this release is a positive step for the industry."
- Chip Childers, vice president, Apache Cloudstack

"Cloudscaling is committed to open source software, and our Open Cloud System leverages OpenStack as a core technology. It is a sign of the times that innovators like Juniper Networks are embracing open source without reservation. This allows true end-to-end open source solutions for building scalable clouds. OpenContrail is a project that definitely strengthens the partnership between our two companies."
- Randy Bias, chief executive officer and co-founder, Cloudscaling

"IBM has a long history of fostering open communities that can accelerate market adoption, spur innovation and empower our clients to manage their heterogeneous IT environments. Cloud can serve as a growth engine for business when the cloud infrastructure be built on open cloud architecture. We are excited to partner with Juniper as well as the OpenDaylight and OpenStack communities to accelerate the adoption of software defined networks -- an important part of any open cloud architecture."
- Angel Diaz, vice president, Software Standards and Cloud Labs, IBM

"Agile, scale-out networking is critical to unlocking the power of cloud computing, but until now, proprietary interfaces have slowed adoption of software-defined networking. By delivering Contrail as open source, Juniper has made a quantum leap forward in the productivity and flexibility of SDN. As the number one pure-play OpenStack company, we've seen firsthand how open source gives public and private cloud operators the agility they crave. There's no substitute for full transparency in unlocking these benefits both in developer productivity and in competitive advantage."
- Boris Renski, executive vice president and co-founder of Mirantis and member of the board at the OpenStack Foundation

"Juniper Networks has a long history of supporting open source and open standards. OpenContrail reinforces that commitment. It provides developers, partners and customers with a solution that creates significant business opportunities and an open source networking framework that will accelerate adoption, foster new innovation, and create a more open and transparent approach to SDN. By providing both a fully supported commercial product, as well as a customizable open source version, we are catering to our customers' needs and encouraging innovation via an open development community."
- Ankur Singla, vice president and general manager SDN, Software Solutions Division, Juniper Networks

Additional Resources:

About Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) delivers innovation across routing, switching and security. From the network core down to consumer devices, Juniper Networks' innovations in software, silicon and systems transform the experience and economics of networking. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on Twitter and Facebook.

Juniper Networks and Junos are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. in the United States and other countries. The Juniper Networks and Junos logo are trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of their respective owners.

Statements in this press release concerning Juniper Networks' prospects, future products and prospective benefits to customers are forward-looking statements that involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Actual results or events could differ materially from those anticipated in those forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including delays in scheduled product availability, the company's failure to accurately predict emerging technological trends, and other factors listed in Juniper Networks' most recent reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All statements made in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release. Juniper Networks undertakes no obligation to update the information in this release in the event facts or circumstances subsequently change after the date of this press release. Any future product, feature, enhancement or related specification that may be referenced in this press release are for information purposes only, are subject to change at any time without notice and are not commitments to deliver any future product, feature, enhancement or related specification. The information contained in this press release is intended to outline Juniper Networks' general product direction and should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision.

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Media Relations:
Danielle Hamel
Juniper Networks
408-936-7817
dhamel@juniper.net

Source: Juniper Networks