Cisco To Develop Third-Party APIs For IOS 129
MT628496 tips a Computerworld article on Cisco's announcement that it plans to build IOS on a UNIX kernel, in modules, and allow third-party developers to access certain parts of it. IOS has traditionally been a closely guarded piece of software without any way for anyone to add functionality. No timetable was given for when APIs will be available. A Forrester analyst said, "...the network is one of the least programmable pieces of the infrastructure. The automation and orchestration market is far more oriented towards servers, storage and desktop environments. The ability to dynamically change the network is a missing component." The article mentions that Juniper Networks had announced on Monday its own developer platform for Juniper routers, and it's available now.
A little confused about this (Score:3, Interesting)
Hmmm.... a Unix based kernel? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Hmmm.... a Unix based kernel? (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting, but... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Hmmm.... a Unix based kernel? (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/getmsg.cgi?fetch=0+4570+/usr/local/www/db/text/2007/freebsd-jobs/20071209.freebsd-jobs [freebsd.org]
Re:Get a D-Link or a LinkSys, Routers r a commodit (Score:2, Interesting)
Fact is, Cisco has been trying to be all things to all people and dominate every sector of the market that involves gear or software beyond the PC for such a long time that they have lost focus in their core business of making routers, where they are accustomed to market domination. Competitors have caught up to the point where anything short of carrier-grade Cisco hardware is either (a) a joke (b) overpriced, or more often (c) both. The carrier stuff at least has [most of] the performance where it counts, but if you're not a first-rate negotiator with a lot of boxes to buy it still prices itsself out of competitivity.
Basically, they just don't seem to get that IOS and their processor-forwarding-based platforms need a major overhaul in order to be capable of providing scalable carrier-grade service on their entry-level platforms.