Pica8 Kit Eases SDN Pursuits

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Pica8, Inc., today announced the availability of the Pica8 SDN Starter Kit. This is in response to a Pica8 survey that shows that enterprises want to trial SDN, but want a complete solution that doesn’t take months to implement.
According to the survey of 100 IT professionals, service providers need help pulling SDN pieces together, while enterprises demand an open solution that is easy to deploy.
Designed for organizations that want to their SDN labs operational without spending significant time testing and procuring equipment, Pica8 now offers a fully configured “out-of-the box” kit that includes a CD loaded with the following software:
- Ryu, an open-source network controller developed by NTT Labs
- A programmable network tap based on SDN technology
- Open-source network intrusion prevention and detection system developed by SNORT
- One pre-configured Pica8 open switch including PicOS, its open switch operating system. PicOS runs standards-based Layer-2/Layer-3 protocols with industry-leading OpenFlow 1.3 / Open-vSwitch (OVS) v1.10 integration, securing the building blocks for their transition to SDN.
- A quick start guide with the 10 simple steps needed to configure a test bed and then start sampling network traffic
“SDN has captured the attention of data centers managers but they remain unsure how to best start the deployment process without disrupting existing operations,” says Chris Becerra, President, Terrapin Systems. “We expect the Pica8 SDN Starter Kit to help take the guesswork out of how to best initiate an SDN infrastructure.”
“As an integrator, much of our value is to help our customers find the best solution for their needs—regardless of vendor—and get them up and operational as soon as possible,” says Mike Fay, Colfax. “The power of the new SDN Starter Kit is that Pica8 has amassed the best open source software tools along with their open switch to ensure customers flexibility, yet enable them to hit the ground running with a fully functioning solution in literally minutes.”
The SDK starter kit starts at $8,895. (US) and will be generally available January 13, 2014.