For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

February 19, 2015

Quick Take: HP Escalates The Branded BareMetal Network Switch War

HP And Others Pursue The Lucrative Hyperscale Market
by Andre Kindness
with Glenn ODonnell, Vanessa Wegner, and Michelle Mai

Why Read This Quick Take

Similar to Dells announcement in 2014, HP just announced plans to offer three HP-branded bare-metal
(BBM) switches built on Broadcoms Trident II application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). More
switches will come later in the year. While HPs portfolio already includes Broadcom-based switches, these
switches wont come with HPs Comware or ProVision network operating system software. Infrastructure
and operations (I&O) professionals will have to either turn to third-party network operating system (OS)
options such as Big Switchs Switch Light OS and Cumulus Networks Cumulus Linux OS; create their own,
like Facebook did; or purchase Cumulus Linux OS through HP Technology Services. HP has geared this
solution to hyperscale companies, which prefer bare-metal and white-box switches. Even though this wont
have immediate and direct impact on the general enterprise I&O organizations, HPs launch highlights three
important aspects: 1) Enterprises will have a better understanding of what they are paying for when they buy
any switch; 2) Swiss Army knife switches are splintering into industry-specific hardware; and 3) even webscale providers dont want to take on all the services and value traditional networking vendors offer.

What Did HP Annouce?

On February 19, 2015, HP announced a joint venture with Accton and introduced its own BBM switches
48 ports of 1 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and four ports of 40 GbE, 48 ports of 10 GbE and four ports of 40 GbE,
and 32 ports of 40 GbE that come with an open network install environment (ONIE), a zero-touch OS
installation software capability preloaded on the switch.1 These switches are based on Broadcoms Trident
II ASIC. In a few weeks, HP plans to release a BBM 1 GbE. In addition, HP plans to release 25 Gbe, 50 GbE,
and 100 GbE switches in late 2015. HP BBM switches dont come with any network operating system, so
networking professionals have the following three options:

Purchase a network operating system (NOS) from Big Switch, Cumulus, or Pica8. These three

vendors offer the following network operating systems: Big Switch Light OS, Cumulus Linux OS, and
PicOS. Each software system has its own unique set of features, services, and supported hardware.

Purchase Cumulus Linux OS from HP Technology Services (TS). Instead of purchasing through

Cumulus, customers can choose to go to HP as their single point for software, hardware, service, and
support. HP will sell Cumulus Linux OS and provide the support for it, too.

Build your own NOS. The network industry has various projects in the works where customers can
create or use an open source NOS on a bare-metal switch, like Facebook has done with FBOSS.2

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For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Quick Take: HP Escalates The Branded Bare-Metal Network Switch War

These switches come with a three-year hardware-only warranty, which includes a next-business-day
replacement.3 Software warranties will be offered through either third parties or HP TS. Customers
can purchase the HP BBM hardware or HP TS offering through HPs normal channels.
What Did Forrester Hear?
HP isnt the first company to do this. Traditional networking vendors have started to roll out
solutions for hyperscale companies. These companies differentiate their business based on their data
center infrastructures in a way that disaggregates components so they can be updated and changed
in short periods. For example, unlike the general enterprise that replaces its network hardware every
four to seven years, hyperscale companies have a hardware refresh cycle of less than a year. Due
to their unique business needs, these companies need to have the network operating system and
hardware disaggregated so they can install the latest switches with the most throughput or memory
as they are released. In general, Forrester has found, through client interactions, that hyperscale
companies surpass $1 billion per year in hardware spending. With quick refresh cycles and large
hardware spending, this makes hyperscale companies a lucrative customer segment for network
vendors. This is why these vendors are expanding their product families into hyperscale-specific
hardware.
It should come as no surprise that HPs announcement comes on the heels of Dells and Junipers
BBM and white-box switch announcements. Forrester expects to see other vendors make the same
move this year, with each offering slightly different value propositions relative to:

Dell. Dell released two BBM switches one with 48 ports of 10 GbE and four ports of 40

GbE switch and another with 96 ports of 10 GbE and eight ports of 40 GbE switch that are
available today and only have a hardware warranty. The switches have been certified to work
with Cumulus Linux OS and Big Switch Light OS. Customers have to get support for NOS
through those companies. The switches are not Open Compute Project (OCP) certified.

Juniper. The company made an announcement in 2014 to release its OCX1100 switch this year,
with 48 ports of 10 GbE and six ports of 40 GbE. The switch comes with Junos OS preloaded.
The customer can take it off and load another NOS, but Juniper hasnt certified any third-party
NOS. Customers get one NOS and hardware warranty through Juniper.

HP. HPs three BBM switches have been certified to work with Cumulus. HP offers its normal

switch warranty on these switches, the hardware portion only. Customers can procure NOS
from any other third-party vendor; however, not all commercially available software is certified
to work on all the switches. Consequently, this is one reason to purchase Cumulus Linux OS
software and HP BBM hardware directly from HP. Such a deal includes a two-year support
contract for Cumulus software, thus minimizing overhead and risk for the customer.

2015, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

February 19, 2015

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Quick Take: HP Escalates The Branded Bare-Metal Network Switch War

Even though HP and others can exhibit differentiated BBM value, the traditional networking
vendors can bring a set of capabilities that resonates across multiple industries in ways the original
design manufacturers (ODMs) cant. Networking pundits over the years have claimed that
traditional networking vendors were gouging customers. They claimed that huge discounts could
be attained from going to original equipment manufacturers such as Accton, Foxconn, Penguin,
or Quanta. What these pundits fail to mention are the tradeoffs of going direct. HP and other
traditional network vendors offer elements that ODMs cant, such as:

A global channel. HP has built out one the largest channel programs, with 145,000 distributors,
resellers, and alliance partners around the world in over 160 countries. The ODMs have
only created linkages to a few countries, if any at all. Consequently, hyperscale and general
enterprises prefer to leverage a global channel instead of muddling through a labyrinth of local
regulations.

Worldwide support. Setting up a call center is easy, but creating localized content and resources
can be tenuous. Even more so, developing local resources equipped and staffed for field
component replacement is particularly difficult and expensive. ODMs havent built out those
functions, and customers dont want to take on that task. Therefore, companies like HP, which
have such capabilities, are nearly always the best options.

Services. In addition to fixing issues, some customers are inadequately staffed in certain

countries to design, deploy, or manage infrastructure. Even if they wanted to do it, support like
this takes time. This isnt an option for hyperscale companies, whose competitiveness is time
dependent. Consequently, companies look toward providers such as HP Technology Services.

Hardware and software compatibility analysis. With three network operating system options
and over 40 different bare-metal platforms, hyperscale companies dont have the time to verify
the many permutations of a final white-box switch configuration. HP has a large set of testing
facilities and resources that can be utilized.

W h at I t M e a n s

Customer Engagement Networks Need Customer-Specific Hardware

HP, Dell, and Juniper wont be the last vendors to offer their own bare-metal switches. Other
networking vendors will jump into the fold as vendors scramble to get a piece of the hyperscale
pie. On the surface, vendors rolling out their BBM switches might not mean much to most I&O
professionals. After all, most enterprise operations and customer strategies dont mirror the
demands of hyperscale companies. As all enterprises transform into digital businesses, however,
their BT agenda begins to look similar to hyperscale players.4 All I&O professionals should indeed
pay attention to these developments. The recent announcement surrounding branded bare-metal
switches highlights some other important aspects occurring across the networking industry:

2015, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

February 19, 2015

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Quick Take: HP Escalates The Branded Bare-Metal Network Switch War

1. Enterprises will have a better understanding of what they are buying. Over the years,
various pundits and vendors have made claims that networking solutions are too expensive
and complex. This led many to make outlandish remarks about how much less expensive white
boxes can be for the networking industry. With the market offering bare-metal switches from
both ODMs and traditional vendors, customers have great transparency into the costs for the
different categories: just the hardware alone; hardware with global distribution and support; the
network operating system; and a complete integrated bundle of hardware and software.
2. Swiss Army knife switches disappear and give rise to customer-specific solutions. In late 2014,
we said switches that served all functions were disappearing and new hardware was emerging
for specific industries. The BBM trend further exemplifies this point. HPs announcement not
only calls out the type of customer it is targeting, but its data center portfolio is being broken
down into specific types of customers that its network solutions will serve.
3. Hyperscale companies dont want to do the heavy lifting either. For the past few years,
articles have been written about the allure of buying bare-metal boxes from the ODMs. While
it sounds good, saving some capital expenditure on paper, the reality is that companies
dont want to take on responsibilities outside their core competency. Like most enterprises,
hyperscale companies fundamentally cant improve on the global channel or supply chain that
companies such as HP have set up. While customers might see some value-added resellers
brand their own bare-metal switches, the extent to which Accton or Quanta compete against
the traditional vendors wont go much further. The business model and cost structure of
Accton and others are built on serving traditional networking vendors.

Endnotes
A bare metal switch is just the hardware built on commodity hardware. White box is the commodity
hardware and network operating system together.

Source: Yuval Bachbar,6-pack: the first open hardware modular switch, Facebook blog, February 11,
2015 ( https://code.facebook.com/posts/717010588413497/introducing-6-pack-the-first-open-hardwaremodular-switch/).

Edge-Core switches from Accton have no commitment on turnaround time. Plus, the company requires the
customer to return the switch before Accton will send a replacement.

A BT agenda is the business technology agenda to pursue and deploy technologies that help the business
win, serve, and retain customers. This differs from the IT agenda that is necessary to maintain existing
systems and processes.

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