Service providers will be able to use white boxes with greater efficiency

To create an ecosystem that offers application and hardware options from multiple vendors, AT&T has opensourced its Disaggregated Network Operating System, or dNOS project, in order to simplify OS development for other network objects. The

Linux Foundation will take over the project, which seeks to develop a software framework to speed the adoption and use of white boxes in service provider infrastructure.

AT&T is already a backer of the ONAP platform for SDN and NFV.

Just as the ONAP platform has become the open network operating system for the network cloud, the dNOS project aims to be the open operating system for white boxes, the company said.

The project will support existing network protocols and offer expansion capabilities to support new tools, like the open source programming language P4. Human resources from AT&T Labs and AT&T Vyatta will be key contributors to the project.

AT&T is working to provide the industry with a more open, flexible and cost-effective alternative to traditional integrated networking equipment. Open sourcing the dNOS project will ensure software developers, network operators, cloud providers, hardware makers and networking application developers can quickly create new white box infrastructure to meet evolving customer requirements — and do it in a more cost-effective way. The code and collateral transition will begin soon.