back to article Cisco who? HP puts Pica8's OS into its open switches

HP has taken another step away from the world of the Borg, certifying the Pica8 open switching operating system to run on its Altoline open networking switches. The deal also includes global HP resale and support of PicOS. That's a big deal for the small company, as Pica8's marketing veep Steve Garrison told The Register: “ …

  1. Your alien overlord - fear me

    a soup-to-nuts-stack. Hmmm, last time I checked it was a bolts to nuts stack. That is what holds everything together.

    1. mi1400

      Well he likes it salty .. and like he said PENUtS and thick gravy SOUP ... perhaps adding TWO chunky prawns in sack too!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Awful lot of hardware needed for this software defined networking...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      A downvote for pointing out that you need just as many switches for "software defined" as you do for normal networking? Or for pointing out that normal networking has always been defined with software and we've just added a tiny extra layer? Or is the downvote because you just felt compelled to click a button but lack contribution of your own?

      1. Ticl

        It's software defined downvote ... deal with it!

  3. CheesyTheClown

    Another unsupported HP product line?

    Honestly, HP often comes up with smart ideas, this could be one, but now HP's network product line is so completely scattered that there's probably no hope of ever getting support on anything ever again.

    1. spmaddox

      Re: Another unsupported HP product line?

      The Altoline switches are covered by a 3 year 10 day advanced replacement hardware warranty, not too far out are 4 Hour and Next Business Day offerings also. The software, Pica8's PicOS, is covered by 24x7x365 software support and is being provided by HP via the 100+ engineers being trained on PicOS who themselves come from a group of more than 7,000 certified and trained networking engineers and 5,000 certified and trained Linux engineers...in case it was missed, PicOS is a Linux Network Operating System.

      Thanks for raising the question, happy to answer.

      1. Lusty

        Re: Another unsupported HP product line?

        10 days?! And there I was thinking it was a serious product because it had an HP badge. I've bought bananas with a better support policy than that!

        1. spmaddox

          Re: Another unsupported HP product line?

          good one with the bananas though i'd be concerned if my bananas came with a support policy, probably wouldn't buy them. 10 days is the hardware warranty which comes with the purchase of the device, while most other vendors provide a hardware warranty good for only 90 days the warranty from HP is good for 3 years. Keep in mind that many customers are putting these into data centers where they have an onsite parts sparing program and the hardware warranty fits perfectly. Customers with a different model can take advantage of support services designed to fit their needs.

          1. Lusty

            Re: Another unsupported HP product line?

            Now I've no idea what you're talking about. ALL hardware in the EU is subject to 2 years warranty regardless. It's the 10 day replacement that concerns me - if my network is down for 10 days it's slower than a postal service.

            1. G Olson

              Re: Another unsupported HP product line?

              Buy two, they are cheap! Keep one in your office for grins and giggles.

              If a significant portion of your datacenter or distribution closets rely uniquely on a single hardware switch, either you need a different architecture or This Switch Is Not For You.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Another unsupported HP product line?

              Its better than Cisco used to do. They were return to base, the base being in Palo Alto and without SmartNET support it was approx. 6 weeks for a replacement!

              If a higher level of support is critical, uplift it or buy one of the HP switches that have lifetime Next Business Day onsite support.

              As another poster said in a data center with 10' or more of these switches the provider will probably buy a couple of spare units rather than uplift that many units.

              1. Lusty

                Re: Another unsupported HP product line?

                The point was that uplift isn't an option yet, and buying a spare is rewarding them for not putting proper support in place.

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