Networking

The OCP Networking Project is creating disaggregated, fully open networking technologies that allow rapid innovation in the network space. It facilitates the development of network hardware and software, together with trusted project validation and testing, in an open, collaborative community, bringing to networking the principles OCP brought to servers and storage so end users can move beyond closed, proprietary switches. Its initial goal is a top-of-rack (leaf) switch, with spine switches and other hardware and software to follow. Scope covers open switch hardware, Linux-based operating systems, automated provisioning, integration, efficient power and cooling, and SDN.

Networking

Get involved

Steering Committee Representative

Xu Wang

Project Leads

Subscribe to mailing list

About This Project

The Open Compute Networking Project is creating a set of technologies that are disaggregated and fully open, allowing for rapid innovation in the network space. We aim to facilitate the development of network hardware and software – together with trusted project validation and testing – in a truly open and collaborative community environment.

We’re bringing to networking the guiding principles that OCP has brought to servers and storage, so that we can give end users the ability to forgo traditional closed and proprietary network switches in favor of a fully open network technology stack. Our initial goal is to develop a top-of-rack (leaf) switch, while future plans target spine switches and other hardware and software solutions in the space.

Scope

The Networking Project’s scope includes:

  • Disaggregated & Open : fully disaggregated and open networking hardware and software
  • Operating System : Linux-based operating systems, developer tools, and REST APIs
  • Automation : fully automated configuration management and bare-metal provisioning
  • Switch Hardware : universal, multi-form-factor switch motherboard hardware
  • Integration & Connectivity : fully open integration and connectivity
  • Power & Cooling : energy-efficient power and cooling designs
  • SDN : Software Defined Networking

Out of Scope

  • Protocol stacks and virtualization
  • Network architectures and topologies
  • Hardware abstraction layer, deep packet inspection, hardware-based security, firewall feature sets, and load balancing


OCP Academy

Free eLearning developed with the Networking community.

Multipath Reliable Connection (MRC) Technical Overview
ESUN – Ethernet for Scale-up Networks

Resources

Welcome to the OCP Networking Project. This Project is open to the public and we want to welcome all those who would like to be involved.

Disclaimer: Please do not submit any confidential information to the Project Community. All presentation materials, proposals, meeting minutes and/or supporting documents are published by OCP and are open to the public in accordance to OCP’s Bylaws and IP Policy. This can be found on the OCP OCP Policies page. If you have any questions please contact OCP.

Documents

– Charter – OCP Presentation Template – please contact Michael Schill for a copy

OCP Marketplace

Regular Project Calls

This project meets 2nd Monday of the month from 10-11 AM US/Pacific via a conference call. This call is open to the public (please check the call calendar).

– Call Link

Call Calendar

These meeting are recorded via audio and video. By participating you consent that these recordings may be made publicly available. Any presentation materials, proposals and meeting minutes are published on the respective project’s wiki page and are open to the public in accordance to OCP’s Bylaws and IP Policy. This can be found at http://www.opencompute.org/about/ocp-policies/. If you have any questions please contact OCP.

NIC Software

Talks from the NIC Software workstream, newest first.

  • July 2026: What’s next for the PSP Security Protocol, Netdev 0x1A panel (Slides)
  • June 2026: PSP Security Protocol, OCP Steering Committee Review (Slides)

2022 OCP Global Summit: Hyperscale NICs, performance and features

2021 OCP Global Summit: NICs for Hyperscale Deployments

Networking calendar

Related Details

Contributions

All project contributions

Sub-Projects

Open Network Install Environment

ONIE, the Open Network Install Environment, is a Sub-Project of the OCP Networking Project. Incubated and adopted by the Open Compute Project in 2013, ONIE enables a bare-metal network switch ecosystem in which end users can choose among different network operating systems rather than being tied to a single vendor stack. For switch hardware suppliers, ONIE makes it possible to manage operations around a small number of hardware SKUs, creating economies of scale in manufacturing and distribution. The result is a thriving ecosystem of both network hardware and operating system alternatives. Details about the sub-project's scope and ways to get involved will be added in the near future.

Open Network Linux

Open Network Linux (ONL) is a sub-project under the OCP Networking Project. The Networking Project is creating a set of technologies that are disaggregated and fully open, allowing for rapid innovation in the network space, and aims to facilitate the development of network hardware and software — together with trusted project validation and testing — in a truly open and collaborative community environment. Details about the sub-project’s mission, leadership, and ways to get involved will be added in the near future.

Open Network Linux Refresh

Open Network Linux Refresh is a sub-project under the OCP Networking Project. The Networking Project is creating a set of technologies that are disaggregated and fully open, allowing for rapid innovation in the network space, and aims to facilitate the development of network hardware and software — together with trusted project validation and testing — in a truly open and collaborative community environment. Details about the sub-project’s mission, leadership, and ways to get involved will be added in the near future.

Open Switch Platform Architecture

Optical Circuit Switching

Optical Circuit Switching (OCS) is a Sub-Project under the OCP Networking Project. Data-intensive applications such as AI, machine learning, and high-performance computing demand networking with high bandwidth, low latency, and energy efficiency, and OCS is well suited to meet those needs in data centers and AI clusters. The sub-project’s mission is to standardize and advance OCS as an open, scalable, and efficient solution by creating open specifications for OCS hardware and software, integrating OCS with Software-Defined Networking, defining telemetry and monitoring, contributing open-source tools, and collaborating with standards bodies on interoperability.

Optics Reliability

A link flap is a small failure with a long shadow: one flicker of light that can ripple through an entire network. The Optics Reliability Workstream is building an open standard that lets transceivers and hosts share what they see, agree on the health of every link, and respond automatically, so problems are prevented early, pinpointed fast, and fixed without delay. One shared language for switch, NIC, and transceiver vendors, and for the operators who depend on them, from enterprise to hyperscale.

Switch Abstraction Interface

Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) is a sub-project under the OCP Networking Project. The Networking Project is creating a set of technologies that are disaggregated and fully open, allowing for rapid innovation in the network space, and aims to facilitate the development of network hardware and software — together with trusted project validation and testing — in a truly open and collaborative community environment. Details about the sub-project’s mission, leadership, and ways to get involved will be added in the near future.