For a long time (well, probably since forever), software that runs networks was tightly coupled to the hardware on which it ran. For example, from Cisco, we have CatOS or IOS which has specific versions for specific platforms, leading to an explosion in the number of software images that customers needed to manage. Other vendors tamed the sprawl, mostly by having a single software image share by the entire product line (this was helped, of course, by the fact that not everyone can follow Cisco's growth model of acquisition).
But what if switching and routing software was decouple from the hardware. And what if that software was open source. Two projects to make note of: OpenFlow and Pica8
Switch++ looks similar, but probably not open source.
I haven't had a chance to play with either of these....maybe one day.
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